Author:	Merceds DeBruler
	Grade:	Junior
	School:	Three Rivers Christian
	Mascot:	Eagles
	League:	Independent
	Classification:	1B

Greetings from the Longview-Kelso area. My name is Mercedes DeBruler.  I am currently a junior at Three Rivers Christian, a high school of fifty students which is 1B for the purpose of WIAA classification.

At Three Rivers Christian the primary focus is on academics. Still, we are slowly building our athletic programs. Currently, students can participate in volleyball and cross country in the fall, basketball and cheerleading in the winter and tennis and golf in the spring. We are hoping to add more sports as our enrollment increases.

If we want to compete in a sport not offered at T.R.C.S we have to option of playing for the public school we would normally attend. That works out very well for me as I swim for the Mark Morris Monarchs. We have been Greater St. Helens League 2A champions for several years in a row and placed 2nd at the district championships last fall. With a large, strong young group of swimmers returning for next year we have high hopes of winning the district championship and earning a solid placing at the state meet.

Getting back to Three Rivers Christian, our teams are getting more competitive each year. Last fall our young volleyball team qualified for the state 1B tournament. Even though they lost their first two matches the girls on the team feel like they can give a stronger showing next year with plenty of hard work in the off-season.

Our boys basketball team had their best season in our young history, finishing third in the Columbia Valley League. We felt like we had a real good shot at getting to the state tournament, but, we were knocked out by Taholah in the district tourney when we had a horrible night shooting the ball. Give Taholah credit for really hustling on defense. The future is very bright as we only lost two players to graduation. I am predicting we will make our first state tourney appearance next year.

My winter sport is cheerleading. We have a great coach, Tasha Settle, who works us hard to make sure the entire squad is in sync on our sideline cheers and dance routines. It makes us feel good when opposing fans approach us after games with compliments. This year we did something different. We did a glow stick dance with girls from the squad and girls who are on the basketball team. It was really fun since we have never done anything like this before.


Outside of school I swim for the Killer Whales Swim Club from the first part of March until the start of high school season in late August. I also help coach fifth grade girls involved in Girls on the Run program. I am active in church youth group and I helped keep statistics, when available, for the radio broadcasts of the Kelso High School girls basketball games.

I love just about all sports and would like to do something in that area as an adult. I am thinking about sports journalism or sports administration.  Who knows, maybe I can get a job with the W.I.A.A when I graduate from college. That would be great. Being on the LEAP committee has been a wonderful experience. My thanks to WIAA for picking me.