It’s been a making an attempt yr for Union senior wrestler Janessa O’Connell.
O’Connell suffered a dislocated elbow in a match in the midst of her junior season. She got here again from the damage and gritted out a eighth-place exhibiting at state.
She later realized that she really suffered a torn ligament in her elbow, requiring surgical procedure in April.
“I was definitely very down when I realized I had to have surgery and be out for all of the offseason,” O’Connell stated. “Coming back into the room, I definitely wanted to work my hardest to get to where I am. I feel like I’m achieving that right now.”
On Saturday, O’Connell captured her first Pac Coast Championship title with 4 pins in 4 matches. The ultimate pin got here in 1:34 over Melanie Novak of Hudson’s Bay.
“It feels amazing,” O’Connell stated. “Pinning all the girls and getting to where I am, it’s a feeling I can’t even describe.”
After a virtually five-month restoration from her surgical procedure, O’Connell didn’t return to the wrestling room till the beginning of the college yr.
“I went to practice ever since I could and started putting the work in because I love this sport,” she stated. “It’s what I wanted to do.”
Camas hopes robust competitors pays off
Camas may’ve been bumped to the comfort bracket of the Les Schwab Invitational after a opening-round loss Dec. 26, however what the Papermakers took away from the four-games-in-five-days occasion is a glass-half-full method towards their season objectives.
“We’re going to play on the last day at the Tacoma Dome,” stated senior guard Jace VanVoorhis, noting the annual web site of the Class 4A state boys basketball event. “This ultimately prepares us for that.”
The Les Schwab Invitational is called the Northwest’s premier vacation showcase for highschool boys basketball that includes a number of the nation’s top-tier groups paired towards the area’s elite. It wrapped up its twenty eighth annual occasion Monday at Portland State College.
Making its first look at LSI was Camas, the place it confronted Oregon 6A Barlow (Ore.) in Monday’s comfort closing. A 64-58 loss to Westview (Ore.) in Thursday’s opening sport dropped the Papermakers to the comfort bracket, however they defeated two Oregon groups — Adrienne Nelson and Roosevelt — to succeed in the comfort closing.
Junior ahead Ethan Harris, listed by event administrators as a participant to observe among the many 16-team subject, posted 25 factors, seven blocks, six rebounds, 5 steals and 5 assists towards Roosevelt and a 21-point effort on 10 of 15 capturing towards Nelson. He referred to as the 4 video games in Portland “great competition” for him and the Papermakers.
“The Les Schwab is a well-known tournament,” Harris stated, “and even though we did get bumped to the loser’s bracket, we’re playing some very tough teams that all are going to be like the teams up in Seattle, like the teams around us, so we’re getting a feel for what we’re going to see in the future.”
Evergreen (1997, 2005, 2021) has essentially the most appearances on the Les Schwab Invitational of any Southwest Washington faculty.