Mayor declares ‘Alexa Efraimson Appreciation Day’

On Monday, Camas Mayor Scott Higgins declared that Friday, Aug. 8, will be “Alexa Efraimson Appreciation Day.”

The 17-year-old, who will be a senior at Camas High School in the fall, has broken many a record as she has racked up numerous distance running medals, accolades and awards on the state, national and international stage.

But during yesterday’s City Council meeting, the creation of a special day named just for Efraimson that recognizes her athletic, academic and community service achievements was purely local.

“She is an exceptional student, in an exceptional family, in what I consider an exceptional community, doing exceptional things,” Higgins said. “We want to make sure we recognize those things.”

And that list of accomplishments is long, and continues to grow.

In early July, Efraimson won the USA Junior Track and Field 1,500-meter championship at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in 4 minutes, 16.87 seconds. Later that month, she earned a sixth-place finish in the 1,500 meter event at the World Junior Track and Field Championships. She crossed the finish line for Team USA in 4 minutes, 13.31 seconds. Ethiopian Dawit Seyaum won the race in 4:09.86. Teammate Gudaf Tsegay followed in second place with a time of 4:10.83. Elise Cranney earned fourth place for Team USA in 4:12.82

Efraimson brought a bronze medal home from last year’s 1,500 in Ukraine.

She also won the Nike Cross National Championship, shattering the Portland Meadows course record by 37 seconds with her time of 16:50.1. She captured the Class 4A state cross country championship with a course record time of 17:01.1. She placed first at the Nike Cross Nationals Northwest Regional, Nike BorderClash, Bill Dellinger Invitational, Nike Pre-Nationals Jim Danner Championship race, Westside Classic and the Greater St. Helens League Championships. Efraimson broke the national high school record when she won the 4A 1,600 state championship with a time of 4:33.29. She also became the 800 state champion and improved her meet record to 2:04.1. Efraimson earned first place in the 800 at the Brooks PR Invitational and ran a personal best time of 2:03.26.

Higgins said he will continue to expect great things from this Papermaker.

“There is no doubt in my mind that we will be hearing about her for quite some time,” he said. “We are very, very proud that she will be able to say that Camas is her hometown.”