The Pirate Harriers took to the road this past Thursday, Oct. 13, to travel to Bellingham’s Lake Padden to race against ten other teams at the Lake Lap Invitational.

The smoke that had canceled their original trip to Leavenworth cleared at Lake Padden, uncovering beautiful fall colors as the racers made their way over the 2.6 miles around the lake.

Pirate Harriers were led by VHS junior, Christian Kincade, for the men’s team, finishing in 15:33 minutes, and junior Madeline Yarkin for the women’s team, finishing in 17:03 minutes — first place by 50 seconds over the next four runners all from Sehome High School.

Kincade’s time was a best for him as he averaged under six minutes a mile, with the men’s team rounded out by Oli Nielsen, Hank McSheehy, Mike Anderson and Jonah Cole.

Yarkin led the rest of the Pirate Harriers’ team of Cecelia Guenther, Hannah Coicaud, Emma Campbell and Delilah Spence.

The team’s comments on the race centered on their appreciation of the rolling trail and that it was a one-lap course, as opposed to the multi-lap courses of almost every other race.

The one-lap feature, however, made it hard for the fans to see the runners but for the start and finish; the Pirates dealt with the lack of access as a team — as one-half of the Pirates raced, while the other half spread out on the course to support and cheer on their teammates.

Hoping the smoke would clear enough to race their final league meet of the season possible, the Pirates went north again, this time to Port Townsend, on Tuesday, October 18, just past The Beachcomber’s publication deadline.

Results can be found at the team’s website, www.athletic.net/team/360/cross-country/2022.