This is a fairly new cross-state rivalry that so far extends to football, basketball and baseball. Last year Vashon went to Chelan for the football opener and this year it is Chelan’s turn to come west. Let’s hope budget considerations and gas prices don’t squash the rivalry after two years.

The basketball rivalry has been developing at the State Tournament as both schools have been regular visitors to the Winter championships.

The Pirates have only four home games this year and, because our field doesn’t meet playoff standards, will have to play any post-season games off-island. So get out your green and gold fill the stadium tonight.

The other sports have practicing hard and start their competitions next week or the week after.

Girls soccer opens at home Sept. 13 against arch-rival Charles Wright. The Pirates have lots of returnees from last year’s fourth-place state team and a good group of freshmen. Could this be the year the Pirate girls go all the way to the top?

Cross country opens at Fort Steilacoom Thursday, Sept. 8, and hosts the only home meet the following Thursday, Sept. 15. The girls should be strong with three top runners and some promising freshmen and supporting runners. The boys are a question mark this year. With hard work they could come together for some good team points but didn’t appear to have any top individual runners early on.

A highlight of the season is the annual Ferry to Ferry Run Oct. 1. In this fund-raiser for the program the team members will take pledges for total miles run of the 13.6 mile distance, starting at Talequah with the departure of the 8 a.m. ferry. Community members and supporters are invited to join the team for the whole distance or one or more legs.

I’m far from an authority on volleyball, but I saw some good veteran players and a lot of girls who looked like they were ready to play some serious volleyball at an early practice. They open at Highline Sept. 7 and host their first home match Monday, Sept. 19.

Boys tennis opens at Cascade Christian the day after Labor Day, Sept. 6, then hosts three home matches Sept. 9, 13 and 16. Don’t miss those first home contests because there is only one more home date on the schedule, Sept. 30.

Starting tonight let’s make this The Year of the Pirate!

If you haven’t yet registered for the Burby event go to www.billburbyrace.org before it’s too late. I’ll be there to defend my M70+ 5K title.

A new event this year is for bicyclists on July 31. Sustainable Vashon is putting on the Park to Park Ride, a choice of 23+ or 33+ mile rides starting from the North End ferry or Paradise Ridge. See www.parktopark.org for information and registration. I’ll have to miss that one because I’ll be on vacation.

The Heart of the Sound Triathlon is Aug. 7, starting and finishing at Jensen Point. Swim, bike and run or get together with a couple friends for a relay team. I’ll run or bike, both slowly, if a swimmer and another individual wants to put together a for-fun relay team. See www.hotstriathlon.org.

High school cross country coach Kevin Ross has invited the public to train with the team a few times this summer. First is tomorrow, July 6, at Island Center Forest. Look for information on Vashon Running Club’s Facebook page.

This Sunday, July 10, the movie “Running on the Sun” is showing at 1 p.m. at the Vashon Theatre. Admission is free; be prepared to buy snacks and goodies at the concession stand. The Vashon Ultra group is sponsoring the movie and a relaxed 5K run at noon. They plan to have groups for all paces.

The Island has something for almost anyone who wants to get out and be active during the summer. Check with the Park District, any of the above organizations, or ask your friends.

Ty Christopherson and his crew prepare to start Sexy One.

Four boats were in the water shortly after 5 a.m. waiting for enough light to start the circuit, but by sunup around 5:20 all four had returned to the beach at Jensen Point. Karl Olsen, last year’s winner, Paul Hoffman, Evan Mattingly and Ty Christopherson all encountered problems keeping the 50-year-old outboard racing engines running smoothly.

Mattingly’s boat, bearing the number 32 in memory of his VHS football and wrestling teammate Robert Bennedsen, eventually became a donor boat for parts for other three boats. In the spirit of the sport, Mattingly, after determining his boat wasn’t going to run, loaned engine parts to the other drivers to try to get the boats going.

One of the hydros heads toward the rising sun on July 4.

After about an hour Christopherson’s Sexy One was ready and he headed out past Jensen Point at 6:28 a.m. while Olsen and Hoffman tinkered for another 10 minutes or so before deciding to wait until next year.

Christopherson completed the run, south out of Quartermaster Harbor, up the east side, back down the west side and back to Jensen Point in 45 minutes and 24 seconds to claim the perpetual trophy for a year. The one-handed Mickey Mouse alarm clock, the official clock maintained for many years by the late Paul Stoddard, was retired after the 2010 run and timing is now by electronic stop watch.

This vintage outboard propelled Ty Christopherson to victory in the 2011 hydroplane run.

As drivers and crews trailered the boats for another year speculation began about who would run next year and who would come up with another boat. At least two people mentioned the possibility of running inboard hydros next time.

The old nursery rhyme every Northwesterner learns as soon as they are old enough to play outdoors is especially relevant this year.

The Pirate baseball team has been able to play only five scheduled games so far, including today, and they had to travel to Eastern Washington to find dry fields for two of those games. Nine games have been rained out so far.

The team is doing well when they get a chance to play, losing to 1A powerhouse Cashmere in extra innings after a late-game injury to a key player, then coming back to 10-run Chelan the next day.

The fastpitch team is struggling when they can get outside on the field. They had a reported three outdoor practices before the first game and have been rained out five times while playing three.

Girls tennis has been rained out of about half of their schedule, but took advantage of yesterday’s sunshine to sweep Cascade Christian 5-0. Several of the JV players got matches and did well against their Cougar opponents.

Tianna Koenig shows her stuff in a JV doubles match.

The Pirate golf team has been rained out at least once.

A little rain and mud doesn’t bother soccer players and the Pirate boys are developing as one of the teams to beat in the Nisqually League. Yesterday at Chimacum the Vashon boys won 2-0 with goals by Tylor Heit and Nick Fox-Edele. Freshman keeper Phillip Vandevanter and the Pirate defense kept the ball out of the Pirate net.

The track team has to travel off-Island to compete on all-weather tracks and still manages to turn in top performances every week. The team should be close to full strength for tomorrow’s meet at Charles Wright. Look for more team points as both boys and girls team send more athletes into competition.

Tyler Bernheisel belts out a hit for the Pirates.

Signs of Spring on Vashon Island: mud slides, flooded yards and pastures, canceled baseball and softball games and tennis matches, and the track team heading for the ferry on the way to meets.

The baseball team has managed to play a few games and beat Charles Wright. Not so well against Chimacum, but that was expected.

Larissa Kuhns returns a volley.

Girls tennis had three outdoor practice days before their first match. In the first two and a half weeks of the season they have been able to play two matches that I know of.

Still working up to full strength, the track team is turning in some top individual performances and could have several state qualifiers by mid-May, despite not having a home track. It’s probably not coincidence that the two schools that have tracks suitable for hosting meets have large turnouts and seem to win all the meets.

Samantha Clements runs the 200 at Charles Wright.

Rain doesn’t stop soccer and the Pirate boys are still undefeated in Nisqually League play after last night’s 1-1 tie with Cascade Christian. A 1-0 defeat of Charles Wright on the Tarriers’ home pitch is good any time. Seattle Christian joins the league for boys soccer this year. Mark April 14 on your calendar when the Pirates host the Warriors for the first time. The Warriors are strong and that game could go a long way toward deciding the league title.

Ezra Koenig drives toward the goal in the Cascade Christian game.

Pick your favorite sport, or choose them all, and get out to cheer on the Pirates. Bring an umbrella.

Along with probably at least another 100 non-running friends and family, plus race officials and support personnel, we traveled from various parts of the Olympic Peninsula, Vashon Island, Federal Way, Redmond, Ballard and other hotbeds of running.

This was for less than 10 minutes of running for the top runners and no more than 30 minutes for the more mature and/or recreational runners.

Probably two/thirds of the crowd stopped for a hearty meal on the way home.

With a decent track and facility on Vashon Island, we could stage such an event a few times a year. Think what 166 hungry runners would mean to our local restaurants on a Saturday. (Or maybe we shouldn’t try to attract the dreaded off-islanders to take up valuable tables in our limited commercial space.)

From the race at Nathan Hale, or races at Magnuson Park, runners get together in small groups to meet at a restaurant on the way home, before getting on the ferry or hitting the freeway. On Vashon they would most likely stop to eat before getting in the ferry line; I know many do after weekend day time games now.

I visualize a useable track and field as not only a high school asset, but as a community resource as is the track at Nathan Hale or the old Shoreline High School.

Just considering running, Vashon has at least two overlapping groups who are known among the running community for putting on a first-class meet. Look at the Bill Burby Run, The Heart of the Sound Triathlon, the new-last-year Vashon Ultra and the high school cross country program.

And the possibilities for tournaments in other sports are huge.

I know from my own experience that people like to come to the Island for one-day events, games and tournaments. But many are appalled at the poor facilities, not only muddy fields, but lack of restrooms and concessions.

Back to running only, I visualize a couple of all-comers track meets and a high school invitational as well as district meets and middle school championships. Every one of these events would bring business to our restaurants and maybe even provide a small boost to WSF.

As you consider how to mark your ballot, think not only of our high school students but also the benefit to the community as a whole.

I voted a hearty “YES” as soon as I received my ballot. I hope you will too.

Jim was one of those people who made Vashon Youth Baseball work when my son began playing shortly after we moved to the Island. Not only a coach and an umpire, Jim was the moving force behind many of the field improvements.

Anyone who plays or watches baseball at Vashon High School can thank Jim for the beautiful field. While he obviously didn’t do it all himself, he was always working to upgrade the facilities.

As I got involved in Vashon sports and worked at The Beachcomber I got to know Jim as a friend, but it was sometimes hard to get him to talk about all he did for not only baseball, but all sports where he could. He insisted on giving credit for every individual and company that worked on an improvement, but I sometimes had to go to others to find out all he did himself.

Jim was sometimes known as “Blue” because of his umpiring. “Blue” is the proper way for a baseball coach or player to address the umpire with a question. And although Jim was an umpire himself, he didn’t hesitate to question the current “Blue” when he had on his coaching uniform.

A few years ago Jim publicly acknowledged that he was behind the Blue Scholarships presented each year through the Vashon Island Scholarship Foundation.

As a photographer, I often saw Jim at games or other public functions and he loved to have his picture taken. I remember taking a picture of Jim and University of Washington basketball coach Lorenzo Romar when Romar came to Vashon to scout Pirate player. Jim bought copies to show the grandchildren and later told me how much the kids liked the picture of grandpa with a celebrity.

Jim also proved to a great judge of dogs. While Jim and Anne were living at Vashon Community Care, he was one of the judges at a dog show for the residents. Out of all the dogs shown by staff and families, my black Lab mix, Bogey, was awarded Best of Show. I later was told it was Jim who swayed the rest of the judges in favor of Bogey.

Up until just a few days before his death Jim continued to attend Pirate basketball games.

Blue, Old Man, Jim, Coach, you will be missed.

Orting also beat both 2A schools handily.

Alex Sohl was a one man highlight reel at 171 pounds. He needed all of 23 seconds to pin Eatonville’s Skyler King in his first match. Then he won a fierce match with James Layman of Washington with a pin in 3:17.

Cheerleader turned wrestler Julie Wilson, featured in today’s Beachcomber, fought an aggressive match and pinned her Washington opponent. I didn’t get the Patriot girl’s name.

The wrestling meet was a pleasant change from last night’s basketball games. Boys: Cascade Christian 49, Vashon 20. Girls: Cascade Christian 61, Vashon 21. The scores pretty much tell the story. You can’t win basketball games if you can’t put the ball in the basket.

As of 8:55 p.m. the Pirate boys 6 p.m. game score had not been posted on the Yakima Herald-Republic or the Sundome Showdown web sites.

Both boys and girls lost their opening games in the Sundome Showdown. The Pirate girls never got untracked in a loss to Connell  and the boys got within two points late in the game before losing 42-33 to Zillah.

The Pirate girls are looking forward to a better day against Colville tomorrow before home.

The boys play at 6 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday).

In a moving ceremony before the tournament finals a new spotlight was presented in Bennedsen’s honor.

The tournament itself quickly became a tight contest to see who would finish second to Orting. The Cardinals accumulated 250.5 points. Everett took second with 131, followed by Ridgefield, 125, Vashon 123, and Elma 107.

The non-scorers, second wrestlers in a weight class, many from Orting, racked up 105 points.

Orting had nine finalists, including one non-scorer, and took six individual championships.

Three Pirates finished in second place: Dom Stemer, 140 pounds, Alex Sohl, 170, and Vince Jovanovich, 285. Jovanovich provided the most exciting match in the semi-final against Orting’s heavyweight. The pair mostly gave away penalty points the first two rounds, with Jovanovich coming from behind at least twice.

Down by two in the final seconds of regular time, Jovanovich got a reversal to tie 5-5 and sent the match into overtime. With a takedown in OT Jovanovich had the match and the referee let the sequence continue to a pin.

The wrestlers compete in the Lake Stevens Tournament tomorrow.

The Pirate basketball teams are at the Sundome in Yakima today and tomorrow. The girls were down to Connell 19-3 at the end of the first quarter. Boys play at 6 p.m.

Vashon’s girls are leaving high school at 1:40 p.m. for their 4 p.m. state soccer semi-final game against Overlake. The winner plays the Bush/Lakeside winner for the state 1A championship at 2 p.m. tomorrow. Semi-final losers play for third place at 10 a.m.

I’m expecting a big green Vashon crowd to cheer the Pirates to victory over the Owls.

At the same time my favorite B team, Seattle Lutheran from West Seattle, plays at Sunset Chev Stadium in the B semi-finals.

The two venues are only a few miles apart so if Vashon and SL play at different times tomorrow I will probably catch the SL game too. Of course I hope they are both playing for the championship.

See you in Puyallup today and tomorrow.

Olivia Andrus maneuvers between two Seattle Christian players early in the game.

Vashon’s girls established themselves as one of the top four 1A high school soccer teams in the state with a 2-1 shootout win over Seattle Christian in the state tournament quarter-final yesterday.

Olivia Andrus put Vashon up 1-0 in the 29th minute when she scored through traffic from a Carlyle Scott corner kick. As the ball bounced around in front of the goal mouth Andrus lifted it up and out of reach of the Warrior goalkeeper and two defenders.

Seattle Christian got the equalizer in the 66th minute with a nice combination from the left side and the 1-1 score held through regular time and 10 minutes of overtime.

Larissa Kuhns clears the ball during overtime.

Vashon went first in the shootout, their third shootout in five playoff games. Denise Griffith, Scott, Lena DeGuzman and Andrus all converted their kicks while the Warriors third kicker shot wide off the left post, making the count 4-3 in favor of Vashon for Cat Amick.

Amick took the ball from the referee, gave a light kiss and placed it on the penalty spot. When the whistle blew she calmly placed the ball in the back right corner of the net and the Pirates were in the semi-finals.

Cat Amick takes the kick that sends Vashon to the semi-finals.

Pirates and Warriors split their regular season games, each team winning at home. Vashon is the only 1A team to beat Seattle Christian this season.

Vashon plays the winner of today’s Seattle Academy v Overlake quarterfinal at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19 at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. The winner of that game plays at 2 p.m. Saturday at Sparks for the state championship. The semi-final losers play at 10 a.m. for third and fourth.

Vashon’s followers have consistently out-cheered the opposition during the playoffs and I expect to see a big Vashon crowd at the Friday and Saturday games. Plan to call in sick with the green flu if your employer is not a Pirate fan.

Llira McEachern, 20, congratulates Olivia Andrus for her goal against Montesano.

Back when the grandparents of current Pirates were teens, a popular folk song started something like this:

“Out here they’ve got a name for things like rain and wind and fire:

“The rain is Bess, the fire’s Joe and they call the wind Mariah.”

Mariah and Joe stayed away from yesterday’s first round State girls soccer game but Bess should probably be credited with an assist on Olivia Andrus’ game-winning goal.

The weather at Tumwater Stadium for the game between the Vashon Pirates and the Montesano Bulldogs varied from deluge to downpour to steady rain with occasional light fog drifting through.

In the 12th minute of the game the Bulldogs goalkeeper couldn’t hold on to the dripping wet ball in front of the net. Andrus pushed the loose ball across the goal line before the Montesano defenders could react.

Both teams attacked relentlessly the rest of the game but when the final buzzer sounded some 68-plus minutes later, Andrus’ goal held up to give the Pirates a 1-0 victory.

“That’s a long time to hold your breath,” a game official remarked to a Vashon supporter.

Vashon’s best chance to add an insurance goal came later in the first half when Lena DeGuzman took a free kick from about 30 yards. The ball hit and rolled along the crossbar before dropping out of bounds for a Bulldog free kick.

Vashon goalkeeper Larissa Kuhns saved the Pirates time and again as the Bulldogs controlled much of the second half action. Montesano probably had more shots than Vashon, but couldn’t control the ball close in and many of the shots went wide.

The Pirates win advances them to Friday’s quarter-final round where they will meet Seattle Christian for the third time this season. Vashon is the only 1A team to beat the Warriors this season, in their first meeting at Vashon. Seattle Christian won the return match on the Warriors’ home pitch. Friday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Foster High School.

After destroying Chimacum and Life Christian last week, the futbol girls did a number on Orting yesterday. Orting has league-leading scorer Acacia Johnson with 17 or 19 goals, depending on who is telling it, coming into last night’s game. With Denise Griffith dogging her all game and Courtney Gateman guarding the goal, Johnson was held to one goal. With two goals from Cat Amick, one from Olivia Andrus and a PK from Lena DeGuzman, the Pirates won 4-1, establishing themselves as the team to beat in the Nisqually League.

Courtney Gateman denies Orting ace Acacia Johnson a goal near the end of the first half of Monday's game.

Pirate volleyball has now won four in a row by my count, three league matches. The girls came through last night against Orting, winning 3-2. The last game went to 18-16 for the Vashon victory.

Action from the Sept. 15 volleyball match.

Boys tennis has won some and lost some as coach Jake Dillon rotates the boys into the varsity lineup. My guess is there will be a few Pirates advancing to the spring playoffs.

Three cross country boys, Colin Andrus, Aidan Cyra and Tylor Heit take turns winning races, with a couple more Pirates right on their heels. Savannah Krug usually runs first or second and Maddie Groen is right with Savannah, but so far there have not been five girls all running in the same race. The girls are there and capable of putting together a winning team, but they all need to run at the same time.

And almost everybody probably has been following the football team. They met their match at Cascade Christian last Saturday and will have to bounce back when Orting comes to the Island this Friday. Win or lose, none of the Pirate games have been close this season. Friday’s game should show what the Pirates really have.

I don’t have a clue to the relative strength of Nisqually League tennis teams, but opening the season with a sweep of a non-league opponent can’t be bad. The Pirates won every match in straight sets and, from the look of the scores, very decisively.

Looking at the first week of Nisqually League scores for girls soccer, there is a shift of power this year: Orting 5, Charles Wright 0; Vashon 4, Seattle Christian 3; Cascade Christian 3, Life Christian 0.

Cat Amick, in white, challenges a Seattle Christian defender. Amick scored three second-half goals as Vashon came from behind to beat the Warriors 4-3.

Last year Seattle Christian and Charles Wright were virtually unbeatable with Orting and Vashon challenging. On Wednesday the Cardinals knocked the Tarriers off their pedestal with more goals than most teams get against them in two seasons.

On Thursday Vashon gave up quick goals at the start of both halves. With less than a minute gone in the second half the stunned Pirates were down 2-0 to the visiting Warriors. Then Cat Amick went to work. A hat trick from Amick, with Olivia Andrus adding another goal, set the Pirates on the way to the win and got the season off to a great start.

Vashon goalkeeper Courtney Gateman runs toward the victory celebration as the final whistle sounds on her first varsity start.

Girls soccer opens at 5 p.m. today with a home game against perennial power Seattle Christian. Nothing like jumping in with both feet. Saturday the Pirate girls travel to Overlake for varsity and JV games.

Boys tennis heads to Northwest Christian while volleyball and cross country have a few more days to prepare for their first competition.

The football team hosts Lakeside tomorrow in the Pirates’ home opener. I can almost taste the booster burgers already.

Monday, Sept. 13, is Tarrier-fest on the Vashon campus. Charles Wright sends girls soccer, boys tennis and volleyball teams to the Island to challenge the Pirates.

On Thursday, Sept. 16, cross country hosts Life Christian and Cascade Christian. The course is on the school campus and finishes in the stadium.

Check the high school website for all the sports schedules and remember schedules sometimes change, especially early in the season as the schools in the league cope with transportation and eligibility issues. http://www.vashonsd.org/index.php?/district2/vhs-sports/ has all the latest varsity and JV schedules.

Signups for Vashon High School Fall sports begin next week, Aug. 17 through Aug. 23.

Football practice starts Aug. 18 and the other sports start Aug. 23. Athletes must have all paper work and fees paid before they can practice with the team, and missed practices the first two weeks can mean delayed eligibility and missing early competitions. The school office will be open starting Aug. 17. Check the school web site for hours. All the necessary forms are available on the web site.

Football coach Clay Eastly is optimistic about the coming season and urged me to make the trip to Chelan for the Sept. 3 season opener. Chelan was beaten in last year’s state semi-final by champion Connell. Eastly says this year’s Pirates will be a match for the Goats. The trip might be worth it just to see the only high school I know of whose fight song is to the tune of “Anchors Aweigh.”

Cross country coach Kevin Ross is excited about the boys team this year, with a lot of returning veterans and some incoming freshmen and transfer students. The harriers open with a home meet Sept. 16.

There is a chance Vashon could host the Nisqually League Meet in October. With the 2A schools moving to another league, the regular season meets will be a good indication of the team’s strength against 1A schools when regional and state meets come up.

Girls soccer lost a lot of strong players to graduation, but there are some strong players coming up from last years JV and, I’m told, a good group of freshmen.

I’ve retired from coaching so I hope to get to competitions for all the Pirate teams and get some good photos this Fall.

Vashon Island has lost one of her best.

I remember Robert as an outstanding athlete, a state champion wrestler and record-setting football player, as well as one of the best young people I have ever met.

Among my memories of Robert is a running joke we had about my never showing his face in photos in The Beachcomber. Since he wrestled and played football, most of the action pictures I had of him showed a face-plant on a muddy football field or his face buried in an opposing wrestler’s back.

Robert was also a Fire District Explorer, and from what I heard, one of the best there also.

I remember when Robert was credited with saving a pumper truck from serious damage. While preparing to hook the hose to a hydrant at a restaurant fire, He found gravel someone had apparently put in the hydrant. Had he not checked before hooking up the hose, the gravel would have destroyed the pump.

At a Pirate football game at North Mason I was taking pictures and trying to take notes on the game at the same time. Around the end of the first half I checked back through my notes to see if I was getting a cross section of the Pirate players and I realized that almost of the pictures were of Robert. That was the night he ran for more than 400 yards, still one of the top five games for all classifications in the state.

Robert was made an honorary member of the Othello High School wrestling team at the State Tournament one year.

Halfway through the championship round Othello and Mt. Baker were the only teams with a chance to win the State Championship. All the Othello wrestlers were done and a win by Mt. Baker’s last competitor would give the Mountaineers the title. But the Mt. Baker wrestler had to defeat Vashon’s Robert Bennedsen.

Every Vashon, Othello and Mt. Baker fan was watching the mat. When Robert won, the Vashon and Othello fans exploded. At the awards ceremony the Othello team dragged Robert into their state championship team picture.

I read that the family has suggested that memorials go toward improving the high school football field. That would be a fitting memorial and lasting legacy for this outstanding Islander.

I will take the bike or run leg. A swimmer and another bicyclist/runner are needed.

Our objective would be to finish in a vertical posture, being faster than a few young teams would be a bonus.

Octogenarians or even a mature sexagenarian are welcome.

If you are interested see www.hotstriathlon.org for information on the race and e-mail me at rik4sch@mac.com.

June 26 is the first Vashon Ultra 50K and 10-mile run. Limited to 120 entries, it was full a month before the race. See www.vashonultra.com for information. The race starts and finishes at Paradise Ridge Park.

The Heart of the Sound triathlon returns to Jensen Point July 25. See www.hotstriathlon.org for information.

Will the hydroplanes be out on July 4? I hope so. It’s hard to know ahead of time as most of the drivers pull their boats out of the blackberries about a week before. I know some people think we should ban the hydros and be quiet and genteel. After all, who ever heard of making noise on the Fourth? Ask my dog, Bogey. He is a bundle of nerves for two or three days as islanders set off all the fireworks that they can’t bring to the Island or use in King County.

For quieter water sports there is the rowing race, quieter but the competitors are more serious than the hydro folks.

Have fun this summer, and don’t just watch.

Just looking at the results from day one at the State 1A Track Meet.

Vashon’s Tyler Stoffer high jumped 5 feet, 10 inches for seventh place to earn his first state medal today.

Correction: Applying the tie-breaker for the high jump, Stoffer placed ninth in the event, based on the number of missed jumps before clearing the final height.

Stoffer also guaranteed himself another a medal by qualifying for tomorrow’s final in the 110-meter hurdles. Stoffer’s time in his preliminary heat was 16.40 seconds, making him the 8th fastest qualifier. All eight finalists will get medals.

Vashon’s other State entrants, Kate Straube in the 100 hurdles and James Spencer in the 400, didn’t qualify for the finals.

Three serious Pirates are ready for State. From left, James Spencer, 400-meter dash; Kate Straube, 100 hurdles and Tyler Stoffer, high jump and 110 hurdles.

They ran, they jumped, and two of them did both to earn a trip to the State Track Meet at Cheney next weekend.

Vashon senior Kate Straube and juniors James Spencer and Tyler Stoffer qualified for State at Saturday’s Tri-District final meet and freshman Landon Summers is an alternate.

Stoffer was the first Vashon qualifier of the day with a fifth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles. The top five boys in each event qualified for State. After the hurdles, Stoffer returned to the high jump pit to register a vertical leap of 5 feet, 8 inches for a three-way tie for second in the event.

Straube followed up with a sixth-place in the 100-meter hurdles. The top six girls qualified for State.

Spencer concluded the Pirate run with a blazing 51.5-second PR in the 400-meter dash for third place.

Summers was the last high jumper to be eliminated when he missed his third attempt at 5-8. His successful 5-6 jump earned him sixth place and the alternate spot. If one of the top five should scratch before Thursday Summers will join his teammates for the trip to Cheney.

Landon Summers cleared 5 feet, 6 inches to earn an alternate State spot.

Congratulations to Scott Smith and Cole Devereau, who qualified for the State Golf tournament. The pair of Pirates tee off for the first round next Tuesday, May 25, at Columbia Point Golf Club in Richland. Golfers who make the cut play the championship round the next day on the same course.

James Spencer, right, competes in the Sub-District Meet at Orting last week.

Four track athletes compete tomorrow, Saturday, May 22, in the Tri-District Meet at Kings High School. Still alive in the quest for a State berth are James Spencer, 400-meter dash; Tyler Stoffer, 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and high jump; Kate Straube, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles; and Landon Summers, high jump.

The top five boys and top six girls in each event qualify for the State Meet next Friday and Saturday, May 28 and 29, at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

Good luck to all the Pirates tomorrow and next week.

Will O'Neil shoots for Vashon's only goal.

The Pirate boys soccer season ended Wednesday when Meridian beat Vashon 2-1 in a Bi-District game at Whatcom Community College.

The Trojans struck first with a looping shot from about 20 yards that just cleared goalkeeper Robert McGinnis’ fingertips. Meridian carried the 1-0 lead into the break.

Pirate coach Paul Beytebiere’s half time talk got the Pirates fired up and they answered the second-half whistle running. In the third minute of the half Will O’Neil took a feed from Elias Weston and beat the Trojan keeper to even the score.

Neither team could gain an advantage until late in the half when a Meridian player won a foot race with a Vashon defender and put the ball low in the right side of the net.

The win qualified Meridian for State. They play Coupeville, winners over Orting, on Saturday to determine third and fourth state seed. Charles Wright, the only surviving Nisqually League team, plays Kings for first and second seed.

While Vashon’s season is over the Pirates won’t hang up their cleats until after the June 5 Alumni Game. The game is 1 p.m. at Vashon High School Stadium. The season wraps up with the annual awards banquet and potluck at 6 p.m. Sunday June 6.

Elias Weston beats a Meridian player near the touchline.

Vashon 4, Port Townsend 1. Two goals each by Will O’Neil and Elias Weston. Goalkeeper Robert McGinnis got an assist on one of Weston’s goals.

More details and a picture later.

The Pirates advance to Bi-Districts playoffs. The next game is 4:40 p.m. Wednesday at Whatcom CC, Bellingham against Meridian.

Port Townsend may have one of the last politically incorrect mascots, but they can still play soccer.

Next game for Vashon is 1 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, at Orting Stadium. Vashon plays Port Townsend for the #3 seed to the Bi-District Tournament. Winner goes on to play the #2 seed from the Northwest District (north of Seattle) at a NWD site on Wednesday, May 12. Both games are loser out. Winner of Wednesday’s game earns a trip to State.

GO PIRATES!

Nisqually League 1A final league standings

May 4 — End of regular season

W   L  T   Pt

Charles Wright      10  0  0   30

Orting                         6  2  2    20

Vashon                       5  3  2    17

Cascade Christian    2  4  4    10

Life Christian            2  8  0     6

Chimacum                  0  9  1      1

Sub-district playoffs West Central District (WCD):

Thursday May 6:

Cascade Christian @ Port Townsend 5:30 p.m. (loser out)

Saturday May 8 @ Orting Stadium:

Vashon v CC/PT winner, 1 p.m. (winner #3 seed to Bi-District, loser out)

Charles Wright v Orting, 3 p.m. (#1 & #2 seed to Bi-District)

Bi-District — Northwest District (NWD) & (WCD):

Wednesday May 12 @ higher seed:

Game 1: WCD #2 v NWD #3 (loser out)

Game 2: WCD #3 v NWD #2 (loser out)

Saturday May 15 @ Orting:

Winner #1 v Winner #2, 1 p.m. #3 & #4 seed to State

WCD #1 v NWD #2, 3 p.m. #1 & #2 seed to State

Baseball:

May 4 (Pigtail game):

Vashon 3, Charles Wright 0

Friday May 7 @ Charles Wright:

Vashon v Seattle Christian, 3:30 p.m. Sub-district

The Pirates lost 4-3 in overtime to the Orting Cardinals. The Cardinals claimed second place and play league champs Charles Wright at 3 p.m. Saturday for first and second seed to the Bi-District Tournament. Vashon plays the winner of Thursday’s Port Townsend v Cascade Christian game for the third seed. The game is at 1 p.m. at Orting.

O’Neil led the Pirates to come back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to tie 3-3 in regular time. The game remained tied until Utley scored with just seconds more than a minute left in overtime.

The Vashon JV ended their season with a 3-0 win over the Orting JV.

Congratulations ladies!

It’s off to Life Christian today to try to make it two in a row, then back home for a non-league game with Steilacoom JV on Friday. Wouldn’t it be great to give these girls a big crowd for their last game?

Other sports:

Baseball plays Charles Wright today in a pigtail game for fourth place and a playoff spot. The game is 4 p.m. at UPS.

Boys soccer plays at Orting today for second and third in the Nisqually League. They tied in their first meeting and are tied in the standings. Varsity game is 6 p.m., JV at 4 p.m. It’s the final game for the JV.

Regardless of the result of today’s game both Orting and Vashon play again Saturday, winner v Charles Wright, loser v Port Townsend/Cascade Christian winner. Games are 1 and 3 p.m. at Orting.

Vashon sophomore Sam Crosby battles a Cougar for the ball during the JV game.

Will O’Neil’s second hat trick in as many games gave the Pirate soccer team a 3-1 win over Cascade Christian and kept them tied with Orting for second place in the Nisqually League.

On Senior Night, the last home game for Vashon’s seniors and exchange student Alessandro Rossi, the Pirates took charge early over the Cougar team they had tied earlier. In the fourth minute, O’Neil took a feed from Nick Fox-Edele near the end line on the left side and sent the ball across and into the far corner of the net.

The second goal came in the 12th minute with Geran Webb providing the assist to O’Neil.

The Cougar’s Brus Layson snuck in a goal for the visitors in the 46th minute.

O’Neil sealed the game for Vashon in the 68th minute with Fox-Edele getting his second assist of the evening.

The Pirate JV sort of made up for two earlier losses at Cascade Christian with a 3-2 win over the Cougar JV. Cougar Yeongi Nam scored in the 13th minute for a 1-0 Cascade halftime lead. Sam Crosby evened it up in the 43rd minute with an assist from Ezra Koenig. Brian Nam answered immediately for the visitors with the assist going to Cheol Han.

Koenig evened it up again in the 54th minute on an assist from Andy Hennesey then got the game winner with a sliding shot in the final minute.

Pirate senior Josh Bacchus says he is talking to Mom during warmups.

Pirate junior Jackson McFall clears the ball upfield in the first half at Life Christian.

After a frustrating first half on Tuesday and a scare from lowly Life Christian early in the second half the VHS boys soccer team came back for a convincing 3-0 win at the Eagles’ home turf and assure themselves of a playoff spot.

Will O’Neil ignored the drenching rain and the wind to explode for a hat trick after being moved from defense to forward.

The Pirates dominated the first half but couldn’t get a shot that didn’t go directly to the Eagles’ sure-handed keeper. Life Christian opened the second half with a furious attack that saw several shots, including one that skipped across the top bar and, fortunately for the Pirates, bounced up and out of play.

O’Neil received a yellow card for a late tackle near the end of the first half and sat out the final few minutes of the half and the early part of the second half. When he returned to the game, coach Paul Beytebiere moved him to striker where O’Neil immediately took control.

In the 64th minute O’Neil waited just behind the last Eagle defender until Elias Weston released a pass then beat the keeper for his first goal.

Less than a minute later O’Neil stole the ball and threaded his way through the Eagle defense for goal number two.

The referee added several minutes of stoppage time for injuries on both teams and some discussions with Life Christian’s players and it was in the 87th minute by sideline watches that O’Neil took a short cross from Nick Fox for the final goal.

The Pirates can finish no lower than fourth in the 1A Nisqually League and wins tonight over Cascade Christian and next Tuesday at Orting could put them in second place. Charles Wright, undefeated in league, has first place locked up.

Tylor Heit controls as a Tarrier challenges.

SOCCER:

After Monday’s non-league win the Vashon soccer boys scored three second-half goals to beat Chimacum on the Cowboys’ home field Tuesday. Nick Gass scored on a free kick. Nick Fox got number two on Ezra Koenig’s assist and Jesse Turner finished with an unassisted goal. The Pirates’ rivals for a playoff spot, Cascade Christian and Orting played to a scoreless tie. Vashon hosts Cascade Christian Thursday and finishes the regular season at Orting Tuesday, May 4.

League-leading Charles Wright beat the Pirates 3-0 at Vashon on Thursday.

This Tuesday Vashon plays at Life Christian.

Will O'Neil goes airborne to clear a Charles Wright attacking ball.

FAST PITCH:

Pirate fast pitch softball scored two runs in their first game last week then led after four innings in their second game. But the wheels came off in the fifth and sixth innings and the Pirates ended on the short end of an 18-8 score. The Pirate girls are improving weekly despite barely being able to field a full team.

TRACK:

Samantha Clements jumped beyond 14 feet to win the long jump for the second time this season in Thursday’s meet at Charles Wright. Looks like all the extra practice is paying off for the Pirate freshman.

The Pirates tied at Cascade Christian and at home with Orting last week. Vashon dominated in both games but couldn’t finish and had to settle for ties after 10 minutes of scoreless overtime in both games.

Vashon keeper Robert McGinnis made a spectacular stop of a penalty kick in the second minute at Cascade Christian, but the only player not frozen by the amazing play was Cougar Kyle Sadler who put the rebound in the back of the net before McGinnis could recover or any Pirates reacted. Nick Fox got the equalizer in the 29th minute on a cross from Lucian Pizzano.

Robert McGinnis stops a Cascade Christian penalty kick

Orting scored first in Thursday’s home game and kept the lead into half time. The Pirates came out of the locker fired up and in the 46th minute Fox scored with the assist going to Elias Weston.

Yesterday the Pirates hosted Mt. Tahoma in a non-league game. Vashon established control early when Nick Gass scored in the ninth minute on a pass from Fox. David Salonen added another goal in the 39th minute, getting the assist from Pizzano.

Julian Jones put the visitors back in the game with an unassisted goal in the 58th minute, then evened the score in the 72nd minute when he stole a pass from a Pirate defender.

Just when it looked like the Pirates might have to settle for another tie Will O’Neil collided heads with a Tahoma defender right in front of the net and got the ball to Jackson McFall who touched it on to Fox who put it in the net for the game-winner.

Jesse Hazzard goes one-v-one with a Mt. Tahoma player.

Mt. Tahoma found themselves unable to field a JV team at the last minute so the Pirate JV played a full intra-squad Green v White scrimmage. Between them the JV players scored 11 goals in the scrimmage.

Boys varsity soccer played their best game of the season so far but lost 1-0 to Seattle Prep, a 2009 State 3A quarterfinalist.

The JV had two games and stayed almost even with their opponents until the final few minutes. Seattle Prep JV 4, Vashon JV 0. It was 1-0 at the half and stayed that way until the last few minutes. The Panthers scored their last two goals in stoppage time.

Cascade Christian JV 3, Vashon JV 1. Vashon’s goal came when Sjors Steneker beat the CC goalkeeper from the right side. A Cougar defender deflected the ball of the line but Walker Merchant came in from the left to put the ball in the net.

Girls tennis beat Steilacoom 4-1.

Track teams were both third in their four-way meets. Both boys and girls won the 4×100-meter relays. For the Pirate girls, Savannah Krug won the 1600, Kate Straube won the 100 hurdles and Samantha Clements won the long jump.

Baseball got rained out at Cascade Christian Wednesday and hosted Chief Sealth on Thursday. I haven’t seen a final score so don’t know if they were able to get a complete game in between the raindrops.

Andy Hennesey, 25, beats a Seattle Prep player in Tuesday's JV soccer game.

Elias Weston beats a Seattle Prep player in the varsity soccer game.

Josh Bacchus, green uniform, challenges a Cascade Christian player in Wednesday's JV soccer game.

On Tuesday Vashon lost to Charles Wright 5-1 in almost perfect playing weather on the Tarriers  beautifully groomed grass field.

Nick Gass came out of a crowd of CWA defenders for Vashon’s only goal in the second half, but the game was already out of reach.

Pirate goalkeeper Robert McGinnis makes a save against Charles Wright.

Yesterday Vashon beat Life Christian 2-0 in a downpour on the Pirates muddy pitch.

Will O’Neil put the Pirates ahead in the 13th minute with a free kick from just outside the penalty box. Tylor Heit sealed the win in the 73rd minute when he took a perfect cross from Nick Gass and beat the Eagle goalkeeper one-on-one.

The game saw a Life Christian player yellow-carded early in the game for pushing a Pirate defender from behind after getting beaten to the ball.

The same Eagle player received a second yellow in the second half and was ejected when he jumped up after being fouled and again pushed a Vashon defender while the ball was out of play.

Pirate goalkeeper Robert McGinnis and the Vashon defense overcame the slippery ball and muddy footing for the shutout, McGinnis’ second of the season.

I hope the weather at Steilacoom was better for yesterday’s track meet. Both Pirate boys and girls teams finished fourth in the four-way meet despite firsts from boys James Spencer and Landon Summers and girl Pirate Peri Roberts.

Roberts won the 3200-meter run in 14 minutes, 34 seconds.

For the second straight week Spencer won the 400, this week’s time was :53.1; and Summers won the 100 hurdles in :17.7. Last week Summers won the 300 hurdles.

The Pirates took the game to the Cruisers from the opening whistle. The aggressiveness paid off when Jackson McFall was tripped in the penalty box and calmly converted the penalty kick into a 1-0 lead 13 minutes in.

Eatonville tied things up when the uneven grass surface contributed to a Pirate defender missing a tackle, leaving the Cruiser striker free to chip the ball over the keeper to tie the game.

Pirate keeper Robert McGinnis punches away a Cruiser shot on goal.

Elias Weston put the Pirates ahead for good in the 35th minute. Taking a long feed from Will O’Neil, Weston, from the left side, curved the ball around the Cruiser keeper into the net.

Before the hosts could get settled in the second half Nick Gass put the ball into open space and in a perfectly timed run Nick Fox-Edele sprinted past the last defender to put the ball into the net and give Vashon a 3-1 lead less than a minute in to the half.

Pirate goalkeeper Robert McGinnis got a rare assist in the 73rd minute when he boomed a goal kick to Fox-Edele, who again beat all the Cruiser defenders for the final goal.

Vashon had only nine regular varsity players available for the non-league contest and all the JV and swing players on the trip got substantial playing time and impressed head coach Paul Beytebiere.

Tuesday the Pirates face a big test when they travel to Charles Wright for the first of two games with the arch-rival Tarriers.

Coach Beytebiere gets serious at half time.

The sun was out but the north wind felt just like winter, which the calendar said it still was for another day.

Elias Weston challenges a Chimacum defender.

But for the Cowboys’ goalkeeper Vashon could have won by five goals. The Chimacum keeper was fearless as he went one-on-one with everything the Pirates could muster.

Vashon’s scoring was almost perfectly balanced, a penalty shot by Nick Gass in the seventh minute and a beautiful shot by Michael Butz with just under seven minutes to play in the second half.

Gass was tripped from behind in the penalty box as he was about to shoot. He put the PK in the back of the net for what eventually proved to be the winning goal.

Seventy-three minutes is a long time to hold off a team that had won their first game a few days earlier, but the Pirate defense was up to the task.

In the dangerous final few minutes when a fluke goal could tie up a game Butz gave Vashon the insurance goal it needed. Coming out of a swarm of Cowboys just outside the 18-yard box, Butz unleashed a low hard shot from almost dead center a yard out from the penalty spot.

The win was the Pirates’ first and, more important, their first Nisqually League game. Today the varsity team goes to Eatonville for a non-league game.

Neither Chimacum nor Eatonville has enough players eligible for a JV game this week.

If it was cold at Vashon, the Pirate track teams must have experienced near-arctic weather at Eatonville yesterday. Both boys and girls finished third to Orting and host Eatonville, with Life Christian fourth.

Kate Straube won the 100-meter hurdles for the girls, the only Pirate first place.

On the boys side James Spencer won the 400, Aidan Cyra the 800, Colin Andrus the 1600 and Jack Summers the 300 hurdles.

Then on Monday the boys soccer teams hosted the Fife Trojans and both baseball teams traveled to Mt. Tahoma where the Pirate varsity won 17-3 and the JV won 10-2.

Tylor Heit moves the ball up the field early in the varsity game.

The soccer teams didn’t fare as well as the baseball teams. The JV gave up two goals in the first half. In the second half the defense shut down the two Fife players who had scored and Jacob Turner put the Pirates on the board with an assist from Ezra Koenig. Final score: Fife JV 2, Vashon JV 1. Freshman goal keeper Brooks Benner impressed everyone, keeping the Trojans from several goals.

The Trojan varsity put away the Pirates 5-1. Fife got the only first-half goal.

Three goals were scored in a one-minute stretch in the second half. Fife scored first then on the kickoff stole the ball and quickly scored again. On the next kickoff Vashon struck just as quickly with Jackson McFall finishing to make the score 3-1 Fife.

The very talented Trojans scored twice more to put the game out of reach of the Pirates.

Michael Butz challenges a Fife player for the ball.

As is customary the Pirates sent the visitors home filled with hamburgers from the after-game barbeque.

The Mustang wrestlers have one home meet left this Thursday, March 11, Then the season-ending tournament at Klahowya on Saturday. If the snow goes away, it’s a nice Saturday drive to Silverdale and the mall is nearby for shopping fans. And even if it does snow, wrestling is an indoor sport. Check the McM Web-site for time of the tournament.

Next Thursday the Mustang girls play their last home basketball game, a good time to get a look at some future Pirates and see some exciting hoops.

Although only the first eight places receives trophies and are official, someone has calculated that our girls finished ninth, probably based on who beat who and who lost to who in the consolation bracket. That would make it the best finish ever for the Pirate girls.

Sophie Nespor fights a Seattle Christian player for a rebound.

Our boys went to Yakima as the defending state champions and lost only to the new champions. The Pirates probably were in the toughest bracket, opening against top-ranked Chelan. Every game the Pirates played could have been the championship game had the draw gone a different way and every team the Pirates faced took home a trophy.

Vashon came out of the toughest Tri-District in the state. The six teams from the Tri took home six of the eight trophies, first, second, third, fourth, sixth and eighth.

Both teams will be losing most of their starters to graduation, so next year will be a chance for some new players to step up. It should be an interesting season.

At least one of the basketball players turned out for spring sports yesterday, and several others are on spring rosters.

Matt Amick runs into a little opposition from Kings.

Vashon’s boys crushed Kings 65-46 this afternoon to take third place in the State 1A Basketball Tournament.

Cascade Christian, the team that stopped the Pirates from winning back-to-back championships, won its first state championship and first-ever state trophy with a 45-35 win over Meridian.

The Pirates quickly sorted things out and took a 13-10 lead in the first quarter, then added to that lead every period. The Knights didn’t help their own cause, getting into foul trouble in both halves, and putting Vashon into double bonus for much of the second and fourth quarters.

Matt Kerns looks past a Kings defender for the basket.

Vashon led 39-22 with two minutes left in the third quarter and less than a minute into the final period had extended the lead to 48-29. With 2:28 remaining in the game and a 22-point lead, 63-41, coach Andy Sears sent in all the reserves to get some State playing time.

Elias Weston puts up a shot.

Dan Lofland, 30, with an all-reserves lineup behind him, drives up the court as the clock winds down.

Vashon took the early lead and led after the first quarter, but Cascade came back to creep ahead by halftime. The Pirates chipped away at the lead and came within one point with about two minutes to go.

Missed field goals down the stretch proved to be the Pirates undoing.

Meridian beat Kings in the other semi-final. That game went down to the final seconds.

Quinn Holert drives up the court.

John Gage pulls down a rebound late in the final minute of the game.

The Pirates matched the Warriors for the first half, leading 10-6 after one quarter and trailing by just one point at the half. The Warriors star, Lexi Petersen, got hot in the third quarter and the Pirates’ top scorer, Kelly Costello, twisted her ankle and had to leave the game for a few minutes. The Pirates couldn’t come back.

The loss eliminated the Pirates.

Pirates reserves Marya Munsey, 15, and Jasmine Acosta, 20, along with Kelsey Abella and Kathryn Misel all got some State playing time.

Semi-finals tomorrow:

6 p.m. Kings v Meridian

8 p.m. Vashon v Cascade Christian

Tonight’s game was not settled until the final seconds. Through most of the second half it looked like “last basket wins.” Pirates and Knights exchanged baskets with neither getting more than 2 points ahead until Corey hit a three and a two to give the Pirates a 5-point lead with about three minutes left. Vashon pulled away with free throws but Bellevue Christian was in the game until the last two seconds.

Concentrating on free throws in the final minutes

Elias Weston

Quinn Holert

Vashon took the lead early and never gave it up, extending it to as much as 14 points at one point in the third quarter.

Kelly Costello led Vashon with 15 points, Kiki Means had 9 and Charlotte added 8.

Vashon plays Seattle Christian at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

Vashon 66, Chelan 52

Thursday: Vashon v Bellevue Christian 9 a.m. Winner plays winner of Cascade Christian/Onalaska 8 p.m. Friday; losers play at 4 p.m. Friday.

Granger 45, Vashon 32

Tomorrow, Thursday March 4: Vashon v Toledo 10:30 a.m. Loser out, winner plays 11 a.m. March 5 v Cedar Park Christian/Seattle Christian winner.