X-country teams win ribbons at Fort Steilacoom Vashon High School cross-country runners made a good showing in the first meet of the season and both the boys’ and girls’ teams showed much promise as they began the 5K competition at Fort Steilacoom in a four-way meet with Fife, Steilacoom and Orting high schools on Thursday, Sept 11. The boys, despite missing two key runners, still had a great performance based on a solid effort. Steilacoom won the meet with 51 points. Orting placed second with 55 points, then it was Fife one point behind in third at 56 points. Vashon put up 64 points. Even though this was a fourth-place finish, there were a number of highlights to go around. Sophomore Colin Andrus was the Pirates’ number one runner, clocking in at 19:28 and fifth place overall. In sixth place was teammate James Spencer, who had a battle to the finish line with a Fife opponent he held off to the end. Both boys brought home ribbons for their efforts. Another exciting finish came from sophomore Aidan Cyra who picked up the pace 200 meters from the finish to beat his time from last year on the Steilacoom course by 30 seconds. The girls’ team performed equally well, with Savannah Krug finishing as the number one Vashon runner, earning a fifth-place overall in a time of 23:00. Leigh Sheridan followed her closely across the finish line in 23:07, earning herself the sixth place ribbon. The girls’ team looks strong this year, with four returning team members, four freshman runners and a new enthusiastic senior running for her first season.