The Pirate track and field team participated in two large invitational meets over the past two weekends. The events gave both newcomers and seasoned participants the opportunity to compete against a host of larger high school teams, while shining the spotlight on several girls’ team members.

At the Lil’ Norway Invitational event in Poulsbo on April 4, the Pirates rallied to bring 18 top-10 finishers in a field of 15 high schools. The day was punctuated by the girls’ team scoring a notable 50 points and placing fourth overall behind other dominant 2A and 3A teams.

The highlight for the day came on the heels of both girls’ and boys’ sprint medley relays (SMR), as the Pirates finished in second and fourth places, respectively. The SMR offers a potpourri of sprint distances for the four runners to complete in a  sequence of 100, 100,  200 then 400 meters. Girls’ team members Annika Hille, Emily Browne, Annie Muller and Lauren Jenks, as well as boys’ team members Kellan Riley, Gerry Gerrior, Nate Lawson and Jason Kruly, cruised to a spot on the podium and a place in the Vashon High School record books as both teams set new school records in the event. Finish times were 2:06.63 for the girls and 1:46.09 for the boys.

More notable track performances came with Hille grabbing a coveted second place in the girls’ 200 meters and fifth place in the 100 meters. Teammate Eva Anderson took sixth place in the mile with a personal record (PR) of 5:53.37, as well as a seventh-place finish in the 800 meters. Sibling racers Aria and Selena Mildon both earned PRs in a tight 3200 meters competition, with Aria taking fourth place in 13:36.12 and Selena finishing seventh with 13:41.65.

On the boys’ side, freshman Hunter Justis garnered a 16th-place finish in his first time ever running the 400 meters, as well as eighth place in the 1,600-meter event — his first opportunity to compete in a meet this season after an injury.

In the field events, Emily Browne bounded to a third-place spot in the girls’ triple jump with a jump of 31 feet, 6.25 inches. Leapers Muller and Jenks wrapped up the third- and fourth-place spots in the girls’ long jump competition with jumps of 14 feet, 5 inches, and 13 feet, 11.5 inches respectively.

Sophomore jumper Kellan Riley must have eaten his Wheaties that morning as he improved on his best gain in the boys’ triple jump four times over with a jump of 34 feet, 6.75 inches for a ninth-place finish. His teammates Nate Lawson and Julian Cross had big PRs in the javelin throw as well, with Lawson taking fifth place overall on a throw of 132 feet, 9 inches, and Cross besting his own prior best throw by more than 20 feet.

Last Saturday, three Pirate girls’ teammembers accepted  invitations to compete in three events during a wet and wild Tacoma Invitational event held at Lincoln High School. Thirty five teams, primarily 3A and 4A, crowded the infield for a long day of competition amid rain squalls alternating with sun breaks.

Though the sand in the pit was hard-packed from the soaking, Kat Andrus showed her stuff once again on the girls’ triple jump runway with a stellar first-place finish jump of 35 feet, 7.5 inches. Senior Emily Browne, who just this season incorporated the triple jump into her track and field arsenal, took 12th place with a jump of