>Today on the volleyball floor…..

>It could be a big day for four of the local girls’ club volleyball teams we have been following for you over this weekend at the Emerald City Classic who have Mount Si players or coaches. These teams could all be competing for various age group championships during the course of the day.

Here’s what on tap.

In the 18 Open division, KJ 18s (Wildcat junior Aubrey Larion and former Mount Si player Summer Nash) will be competing for the division title, they are seeded #2. KJ’s 17s (Amanda Gates) play a crossover game against a team from central Oregon this morning for the right to also play for the division title.

The 18 Club division will see NW Jrs 17s Elite Black (Mount Si juniors Molly Hitch, Baylee Sinner and Erika Clark) competing for that divisional crown after a big day yesterday. NWJE was a perfect 3-0 in their matches, only losing two of the eight total games played. They are also seeded #2, just like the KJ 18s in the Open.

The 14 Club division has KJ’s 13s, coached by Mount Si assistant Dave Bachman, seeded #2 and with a first-round bye after a solid day yesterday. They went 2-1 to win their pool action. This KJ group will need to win just twice to take the overall top spot in this division.

Other teams today will be competing in other brackets. It all depends though on how crossover games go this morning. ITVC 18s (Mount Si senior Robyn Schirmer) takes on an Oregon team this morning for a slot in the playoffs later today, and WVBA 17s (Mount Si junior Zoe Gogan) takes on their organization’s 18s squad, also with a slot in the playoffs on the line. The match will probably be a friendly one, yes, but there’s a lot at stake.

Both SIVBC teams with Wildcat players, the 18s (senior Shelagh Macaulay) and 16s (sophomore Sarah McDonald) are competing in the Bronze Division in their respective tournaments, the 18 and 16 Open’s.

We wish all the teams luck today and look forward to reporting good news here later.

>A great day on the volleyball floor for Wildcat players in Seattle club tourney

>Today was a huge day for the five teams competing in the 18 Open division at the Emerald City Classic girls’ club volleyball tournament in Seattle with Mount Si players. Three of them were perfect, and the other two also did very well.

WVBA 17s (Wildcat junior Zoe Gogan), ITVC 18s (Wildcat senior Robyn Schirmer) and KJ 18s (Mount Si junior Aubrey Larion and former Wildcat Summer Nash) all swept their pool play games today with 3-0 match, 6-0 game records to move into solid position for excellent finishes tomorrow. KJ 18s appear headed for a possible trip to the championship bracket after their performance today.

Meanwhile, KJ 17s (Wildcat junior Amanda Gates) and SIVBC 18s (Mount Si senior Shelagh Macaulay) also fared well, with 2-1 records in their pool play today. The result for Sudden Impact earned them a win in their pool, while KJ’s landed them a second place finish.

In the 16 Open action, SIVBC 16s (Wildcat so. Sarah McDonald) finished second with a 2-1 record, so they look like they will be in excellent shape as well going into tomorrow.

Action in Club divisions is underway now, and we will have those results for you tomorrow morning here.

>In other college news….

>We would have also featured results this weekend from Charlotte, NC, where the NCAA D-II national championships in track were being held this weekend, but the local participant in that event did not compete after suffering an injury. Fall City’s Jane Larson, who would have been competing in her final college meet in the women’s 1500m race for Seattle Pacific, was knocked out of action early last week after doctors found a stress fracture in her leg, according to the SPU website. She, however, still made the trip, and saw her longtime teammate Jessica Pixler win the national title in that event.

>Western Washington women’s rowing wins another national title

>The WWU women’s rowing team took home another national crown earlier today after strong results in the D-II Grand Finals down in Sacramento.

The Viking varsity eight (Katie Woolsey/So/North Bend) fell to Mercyhurst for the individual crown, but the Western varsity four won their race, giving the Vikings the team crown. Woolsey’s WWU V8 boat finished second, two seconds behind Mercyhurst in the final varsity eight race.

>KJ shows who’s boss on day one at big Emerald City tournament

>Several girls’ club teams with Mount Si connections took on top teams from around the Northwest yesterday in the opening day of play at the big Emerald City Classic tournament in Seattle, and it was a big day for those players and coaches representing one of those organizations, as they showed who was the class of the field on day one.

The three teams with Mount Si interest representing the Kent Juniors (KJ) organization dominated their respective pools on the first day, with two of them doing what Roy Halladay did last night on the baseball diamond in Miami. They were perfect.

The 17s (Wildcat junior Amanda Gates) and 13s (Mount Si assistant coach Dave Bachman is the team’s coach) both won their respective pools with 3-0 match, 6-0 game, records. The 17s are working the 18 Open division, while the 13s are in the 14 Club division. KJ’s 18s also won their 18 Open pool; this team with Wildcat junior Aubrey Larion and former Mount Si’er Summer Nash went 2-1, tying a Eugene team for tops in the pool; KJ earned the #1 slot on basis of game record (5-2 vs. the Eugene team’s 5-4).

Teams from other organizations with Mount Si athletes all struggled. The SIVBC 18s (Shelagh Macaulay), ITVC 18s (Robyn Schirmer), SIVBC 16s (Sarah McDonald) and WVBA 17s (Zoe Gogan) all finished last in their respective pools; aside from the SIVBC 16s, who were in the 16 Open division, all of these teams are in the 18 Open hunt.

NWJ 17s Air Elite, from Edmonds and featuring Mount Si juniors Erika Clark, Molly Hitch and Baylee Sinner, took second despite a 1-2 record; their 18 Club pool was modified after a team dropped out of the event. Their one win came against a team from Twin Falls, ID.

Action continues today in Seattle. We’ll have an update later on today.

>A shout out to Glacier Peak boys’ soccer

>Quick congrats are in order from SnoValleySports and the Valley Record to the Glacier Peak Grizzlies boys’ soccer team on their state title, which we think may be the first-ever team title in that school’s history, as that school has only been in existence for about three or four years now. As you will remember, GP knocked Mount Si’s boys out of the state tournament May 21 in the quarterfinals, giving the Wildcats maybe their toughest test of the season.

Good job boys, and to coach Shannon Murray as well, this was well-deserved for you and your program. Congratulations.

>For second straight year, Valley rower to compete for national championship

>For the second straight year, a North Bend resident will be helping her team compete for a national college rowing championship.

Western Washington’s varsity eight boat, with sophomore Katie Woolsey, a 2008 grad of Mount Si, aboard, won their preliminary heat race today at the NCAA D-II national women’s rowing championships in Sacramento. Western beat Barry University by 11 seconds (6:44.78 – 6:55.07) to take the top spot in their heat and advance straight to Sunday’s finals. Western’s varsity four also won their heat race today and advanced to their finals as well on Sunday.

Western, also with Woolsey aboard, last year won the national title.

We wish the Vikings good luck this weekend.

>Star Times selections….

>Quick shoutouts this afternoon to both Brielle Buhner (softball) and Ryan Herman (soccer) who were named to the 2010 spring Star Times all-star teams as named by the Seattle Times. Nice honors for both of them, and it should serve them well for all-state balloting when that takes place in a few weeks.

>A lot of volleyball on tap this weekend

>The final weekend of girls’ club volleyball will feature 12 present, past, and future Mount Si girls’ volleyball players and one coach competing for their local teams in two separate tournaments.

The biggest of the two events is the Emerald City Classic, hosted by the Washington Volleyball Academy. This tournament pits teams from all over the Northwest and western Canada in their final action of the season, or for a lot of these teams, their final tuneup before nationals in Reno or the big Volleyball Festival tournament down in Phoenix.

Five teams with current or former Wildcat players will be competing in the tournament’s U18 Open division. These include national qualifiers KJ 18s, with current Wildcat Aubrey Larion and former one Summer Nash, ITVBC 18s, with soon-to-graduate Robyn Schirmer, and SIVBC 18s, also with a soon-to-graduate senior, Shelagh Macaulay. Also in this division are WVBA 17s, with current ‘Cat Zoe Gogan, and the KJ 17s, with fellow current Wildcat junior Amanda Gates.

Other teams competing include the Northwest Juniors Elite 17s, with three Mount Si juniors, Baylee Sinner, Molly Hitch and Erika Clark; they will be in the U18 Club division; the SIVBC 16s, featuring Wildcat soph. Sarah McDonald, in the U16 Open division, and KJ 13s, coached by Mount Si assistant Dave Bachman.

Meanwhile, two other teams with locals will be in a second tournament, this being hosted by the Northwest Juniors club. The Northwest Juniors 17s Thunder, with Wildcat junior Stephanie Rehm, will be competing in the U18 division, while ITVC Blue, with Ashley Wingsness, the sister of Wildcat softballer Anisa Wingsness, competes in the 14s division.

The Emerald City event is being held at the UW, while the NW Juniors event is being held on the Eastside. More information can be found at the following websites:

ECC website

NWJ tournament

>Wildcat track sends a number of athletes to state

>Mount Si’s track teams will be sending a good-sized contingent of athletes to this weekend’s state meet in Tacoma. Many of them will be girls, as the Wildcats fared well in last week’s meet.

Mount Si’s girls won the district title, by just 1/2 point over Holy Names. Leading the way were the relay teams. The team of Georgia Reynolds, Natalie Opsvig, Hannah Hasbun and Sophie Rockow qualified in both the 4×100 (2nd, 50.02 sec.) and 4×200 (2nd, 1:46.33) relays. Hasbun also got a state berth in the 300m hurdles (won the event, 45.45). It will be important that these girls not get hurt this week as they will not have an alternate runner available to them. Initially, Claire Larsen was scheduled to be that, but due to a previous family commitment will be unable to compete.

Throwing events saw a number of state qualifiers. Both Kelly Besmer (won event, 135’4″) and Emily Ferree (4th, 100’8″) made state in the javelin, while Corina Linder (discus, 2nd, 109’4″) and Molly Meyers (shot put, won event, 38’6.75″) also punched state berths. A former Wildcat athlete, Summer Nash, won that discus event competing for Bishop Blanchet and also punched a state berth in the high jump, winning that event as well. Dylan Woll (discus, 3rd, 138′), Kolton Auxier (shot put, 3rd, 49’0.75″) and Zach Storm (javelin, 4th, 154’10”) were the only boys to qualify for the Wildcats, who finished 8th as a team on the boys side.

Reynolds also made state in the pole vault, winning it with a leap of 11′.

State is in Tacoma starting on Thursday.