Anyone waiting to catch an early evening ferry at Point Defiance last Thursday had the opportunity to see the start and finish of the Pirates’ cross country meet, where the girls team took a close second behind Seattle Christian. Vashon went up against both Seattle Christian and Life Christian at a double-loop course beginning in the open grass area just across the street in Point Defiance Park.

The afternoon meet began with seventh grader Eva Cyra turning in a time of 12:19 on the 1.5-mile middle school course.

In the high school girls team competition, Vashon and Seattle Christian both earned 28 points, requiring a tie-breaking decision.

The first tie-breaker is to compare each team’s number-six runner. Since Vashon and Seattle Christian did not have a sixth runner, the tie-breaker was determined by adding up the first four team places instead of the first five.

After all of this, it was Seattle Christian that ultimately won the meet over Vashon, 17-19 (the lower score wins).

Madi Groen and Peri Roberts were a big help to the team, placing second and third overall. The boys had a tougher time, placing second behind Seattle Christian, which had 18 points to Vashon’s 54 points.

However, many of the boys ran personal-best times on the 3.1-mile course. Seattle Christian has a nice pack of boys that run well together up front, which has benefited them this season. Pirate runners Ryan Krug and Nathan Williams both had strong races, and Codi Williams put in a great effort as well.

— Kevin Ross is a cross country coach at Vashon High School.