http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/index.php Portland and surrounding area community news and information http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124638799671697200 The second half of play got under way last week with new leaders emerging on each of the three nights. Midway Electric took 7.5 points from Scappoose Sand & Gravel to take over the Monday night division in the league. Paulson Printing was right on their heels, taking six from Emmert Motors. ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124638748376892500 Scappoose’s Frank Weber brought gold home again–from Seattle, Wash., and Mt. Hood Community College. Weber, 85, competed in the discus and the javelin at the Northwest Senior Games in early June. He took first in both events in his age group (85-89). The games were held at West Seattle ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124638730469016600 Area drivers Jereld Strawn and Justin McMullen overtook division leaders to move atop the point standings in the Emmert Motors Race Saturday at River City Speedway in St. Helens. The husband/wife duo of Michael and Jenelle Harrison of St. Helens, recorded top five finishes. Deer Island’s ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124638706690261100 The Scappoose and St. Helens Little League All-Star baseball and softball teams will begin district competition over the next two weeks. Scappoose and St. Helens each have four baseball teams involved in district play, plus Scappoose has two softball teams. Scappoose is hosting both the Little ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124638686562334800 A few words about Derek Anderson. He’s right to keep publicly mum about the ongoing quarterback controversy in Cleveland. I didn’t even ask him Saturday about how things were going. I’ve asked in the past and he’s plays those cards pretty close to the vest. Rightfully ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124638659514485700 Ryland Geiger, a 2008 Scappoose High graduate, and now a freshman at the University of Minnesota has qualified for the 2009 FILA Junior World team at 197 pounds. Geiger was a two-time state champion, and the holder of several national titles while in high school. He never lost a wrestling match ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124638638526142700 The St. Helens Lions, a 12 and under fastpitch softball team, has been having a pretty good summer overall. The team has posted three firsts and two thirds in tournament play, including a third this past weekend in their own tournament at Campbell Park. “We just had a bit too much time ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124578506055651900 Michelle Lyons of Warren finished second in the nation in breakaway roping at the College National Finals Rodeo last week. Lyons was representing Walla Walla (Wash.) Community College in the competition at the Casper Events Center in Wyoming. At stake were National Intercollegiate Rodeo ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124578486498970500 Having been around here for so long, it’s hard for a Hall of Fame not to bring back a lot of memories from those bygone days. The ’96 football championship for St. Helens doesn’t seem all that distant. Offensive and defensive tackle Jeff Thayer got his due Saturday at the Sports ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124578467004017400 Sometimes walls crumble with just a tap. The track record at River City Speedway of 13.855 set by Dan Fox in 2005 was broke by Don Jenner of Vancouver on Saturday by a slim .002 in his Modified Division race car. That was just one highlight of the Columbia County Racing Association event Saturday ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124578436567714600 Five athletes and one community supporter were inducted into the St. Helens Sports Booster Hall of Fame for St. Helens High School Saturday, the 25th group of inductees. Honored at the banquet were Staci Chisum Whitton (1988), Don Mekosky (1972), Ryan Smith (2004), Randy Ritenour (1976), Jeff ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124517979490638200 Recently, three-generations of a Scappoose family participated in the Bloomsday ’09 run in Spokane, Wash., a 12K (7.46 mile) event that annually draws around 50,000 runners. The run is for charity and there are often a number of persons from the local area participating. Paula Holmason, ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124517949331471800 Blake Sofich will graduate from the Scappoose Middle School this week, but his summer schedule is tied up into July. The eighth grader has qualified for the Oregon State Wrangler Junior High rodeo team that will travel to Gallup, New Mexico from June 28-July 4 to compete in the 5th Annual Wrangler ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124517919435922300 It’s been a two-year-plus odyssey, but sometimes the trip is as valuable as reaching the destination. The first actual construction steps in erecting field lights on the two fields at McCormick Park in St. Helens began last week. When completed, the softball fields at the park will have a ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124517897549815100 The Cowapa League could get even smaller under the latest proposal being examined by the Oregon School Activities Association; in fact all of the state’s 4A leagues will have six or fewer schools. Proposal #8 keeps seven 4A classified leagues with schools ranging in size from 827 students ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124517868626657000 Scappoose High Athletic Director Jim Jones had to cut 26.5 percent of the athletic (and activities) budget this year, but in the end no programs had to be slashed. Jones said transportation had to be “reconfigured” and coaches will have no budget for items such as athletic tape and ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124517829855664400 By the time the dust cleared on Monday night, two Columbia County Little League teams knew they had been in a battle. Baker Rock and Fultano’s Pizza sparred over three games in the annual Tournament of Champions before a winner was decided on Monday. Fultano’s would end up winning the ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124457784470940900 A class of six athletic luminaries will be inducted into the St. Helens Sports Boosters Hall of Fame at their annual banquet on Saturday, June 20. Those being inducted include: Rich Bailey, supporter/sponsor; Staci Chisum Whitton, softball; Don Mekosky, football, basketball, baseball; Randy ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124457889713988500 After awhile one can start to feel like the last man standing. St. Helens High Athletic Director Ken Bailey made me feel a little bit like that when he announced his retirement last week. Bailey is making the move to help out the sports budget for the district. He’ll still be athletic ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124457866773204800 It was “Turn Back the Clock Day” in the second round of Columbia County Racing Association action as three former champions won main events Saturday at River City Speedway. Jeremy Martin, “Hollywood” Gary Meyer and Stacey Fordyce notched A main wins. Defending champion ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124457845480050500 haven’t picked a starting quarterback and won’t until well into the preseason, new Coach Eric Mangini said. The Browns have announced a quarterback competition between Scappoose’s favorite son, Derek Anderson, and Brady Quinn. Anderson is the 2001 Scappoose grad that was a ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124457823865328500 School districts throughout Oregon are making deep budget cuts, and sports have not been escaping the fiscal knife. In St. Helens, Athletic Director Ken Bailey came up with his own solution to meet the $70,000-plus in sports he was told to cut–he’s retiring. Bailey won’t be ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124457808739134600 n, and league alignments for Oregon high schools are all up in the air until this fall. Just what league, and maybe what classification for St. Helens High School won’t really be determined until the Oregon School Activities Association Executive Board makes the final determination this ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124457764591159000 When the Little League Tournament of Champions began years ago, it featured the best of those teams from the Rainier, Clatskanie, Scappoose and St. Helens area. These days everyone gets a shot at winning the TOC title–all 17 teams. The teams play a single round-robin during the season, and ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124396618354145400 The St. Helens Golf Course celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and the St. Helens Men’s Club will hold a golf tournament on June 13 to honor it. Several past men’s club champions have agreed to appear at the tournament. The event is a four-man scramble with a $19.59 entry fee ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124396601984349700 Ever wanted to strap on your running shoes and compete in a track meet? Relive those high school days on the track? Put the shot? Aspiring track athletes of all ages have several chances to do so this summer at Scappoose High School. An open track meet will be held each Tuesday evening from June ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124396555931840500 All the local teams exited the baseball and softball playoffs in the last week, but the players and coaches shouldn’t despair. There’s always a tendency to project that your playoff team can make it to the finals if you can just…(pick one) beat this one team, play your very best, ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124396532067538500 Longtime Scappoose teach-er and coach, Ryan Svenson, 34, has been named the new head basketball coach at Scappoose High School. Svenson, a 1993 Clatskanie High and 1997 Willamette grad, has been at Scappoose nine years, mostly teaching U.S. History. He lettered in football, basketball and baseball ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124396487103802100 The Scappoose Indians exited the 4A state playoffs on Tuesday with a 13-9 loss to defending state champion Newport. “Our guys were a little ticked off they didn’t start their ace,” Scappoose coach Robert Medley said. “They thought we were being disrespected. They had to ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124396457513101000 The St. Helens Lions would like to have had back the top of the sixth inning against Corvallis last Friday afternoon. Without that at-bat it was a 1-1 ball game, instead of an 8-1 loss that eliminated St. Helens from the playoffs. The Lions hosted Corvallis in the second round of the state 5A ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124396408918424100 The Scappoose Lady Indians got by their first 4A state softball game last week with a 6-3 win over North Marion, but then once again they ran into a wall named Henley. Scappoose sat out the sub-round of the playoffs with the top seed from the Cowapa League. They hosted North Marion on Tuesday last ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336983719533500 Given their league record, St. Helens was happy with their selections to the Northwest Oregon Conference All-League teams. Lady Lion junior Danielle Harcourt was the only St. Helens player selected to the first team, being named to the outfield. The Lady Lions did get three honorable mentions in ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336958116189300 Scappoose’s Mandie Krueger again got her due as the Cowapa League Player of the Year, but there was some politicking going on when it came to the rest of the selections. Krueger was the only first team selection for Scappoose, which tied for the league championship and took the No. 1 seed ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336924010822700 Eight St. Helens High Lions baseball team players received all-league honors in Northwest Oregon Conference balloting. Players selected included: Topher Mood, jr.,second team infield; Jon Beeler, jr., second team first base; Taylor Webster, sr., honorable mention pitcher; Julian Zirkle, sr., first ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336897628591400 The Scappoose Indians prepped for their Friday playoff game with a 17-5 win over 5A PIL runner-up Madison on Wednesday. “The PIL just isn’t that strong,” Scappoose coach Robert Medley said after dusting the Senators in six innings. The Tribe punched four runs across in the first ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336483753244100 The Scappoose Indians received their share of notice in Cowapa League all-league selections last week. Five Indians received all-league notice, and two received honorable mention in the balloting. League champion Astoria fittingly had nine players named to the first team. All-around athlete Jordan ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336460118563600 The Scappoose High equestrian team brought home two champions and an eighth-place finish from the recent state competition. Taylor Engstrom was first in “barrels,” while Payton Gale took first in breakaway roping. Engstrom also had a third in the Figure 8 race and a sixth in pole ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336448304403000 The Scappoose High golf teams did well at the state golf tournaments last week, and St. Helens lone participant also turned in an impressive round. The Scappoose boys finished ninth overall in the competitive 4A tournament at Quail Valley in Banks. The Tribe boys beat league rival Seaside at the ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336397725674500 In some ways it hasn’t been an easy year for the Scappoose Indians’ baseball team. The young squad has had to play in a league with the No. 1-ranked Astoria Fishermen, and that’s not an easy task. Astoria clobbered Scappoose in their first two meetings, but it was much more ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336349835110900 The St. Helens Lions got some decent performances at the 5A state track meet in Eugene last Friday and Saturday, but nowhere near enough to put them in contention. Top effort on the day for the Lions came in the javelin where Justin Schlaht, a senior, went 181-10 to take fourth place overall. He ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336266429124600 teams didn’t have a lot of athletes at the state meet, but still managed some decent efforts to tie for 13th out of the 33 teams represented. Top effort for the boys came from junior Apostolis Bakouros with a third in the 110 High Hurdles. Bakouros bettered his preliminary time and was just ... http://www.spotlightnews.net/sports/story.php?story_id=124336239722006100 The Scappoose Indians got just about everything they needed last Friday in the first round of the 4A baseball state playoffs–a superb pitching performance from sophomore Chris Neifert, a near-perfect catching day from Austin Egger, and a big inning at the plate early. Scappoose never trailed ...