Nearly 4,000 fans poured into the Town Toyota Center during the three-days and ten games of the NCW Basketball Showcase.  The Wenatchee Valley Sports Council and Sports Foundation put up $2,000 in scholarhips for the Shootout.  Schools were judge in five categories:  attendance; spirit; band; cheer/dance/drill; and sportsmanship.

    Cashmere and Waterville each earned 8 shootout pins, but the Bulldogs went 1-and-1 on the floor while the Shockers were 0-and-2.  Chelan tied with Eastmont with 6 shootout pins each, but won a tiebreaker by virtue of going 2-and-oh in games while the Wildcats were 1-and-1.

    Cashmere's ASB was rewarded with a $1,000 scholarship and the traveling trophy (pictured above with Foundation Chair Dan Kelly and Cashmere cheerleader Paige Castro).  Waterville received an $600 scholarship while Chelan earned a $400 scholarship.

    Ridge to River has been a community tradition in the Wenatchee Valley for 29-years.  This 35-mile, multi-sport relay begins with a cross country and downhill ski at Mission Ridge, a 4.5-mile run, 19-mile bike, 8-mile kayak paddle and 1/4-mile sprint to the finish line at Walla Walla Point Park in downtown Wenatchee.  At its hay-day, R2R garnered nearly 2,000 participants, but in recent years, numbers have dwindled significantly.

    It was in August of 2006 that the 16-member Ridge to River board voted to turn control of the race over to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program of North Central Washington.  RSVP Executive Director Brian Ropp was tasked with cutting overhead and helping R2R to a fiscal balance it hadn't seen in 2004 or 2005 (it had barely paid for itself).  At the time, race coordinator Jennifer Korfiatis was kept on board to continue under contract with RSVP.  But in 2007, Korfiatis stepped down and Wenatchee's Chance Harris was selected as her replacement.

    Following last year's race, a group of current and former R2R board members and other concerned competitors began meeting to plan changes and discuss how to make improvements to the race.  One of those who took the reigns of the volunteer committee is longtime competitor Tom Feil.

   Feil and his group worked hand-in-hand with Harris on planning and tweaking the race in an attempt to attract more competitors, while making the contest safer and more attractive to all ages.  One of the proposals from the group was to start the bike leg of the race in the Mission Ridge parking lot and switch the run to lower elevations nearer Wenatchee, removing the jarring 4-mile down hill jaunt.

    According to those involved in those meetings, progress had been made with Harris on-board to go ahead with implementing changes for the 2009 race.  Another possibility was a brief stoppage of the race to shuttle competitors from the base at Mission to Squilchuck where the race would resume with the traditional bike-leg.  The running leg would take place closer to Wenatchee.

    But as a new year approached and with Harris in South America, RSVP Executive Director Brian Ropp came out and announced the 2009 race would be the same, with all the traditional legs in their respective order, just as the race had been run in the past.  A ripple shot through those who had been meeting to exact change to the race.

    According to Ropp, a decision had to be made.  "Chance (Harris) had been working with some folks on changing the downhill leg but some things fell through and we had to get going," said Ropp. 

    He continued, "...there were some old board members and current board members on there (the committee) but it doesn't really matter because RSVP is the manager."

    Ropp said he based a lot of his decision on an on-line pole he and webmaster Al Neace ran on the Ridge to River website.  "We sent out 433 emails and got 132 back...90% of which saying they didn't want any changes to the race."

    While there may seem to have been a lack of communication between Ropp and the ad-hock committee trying to make changes, he did consult current R2R Board President Larry Michael.  Michael said they couldn't ignore the negative reaction to proposed changes.  "We received some pretty nasty emails from racers saying they didn't want change."

    Michael said the overriding theme was "...not to change Ridge to River into something it's not."  He went on to say he thinks it's a good thing..."I like it.  It's going to be the same great race it's always been.  I'm glad we're going back to the original course."

    That's not to say Ropp didn't face some terse moments between his office and the rest of the board.  "I had to pull out the contract and explain to them that we have the ultimate authority on managing the race and that the board is only an advisory board."  Ropp said he's glad to have the support of R2R President, "...I'll let Chance deal with them (the rest of the board) but I think Larry and I believe this is best for this year."

    Michael likened Ridge to River to a lame horse.  "I told someone recently it's like your favorite horse that has a broken leg.  We all love the horse and we've tried to tape it and bandage it and limp along.  But in the end, maybe it would be best to put it out of its misery."

    Ropp agreed that changes probably need to occur, but this year needs to be traditional.  "Yea, maybe we make it an adventure race...maybe we split it up with a snow element and a downtown element...we'll just have to wait and see.  But for now, we just needed to go ahead with Ridge to River in it's current form."

    Michael has been involved in Ridge to River since the 1980's as both a competitor and board member more recently.  He said he's kind of excited about the possibility of competing this year, if it is the last traditional Ridge to River.  "I've always said I would go Iron (man) one more time...so I guess I'd better do it this year."

    Meanwhile, Alcoa Wenatchee Works could not be reached for comment on it's sponsorship agreement with the race.  According to Ropp, "...yes, Alcoa is definitely back as a sponsor this year and we're happy to have them."  A spokesperson for the Wenatchee World said the newspaper would continue it's title sponsorship of the junior race.

    The only concrete change this year in the adult race will be a move from Saturday back to the traditional Sunday.  The race is set for April 19th.  The children's event at Walla Walla Point Park will be Saturday, April 4th.  Ropp says on-line registration for both events will begin by January 20th on www.r2r.org.