Greensox win state tournament crown

The Greensox defeated an impressive field of 13U National Division teams to win the championship at the Sandy Koufax State Tournament in a long, intense weekend of baseball July 17-20 at Mercer Island’s Island Crest Park.

The Greensox are comprised of players from Auburn, Bonney Lake, Buckley, Federal Way, Lake Tapps and Pacific. For more information about the team go to www.greensoxbaseball.com.

Cull captures golf title and moves on

Nolan Cull of Lake Tapps captured the 12- to 13-year-old Washington Junior Golf Association District 3 title at The Golf Club at Hawk’s Prairie in Lacey, Wash., July 21. The soon-to-be freshmen at Auburn Riverside High finished the two-day, 36-hole event at 78 and even-par 72, 13 strokes ahead of the second-place finisher.

He moves on to the 33rd WJGA State Championship at Glendale Country Club, Overlake Golf and Country Club and Bellevue Golf Course. Competition begins today, Wednesday, and continues Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Beals brothers and Salsbury advance

Enumclaw’s Jordan Beals found himself in a three-way tie for first place after two days of competition at the Washington Junior Golf Association District 6 championship at the Classic Gold Course in Spanaway, Wash.

A 15-foot birdie putt decided the winner on the first playoff hole. Beals, playing in the 16- to 17-year-old division, took the No. 2 spot behind Broc Johnson of Auburn. Beals’ performance qualified him for the 33rd WJGA State Championship at Glendale Country Club, Overlake Golf and Country Club and Bellevue Golf Course, which begins today, Wednesday, and continues through Saturday.

In the same division, Jake Erickson, also of Enumclaw, will serve as an alternate.

Enumclaw’s Tyler Salsbury also finished second and qualified for state. He finished one stroke behind Vinnie Murphy of Edgewood in the 14- to 15-year-old division.

Jared Beals finished third in the boys 8- to 11-year-old division to earn a tee time at state.

Sumner hoopsters take tourney title

A team of Sumner-area basketball players captured second place at the 2009 Spokane Hoopfest. The girls won five of seven games to take second in a highly-competitve high school division.

Next up for the team is defending its back-to-back titles at Lake Chelan Aug. 15 and 16 in the 3-on-3 Slam-n-Jam Tournament.

Team effort lands golfers a victory

Shawn Wetton, Larry Weygandt, Sheila Shannon and Ken Bills were the big winners at 4-under par Thursday in Lee golf play at the Enumclaw Golf Course. Wetton said it took a team effort to finish that low.

The second-place team of Doug Wilde, Carl Smith, Conrad Majack and Cheryl Ferong, closed the day at 1-under. Wilde and Ferong sank to birdie putts to help get the foursome to 1-under.

Two teams tied for third at even-par.

Swimmers race to fifth in Moses Lake

The Enumclaw-based Rainier Foothills Swim Team finished up its regular long-course season with a fifth-place finish among the 15 small teams, 11th out of 22 teams, at the Moses Lake Manta Rays’ Sizzlin Summer Swim Classic July 10, 11 and 12 in Moses Lake, Wash.

Approximately 484 swimmers, representing teams from Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Canada and eastern and western Washington, competed at the outdoor 50-meter pool.

Bennon VanHoof, who competed in the boys 13 to 14 year old division, won the 200-meter breaststroke in 2 minutes, 48.37 seconds and the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:17.27. He also finished second in the 200 individual medley, dropping 12 seconds off his seeding time with a 2:45.08. He earned a fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke, dropping seven seconds off his previous time of 1:19.82. He also picked up fifth-place finishes in the 50 freestyle, 29.47, and the 100 freestyle, 1:06.45.

In the same age division, Will Cooper captured second in the 100 freestyle with a 1:03.28, in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:18.18, dropping seconds off his previous time, and in the 200 butterfly. He finished third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 28.62 and picked up fourth-place finishes in the 200 IM with a time of 2:46.82 and the 100 butterfly in 1:13.94.

Also among 13- and 14-year-olds, Nik Stopsack was seventh in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 3:45.16 and ninth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 30.70. He also finished 13th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:43.49, shaved nine seconds off his 200 IM time and dropped time in his 100 and 200 freestyles.

In the boys 15-and-older division, Gabe Sales dropped five seconds off his 200 IM and 100 backstroke times.

Sales also dropped three seconds off his 100 butterfly time, finishing in a 1:21.76, and dropped his times in both the 100 and 50 freestyle.

In the same division, teammate Alex Stopack, who didn’t have a recorded time, raced to a 1:53.68 in the 100 breaststroke. He also posted new times in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, 200 IM and 200 breaststroke.

Ethan Horan, in the boys 10-and-younger division, finished sixth in the 50 breaststoke with a time of 58.47; ninth in the 100 breaststroke, 2:04.35; 13th in the 50 freestyle, 44.85; 14th in the 100 backstroke, 2:12.06; and set a new time in the 50 backstroke.

In the boys 11- to 12-year-old division, Jonathan Schwartz, Jacob Hechter, Quinn Warner and Bryce VanHoof set new standards in events where they did not have previous times.

In the 100 breaststroke, Schwartz raced to a 1:53.39, Warner finished in 2:06.21 and VanHoof went 2:09.70. Warner, 37.46, Schwartz, 39.48, and VanHoof, 44.50, also posted new times in the 50 freestyle. Schwartz and VanHoof set new times for the 50 backstroke, finishing in 52.46 and 59.03, respectively.

Warner and Hechter also posted new times in the 100 butterfly and finished 11th and 13th, respectively. Warner finished in 1:46.17 and Hechter at 1:56.04.

Warner also registered a new time in the 50 butterfly, 42.54, to earn a 14th-place finish. He also posted a top-20 finish in the 100 freestyle with a new time of 1:26.52.

Hechter dropped eight seconds off his 50 backstroke time for a 47.93.

Schwartz earned a ninth-place finish in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 51.75, followed by teammates VanHoof and Warner.

Schwartz also registered a time of 1:29.50 in the 100 freestyle and scored a new time in the 100 backstroke, 1:52.71.

In the girls 11- to 12-year-old division, Bailey Sexton finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:37.43; sixth in the 100 backstroke, dropping two seconds to finish at 1:25.57; 10th in the 50 backstroke in 39.82; 10th in the 50 breaststroke; and 14th in the 100 freestyle.

Grace Sales dropped times in all her events, including a 14-second fall in the 100 breaststroke; melted tons of time off her 100 backstroke; took eight seconds off her 100 freestyle and five seconds off her 50 backstroke and 50 breaststroke times; and nicked two seconds off her 50 freestyle.

Kahne cruises to seventh at Brickyard

Kasey Kahne made the most of his 200th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start Sunday with a seventh-place finish at the Allstate Brickyard 400 from Indianapolis.

Prior to Sunday’s race, Kahne had two top-five and three top-10 finishes in five starts at Indianapolis.

“At times, I thought we were pretty quick,” Kahne said following the race. “We had speed on green flag runs. On the last run, the car was a little bit free, turned really well and we were fast. The yellow came out and we stayed out on tires.

“I was too tight to pass cars there at the end, so I just made sure I was saving fuel and not let the car behind me catch me. It was another good finish and a good points day.”

Kahne maintains the No. 8 spot in Sprint Cup drivers’ point standings. The Top 12 drivers before the final 10 races qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Tony Stewart leads the series.

Sprint Cup racing continues Sunday at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway. Plateau television coverage begins at 10 a.m. on ESPN.