The Scholastic Cup will call Camas High School home for the next 12 months.
A year after finishing second overall among 4A schools, the Papermakers captured one of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s top prizes for the 2017-2018 school year, earning their first-ever Scholastic Cup.
The Scholastic Cup is a year-long competition which recognizes the top school in each of the six WIAA classifications (4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 2B and 1B). The award is based on academic, athletic and sportsmanship excellence with points being awarded for a school’s finish in each of the athletic and academic state championships.
Camas was joined by Interlake (3A), Sehome (2A), Lynden Christian (1A), Saint George’s (2B) and Almira Coulee Hartline (1B) as this year’s Scholastic Cup champions.
“Camas High School was very excited to learn that we finished on top of the standings for the WIAA scholastic cup this year,” Camas athletic director Rory Oster said. “It is an award we have very much wanted to add to our trophy case of accomplishments and we are humbled to finally reach the goal.”
Photo credit: Camas High School
The Papermakers finished with 1,325 total points. Mead, last year’s champion, was second with 1,185 points. Newport of Bellevue (995), Central Valley of Spokane (915) and Puyallup (865) rounded up the top five placers in the 4A classification.
Camas finished second to Mead in last year’s final standings, registering 1,180 points, while Mead posted 1,405.
The Papermakers also finished third in 2015, fourth in 2014 and sixth in 2013.
“There is added excitement winning it this year after finishing in second place last year. After the winter season last school year we were in great position to win the cup and I thought we would hoist the banner last year,” Oster said. “Unfortunately because we do not turn points in for the WIAA activity events we could not hold onto the lead at the completion of the spring season. The fact that Camas High School is able to win this award when they are not eligible to earn points in as many categories as the other schools and were still able to win makes the feat even more impressive.”
Photo credit: Camas High School
Photo credit: Camas High School
Camas claimed WIAA state championships in gymnastics, boys’ swimming and diving and boys’ track and field.
The school also collected second-place finishes at state in girls’ cross country and girls’ golf and a third in girls’ soccer.
Photo credit: Camas High School
Scholastically, the Papermakers were state academic runner-ups in boys’ basketball, boys’ soccer and boys’ wrestling and finished third in football and boys’ track and field.
“Being a student-athlete at Camas High School is special. We have great families in our community that emphasize academic success at a young age, so our students grow up with the expectation of excelling in the classroom,” Oster said. “When they get to Camas High School, we have great coaches who continue that demand and keep emphasizing that excellence in the classroom. We focus on doing things the ‘right way’ and sticking close to our core covenants and teaching positive life lessons, and the success on the athletic side of things will come. To see our student-athletes excel at such a high level in both the classroom and athletically is so great because we know that the lessons they learn from working so hard in both areas is going to make them very successful people later in life.”
Overall, the Papermakers collected points in 11 sporting activity categories and 12 academic categories.
The school also received a maximum total of 25 points for sportsmanship after having no ejections in any varsity event during the school year.
“What makes this award so special for us is that it is not an individual or even a team award. This is a school award. This is an award that over 1,000 people had a hand in earning,” Oster said. “It is a verification that Camas High School student-athletes do things the right way, and our athletic programs at Camas High School are allowing young men and women to learn life lessons that will make them very successful down the road in life.”
Photo credit: Camas High School
In the 2A classification, Columbia River placed ninth overall with 655 points, while Ridgefield was 11th with 625. The Chieftains’ won the state championship in boys’ soccer and finished second in both girls’ soccer and girls’ bowling.
The Spudders won a pair of scholastic state championships, triumphing in boys’ golf and girls’ bowling.
King’s Way Christian placed 11th in the 1A ranks with 570 points.
