Last Thursday the Pirate cross country team competed at Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue at a mid-week invitational that included 12 other teams from various leagues and classifications.

The race was a 4k, a little shorter than the 5k races at most meets. This gave runners an opportunity to work on faster foot turnover and speed as they prepared for their post-season meets.

Cedarcrest High School from Duvall won both the boys and girls team titles, and King’s High School from Seattle took second as a team for both the boys and girls races.

Other participating Nisqually League schools were Bellevue Christian, Cedar Park Christian and Eatonville. Vashon placed 10th as a team in the girls race with 258 points, and the boys finished 11th with 298 points.

The Nisqually League championship meet will be held tomorrow at Fort Steilacoom and will feature eight Nisqually League schools. The boys and girls team champions for 2012 will be crowned at the conclusion of the meet.

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