Snohomish runner wins gold

Published 11:25 pm Monday, July 30, 2007

Amy-Eloise Neale is serious about running – so serious that winning a national title was her goal.

In the end she won two, and those victories were pretty sweet.

The 11-year-old from Snohomish won the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs in the Midget Girls division at the 2007 U.S. Track &Field National Junior Olympic Championships held this past weekend at Mount Sac College in Walnut, Calif.

“(Amy-Eloise) was really focused and she ran like a champion,” said Frank Dauncey, her Snohomish Track Club coach. “She just wouldn’t settle for anything else.”

Amy-Eloise ran the 3,000 in 10 minutes, 37.43 seconds on Saturday, and after she won the 1,500 in 4:50.33 on Sunday, Dauncey treated her to an ice cream cone.

“She won’t eat ice cream when she’s training,” Dauncey said. “She’s that serious.”

Amy-Eloise was born in Britain – her family moved to the United States eight years ago for her father’s job – and Dauncey said she has been running since she was 7.

Dauncey added that Amy-Eloise has been known to goof around during training, but “when it comes to racing, she gets really serious. She loves to run.”

Amy-Eloise participated in a running camp in Humbolt, Calif., shortly before the Junior Olympic Nationals. She kept up with some of the best high-school runners from Northern California, including state champions.

At the end of the camp, one of the runners asked Amy-Eloise how old she was.

“They just couldn’t believe she was 11,” Dauncey said. “She could compete on any high school cross-country team right now.”

Baseball

Mill Creek LL all-stars win 10/11 state title: Jaokim Soderquist used his bat and arm to help lift the Mill Creek Little League all-stars to the state title at the 10/11 state baseball tournament held last week at Everest Park in Kirkland.

Soderquist led the team of 10- and 11-year olds from Mill Creek during the state tournament with seven home runs, nine extra-base hits and 18 RBI. He also recorded two wins on the mound.

Mill Creek LL was undefeated in five games at the state tournament, outscoring opponents 53-6 en route to the championship.

Alex Jondahl added two homers, six extra-base hits and six RBI for Mill Creek LL. Derrick Mahlum finished with two pitching victories and four RBI.

The remaining members of the team were: Jason Todd, Dan Kingma, Daniel Jang, Alek Baumgartner, Duncan Bartok, Blake Ozuna, Alex Kisena, Jackson Stoll, Matt Buerger, and Casey Dawes. The team was managed by Scott Mahlum and coached by Brian Jang and Gary Dawes.

Local players help Dow win AAU title: Chris Peterson and Brennon Steinbaugh led a group of local prep players that helped the Dow Baseball Club 15U team win the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship on July 22 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla.

Steinbaugh, from Marysville-Pilchuck High School, and Archbishop Murphy’s Peterson were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Joining them on the team were Kyle Pace from Marysville-Pilchuck; and Andy Gay, Mike Wishko and Joey Christiansen from Jackson.

Dow 15U beat the previously-undefeated Lake Erie Bulldogs 4-1 to win the AAU championship game, capping a highly successful season in which the team went 44-10 and won four tournament titles.

Softball

North Bothell LL headed to regional after winning state: The North Bothell Little League all star team won the state junior softball championship on July 21 at Lynndale Park in Lynnwood.

With the victory, the North Bothell LL team advanced to represent the state at the West Regional tournament this week in Tucson, Ariz. The regional winner advances to the Little League Softball World Series.

The path to the state title wasn’t easy for North Bothell. After winning its first game, North Bothell dropped its second and advanced to the championship game through the consolation bracket.

North Bothell defeated Sedro-Woolley LL twice in the title series to earn the state crown.

Members of the North Bothell LL team were: Laura Barker, Rhianna Bennett, Caleigh Chaplin, Emily Cook, Shelby Cook, Jordyn Ducotey, Carly Hood, Franki Jordan, Makenzie Kruger, Rachael Lindberg, Rory Peterson, Tracy Rider, and Savannah Rose.