Hydroplane lineup set for this weekend’s Columbia Cup + Dust Devils back in town
The Tri-Cities Water Follies organization confirmed this week that there will be nine unlimited hydroplanes competing for the Columbia Cup trophy.
The event runs Friday through Sunday this coming weekend.
Here is the list of unlimiteds vying for the crown:
The U-1 Miss HomeStreet Bank, with first-year driver Dylan Runne.
The U-3 Grigg’s presents Miss Ace Hardware, and driver Jimmy King. The boat is the fleet’s lone piston-powered boat.
The U-8 Beacon Electric and driver J. Michael Kelly. The team currently sits in second place in the national high point standings, just 1 point behind the U-11 team.
The U-9 Beacon Plumbing, with driver Corey Peabody. The team sits in third place in the national high points standings. Both the U-8 and U-9 are owned by the Tri-Cities’ Darrel and Vanessa Strong.
The U-11 Legend Yacht Transport presented by The Truss Company, with driver Jamie Nilsen. The team sits atop the national high points standings, and owners Scott and Shannon Raney are based out of the Cle Elum area.
The U-12 Graham Trucking with rookie driver Bobby King (who happens to be Jimmy King’s son). Team owner Rob Graham is bringing the boat out of drydock for the first time in three years, expecting to race it here in the Tri-Cities and in Seattle the following week for the APBA Gold Cup.
The U-40 Flav-R-Pac Frozen Fruits and Vegetables, with driver Dustin Echols. Owner Kelly Stocklin has had his team working around the clock to get the boat ready for this race after Echols flipped it in Madison. Usually called the Bucket List Racing, the team got a sponsor for the next two races.
The U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate, with driver Andrew Tate. This is the teammate boat of the U-1, and has only raced the first event of the season in Guntersville, Ala., when Tate flipped it. The Madison. Team has been busy ever since getting the boat race ready.
The 400 Boitano Homes and driver Brent Hall, who is a rookie and still needs seven laps of 130 mph or better to qualify as a driver. If he does so, Hall becomes the first African American driver to qualify as a driver in H1 Unlimited competition. Stocklin also owns this boat.
Weekend schedule
The unlimiteds will have testing from 8-10 a.m. on Friday morning before holding qualifying at 1 p.m. later that day.
Meanwhile the smaller classes — the Grand Prix boats and the 2.5 Stocks — will hold heat races during the day.
The Vintage hydroplanes will also be out on the Columbia River.
The STCU Over the River Air Show will be all three days at 11 a.m. each day.
The smaller classes will have the river most of Saturday, with the unlimiteds having Heat 1A and 1B at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.
On Sunday, the next two unlimited heats will be at 10 and 10:30 a.m.; heats 3A and 3B will be at 2:30 and 3 p.m..
The Columbia Cup final is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
All of this, of course, is subject to change.
Northwest League baseball
The Tri-City Dust Devils begin a two-week homestand on Tuesday, playing Hillsboro on Tuesday through Sunday, taking a day off on next Monday, then starting a six-game homestand Tuesday, Aug. 1, against the Eugene Emeralds.
The Dust Devils are 44-46 overall this season in the Northwest League, and sit at 10-14 in the second half of the standings — 7 games behind first-place Vancouver.
Vancouver won the first-half title and the Canadians (a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate) are 55-34 overall.
There have been some outstanding performances this season by some Tri-City players.
Catcher Gustavo Campero leads the team with a .352 batting average, has a team-best 8 home runs, and has driven in 34 runs.
Adrian Palencia also has 8 homers for the Dusties, while Arol Vera leads the team with 47 RBIs.
Joe Stewart has a team-best 37 stolen bases.
On the pitching side of things, Chase Chaney has a team-best 6 victories and a 3.13 earned run average.
Caden Dana and Sammy Natera Jr., are tied for the team lead with 71 strikeouts.
All start times for this long homestand are at 7:05 p.m.
On Wednesday, there will be two unlimited hydroplanes on display at Gesa Stadium for fans to get a close-up look.
Signings
Hanford High grad Moises Cossio will be playing this fall for the Seattle Pacific University men’s soccer team.
Kamiakin graduate Kate Hollenberg will continue on with her soccer career in college this fall, playing for Montana State University Billings.
Walla Walla’s Lauryn Bergevin will be a member of the Northwest Nazarene University softball team next spring.
Golf
Kennewick’s David Vongsalath and his son, Tommy Vongsalath, won the Washington Golf Association’s Parent-Child tournament at Canyon Lakes Golf Course on July 7.
The pair teamed for a 65 (7-under-par) score.
David Vongsalath holds Richland’s Columbia Point Golf Course record with a 59, shot in 2018.
Othello’s Ben and Benjamin Garza finished third at the Canyon Lakes event with a 68, while Kennewick’s Andy and Riley Brandt were tied for fifth at 71, and Kennewick’s Joel and Grason Mitchell tied for 13th at 75.
There were 48 teams entered.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
