Zephie Mathison of King’s Way Christian clears the bar on the high jump at the Tiger Invite on Saturday. Photo courtesy Chris Barker

The Tiger Invite this past weekend in Battle Ground and the upcoming John Ingram Memorial Twilight at Columbia River High School run on the spirit of coaches, administrators, and volunteers, all in an effort to showcase area athletes

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

It is so much more than an event on a calendar.

A track and field meet is quite the endeavor to organize. Then try it for 17 teams or more.

This past weekend, the Tiger Invite hosted 17 teams from Southwest Washington at Battle Ground High School. Later this week, the John Ingram Memorial Twilight Track and Field Meet will be held at Columbia River High School.

This is a salute to the athletes, but also the coaches, administrators, and volunteers who join forces to make it all possible.

“It’s really cool because you get to see the whole community come together,” said Battle Ground senior Julia Stiffler. “It’s basically every team from around here. When you’re in Southwest Washington, you find yourself having to go to meets in Portland or meets up north. To have everybody from Clark County compete against each other here, that’s really cool.”

Track and field is competitive, but also social.

“The difference between track and other sports, you’re making friends with a bunch of different people who do the same events as you,” said Itzel Contreras Montiel, a junior from Prairie High School. “I’m making friends from Skyview, from Fort, people I’ve never talked to. We’re just cheering each other on. It’s so positive.”

These large invites allow for more of that vibe.

Josiah Alanis of Evergreen won the high jump at the Tiger Invite on Saturday. Photo courtesy Chris Barker

The Tiger Invite is actually a little smaller this year. A quirk in the calendar, with the way the WIAA had to schedule its sports seasons, led to the Tiger Invite changing its dates. Usually it is one of the first events of the season, the kick-off to track and field season, if you will.

This year, mid April, and 17 teams.

Still, it takes a number of people to make it happen.

Kevin Donovan, the head coach of Battle Ground track and field, said close to 100 volunteers are needed to execute this meet. This event has been going on since the 2000s, and he has several people who volunteer every year.

“If you have a system in place with great assistant coaches and parents, it makes it a lot better,” Donovan said.

“I do stuff before the meet, but now I sit around and do nothing,” he said Saturday morning, just as the meet was starting. “Between the parents and my assistant coaches, they do most of the work on meet day.”

It does take months of planning, though. Once the invite begins, it kind of runs itself — with the help of the volunteers, of course.

What does Donovan get out of it?

“A Sunday full of relief,” he said with a laugh.

Seriously, it is a showcase for the community.

“We like Battle Ground High School. We think it’s a great school. We have a pretty good facility even if it’s just six lanes,” Donovan said. “We like doing things like this. It’s more work, but we like putting it on.”

Julia Stiffler, left, of Battle Ground, and Itzel Contreras Montiel of Prairie, are friends and competitors, enjoying the Tiger Invite on Saturday. Photo by Paul Valencia

Trevor Person, the school’s athletic director, echoed those thoughts.

“Kevin is the brains behind this whole operation,” Person said. “It’s been a couple of months, making sure we have everything we need to make it the best Invite in Clark County. It’s a lot of work, but when you step on the grounds and see this, it’s all worth it.”

Battle Ground debuted its new digital scoreboard at the Tiger Invite, too.

The event also showed what happens when everyone works together.

“The neat thing about the Battle Ground community, they want to help out, they want to help our athletics, and they want to be part of something special,” Person said.

Paris Ackerman of Skyview finishes the 100 on Saturday at the Tiger Invite. Photo courtesy Chris Barker

There are more than 100 athletes on the Battle Ground track and field boys and girls teams. They also help out with the event, even when not competing.

“Being on the team for four years, I’ve been somebody who has helped out and somebody who has competed,” Stiffler said. “Being able to represent your school and sponsor Battle Ground is pretty awesome.

“It’s something we take pride in. Our team is very supportive. Our entire team is here right now even though only half of us are competing today.”