Oregon City girls fire up in Pass, Punt & Kick

Walker. Preston sisters win PP&K sectionals

The Clackamas Review, Nov 18, 2009

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OREGON CITY – Three young athletes from Oregon City won age-group titles at the sectionals of the NFL Pepsi Pass, Punt and Kick Competition, hosted by the Oregon City Optimists on Nov. 8.

Redland School sixth grader Cierra Walker won in the division for 10-and 11-year-old girls; Ogden seventh grader Meaghan Preston won in the 12-13 girls division; and Oregon City High School freshman Catelyn Preston won in the 14-15 girls division.

Walker had a total score of 237 feet, 9 inches, with efforts of 75 feet in punting, 82-3 in passing and 80-6 in place kicking.

Meaghan Preston won her division with a score of 224-9: 62 feet in punting, 75-9 feet in passing and 87 feet in place kicking.

Catelyn Preston had a total score of 290-6, with 95 feet on her punt, 106-9 in passing and 88-9 on her place kick.

The competition measured the competitors’ attempts at passing, punting and kicking a football, for distance and accuracy. Distance was deducted for attempts that were off-line.

The sectional included winners from local competitions held in Salem, Newberg, Portland Metro and the Oregon coast.

Walker’s and Catelyn Preston’s scores were high enough to qualify them for the Seattle Seahawks Pass, Punt and Kick Team Championship, scheduled at halftime of a Seahawks game on Dec. 6. They advanced because their scores were among the top four for their ages divisions when compared with sectional winners from other competitions held in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Alaska and Idaho.

Two years ago Walker came through with the third best score in the nation for 8- and 9-year girls at the Seahawks Team Championships, advancing her to the national finals, which were held at a NFL playoff game.

This is the fifth sectional win for Catelyn Preston and her fifth trip to the Seahawks Team Championships. She won in Seattle in 2005, but her score was not high enough to advance her to the national finals.