West Seattle Stadium will be the site of national-championship competition this weekend, as dozens of throwers come from around the country, as explained in this news release we just received:

Men and women ages 30 and over will be contesting the United States Track and Field Association’s (USATF) National Masters Throws and Ultra Weight Pentathlon Saturday and Sunday at West Seattle Stadium. Events begin at 8 am each day.

The throws pentathlon is a Masters (age 30-105+) event consisting of 5 events – the hammer, shot put, discus throw, javelin throw, and weight throw. They must be contested in order. Weight of implement goes down in 10-year increments after age 50 as age increases. Athletes compete in 5 years age groups, 50-54, 55-59 etc. Each distance, for each event, has a point score based on its relationship to the world records for the events. The athlete with the highest number of points wins.

The First Masters National Championship was held at Husky Stadium in 1992. It was organized by West Seattle residents Ken Weinbel and George Mathews (former WS resident and meet director of this year’s event), with the help of West Seattle resident Leon Joslin. That first meet was conducted by the Seattle Masters Athletic Club, who is also responsible for building the area’s only hammer cage 18 years ago at West Seattle Stadium. The ultra weight pentathlon was also created by Weinbel and Mathews and will be contested on Sunday.

Three-time Olympic hammer thrower and flag bearer at the LA Olympics, Ed Burke, 72, of Los Gatos, Ca. will be competing and looking to break world records in the Throws Pentathlon and Super Weight Throw in the meet this weekend. Meet Director and five-time Masters World champion in the weight and hammer throw, George Mathews, will be looking to break his American record in the age 65-69 Super Weight (44lb.) throw. Over 60 athletes have entered the meet and come from all over the United States.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has just released its list of adult sports available this fall, and a couple – including flag football and women’s basketball – will be in West Seattle.

Both men’s and co-ed flag football leagues are going to be offered at Riverview Playfield from September 16th through November 18th. Both leagues’ games will be played on Sundays at varying times between 10 am and 2 pm. The cost to join is $635, which includes an eight-game guarantee, and all teams will make playoffs. The first place team wins a trophy and t-shirts (plus bragging rights). To enter, call 206-684-7092 or email antoiniette.daniel@seattle.gov.

Women’s pick-up basketball games, though not on the official list, will also be offered at High Point Community Center starting August 18th. Players can come with a team or as an individual every Saturday from 10 am to noon. The cost is $3 per person (free with high school ID), with all proceeds going to the Community Center. Questions? E-mail nadjastars@aol.com or call the Community Center at 206-684-7422 (ask for Sharri or Jimmy).

(Photo tweeted by Special Olympics Washington – @SO_Washington)
FIRST REPORT, 6:25 PM: In a few hours, after the Sounders–Rapids soccer match in Colorado, West Seattle-area student players and coaches, many from the Seattle Schools Unified Soccer League, will take the field for their own match. Chief Sealth International High School athletic director Sam Reed shared the news that they’re traveling with the Sounders and Special Olympics of Washington. The SO Sounders headed out on Friday. Three weeks ago, a similar delegation came here when the Rapids visited the Sounders; the Seattle team won that game, and is now in the Rockies for the rematch against the Colorado team. Reed explains that “more than half of the SO Sounders team (in) Colorado come from Chief Sealth International and West Seattle High Schools. Chief Sealth Head Coach Andrew Saldana is on the coaching staff, while players Morgan Hegge, Cameron O’Donnell, Christian Freitas, Ben Lee, Sydney Proctor, Karina Silva, Eric Swenson and Xahil McDonald all represent the Seahawks as either athletes or partners. Christian Estaban is on the team representing West Seattle.” Traveling with them is Angie Bounds, who’s been publishing updates at sosounders.blogspot.com; she tells WSB the game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO, is around 9:30 Colorado time tonight. We’ll update this story after the game (you can check out the SO-WA Twitter feed, too).

11:16 PM UPDATE: SO Sounders win, 2-0, according to Twitter updates. And someone recorded the entire match on phone video – you can see and hear it here.

Just in from Mount Vernon, the West Seattle Little League Seniors Division team (15/16-year-olds) scored their second victory in three games, advancing them in the state tournament. They beat South Kitsap today, 5-1. They’ll play again tomorrow at 1 pm (here’s the bracket). They made it into the state tournament by winning the District 7 tournament earlier this month (as reported here).

Just in from Chief Sealth International High School athletic director Sam Reed:

Chief Sealth International High School football players will be partnering with the Seattle Seahawks to host the Gatorade Junior Training Camp on July 25th at Alki Playfield. Participation in this 2-hour clinic is FREE to all youth ages 7-14, and with 200 participants the Seattle Seahawks will make a generous donation to the Chief Sealth football program. Details and registration found by following this link. For additional information, please contact Chief Sealth Head Football Coach Luther Carr at luther_carr@yahoo.com

In case you haven’t seen it already in the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar – Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s brand-new Alex J. Brunett Gymnasium will host Hoopfest this weekend, and sign-ups are open now for boys and girls going into 3rd through 12th grades this fall. It’s a three-on-three basketball tournament this Saturday and Sunday, with these brackets:

3/4th grade Boys 3/4th grade Girls
5/6th grade Boys 5/6th grade Girls
7/8th grade Boys 7/8th grade Girls
9-12th grade Boys 9-12th grade Girls

The cost is $50 per team, with proceeds benefiting the OLG CYO sports program. Questions? E-mail olghoops@gmail.com – or if you just want to sign up, go here!

This afternoon in Mount Vernon, the West Seattle Little League Seniors Division team (15/16-year-olds) shut out their first opponent in state play, 5-0. A game scheduled for 4 pm game today will determine who they play tomorrow (here’s the bracket). They won the state berth by winning the District 7 tournament earlier this month (as reported here). More to come!

We’ve reported here before on the Seattle Unified Soccer League, with teams including Special Olympics athletes as well as athletes without disabilities. This past Saturday at Starfire, the Unified Soccer coaches from West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School led a team representing the Sounders in a match against Colorado counterparts who came to town with the Rapids (who played Sounders FC that night). WSHS coach Alex LaRosa e-mailed today to let us know about it and to share the link for the clip above, a Sounders-produced story by longtime local sports journalist Tony Ventrella, featuring the teams, the coaches (you’ll hear from Alex), and the game. She says the team that she and Sealth’s Andrew Saldana coached featured athletes from both their schools as well as Franklin HS. And they won – congratulations!

(From left, back row: Manager Vinnie Sposari, Coach John Coats, Buick MacNamara, Larry Jensen, Merle Rowan-Kennedy, John Roach, Cody Jones, Geoffrey Wukelic, Coach Fred Jensen. Front row: Alex Coats, Joey Werlech, Daniel “DJ” Kemp, Vinnie Sposari, Jack Larsen, Jayme Kelly. Photo by Lisa Roach)
A victory last night in Seatac means a state-tournament spot for the West Seattle Little League‘s most veteran players. This report is courtesy of Cami MacNamara:

West Seattle Little League’s Seniors Division Team (ages 15-16) has advanced to the Little League Seniors State Tournament in Mount Vernon on July 16th with a 3-2 win over South Highline Nationals.

The District 7 tournament was hosted at PacWest and West Seattle lost their first game on Sunday, July 1st to South Highline. This placed West Seattle in a must-win situation in double elimination play. They played again on Tuesday, July 3rd, winning 4-3 over Renton, and then handed South Highline their first loss on July 4th, winning 4-3 in extra innings, which forced a rematch last night.

West Seattle was home team, and pitcher Larry Jensen, supported by a strong defense, got the game started the top of the 1st with only 7 pitches. In the bottom of the 1st, lead-off batter Jack Larsen walked, stole second, and was brought in with an RBI single by pitcher Jensen. West Seattle led 1-0.

The game remained tied until the top of the 4th when South Highline pitcher Jimi Fay hit a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the 5th, left fielder Joey Werlech walked and three bats later, second baseman Vinnie Sposari hit an RBI single to bring in Werlech. West Seattle was now up 2-1.

In a final attempt to tie the game, South Highline second baseman Jorge Esqueda hit a single. Larry Jensen then struck out a batter and that was followed by an out at first. With 2 outs, South Highline’s first baseman Ryan Macri then hit an RBI single to bring in Esqueda across the plate for a 2-2 tie. Joey Werlech was brought in to relief pitch and the final out was made by shortstop Alex Coats, throwing South Highline’s batter out at first.

With one last shot before extra innings, West Seattle first baseman Geoffrey Wukelic hit a solid double. Pitch runner DJ Kemp came in for Wukelic. The next two batters flied out to center field, and lead-off batter Jack Larsen ended the game with an RBI single. DJ Kemp slid head first into home plate for the photo finish, beating the throw home and securing the 3-2 victory in the bottom of the 7th.

West Seattle will now play on July 16th at Sherman Anderson Field in Mount Vernon at 1 pm. Follow all tournament results on website, Facebook, and/or Twitter.

Congratulations and good luck!

Something else big happening in the Alki area tomorrow, along with the Seafair Pirates Landing – a baseball tournament hosted by West Seattle Little League! Thanks to Cami MacNamara for sharing the news:

We are proud to announce the District 7 Little League All-Star Tournament for 11-12 year olds will commence at Bar S [64th & Admiral], beginning this Saturday, July 7 at 10 am!! Come on down to watch some great baseball with your entire family while five teams battle it out in this double-elimination tourney to determine who moves on to the State Championships! West Seattle Little League plays on Sunday at 1 pm.

If you and your kids enjoyed their season at Bar S, this is an event not to be missed! There will be vendors, a 50-50 raffle, and, of course, the comestibles available at the Snack Shack so as to round out that full-body Little League experience. Come on down and join the fun!

Cami adds that WSLL’s Senior Team, ages 15-16, is playing the South Highline Nationals tonight at PacWest Field in Seatac – and the winner will advance to the state Little League Senior Tournament in Mount Vernon. Watch westseattlelittleleague.com for updates (and we’ll update here later, too).

11:30 PM UPDATE: WSLL won that game and is off to the state tournament!

Just stopped by West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor; California/Charlestown) to say hi to (from left) co-proprietors Tim McConnell and Lori McConnell and Ilana Balint from Run for Good Racing Company, as they sign up participants for the first-ever Float Dodger 5K. Till 4 pm, you can get a $5 discount on registration, plus some of Lori’s birthday cake (raffles and giveaways too):

The run/walk will precede the West Seattle Grand Parade on July 21st, as a charity fundraiser (Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and Rotary Club of West Seattle) and a fun way to make the day even more fun, for participants and spectators. If you missed our earlier mentions and don’t see this till after 4, you can still sign up online – just go here – or by stopping by WS Runner.

Still have room in your summer-camp program? Let us know – we’re putting together a list this week. For starters, here’s an update from Chief Sealth International High School basketball coach Colin Slingsby:

Sealth Basketball and Life Skills Camp is hosting three sessions this summer, and registration is still open for all sessions! The dates are as follows:

Session 1- June 25th to June 29th (about 20 spots left!)
Session 2- July 9th to July 13th
Session 3- August 6th to August 10th

Here is a direct link to the camp brochure and registration info.