VHS Sports Check In

By Benny Cox, Reporter, Mallory Keenan, Reporter

Vashon Island High School has a lot of fun sports for VHS students to participate in such as soccer and cross country. The 2021 fall season has been exceptionally good, with hard-working and talented athletes.

Girls Soccer:

The Vashon Island High School girls soccer team has been having a good year so far, playing 10 games this season losing only two. The team has many talented players this year, making them tough competition.

“We got to beat our rivals from last year, Bellevue Christian, and that was a really fun thing to see,” varsity co-captain Phoebe Wilke said.

All of the players on the girl’s soccer team are good players, equally participatory, and put their best effort into the game, which is paying off with how many wins they have been getting this season.

“There are so many great players; we’ve realized there isn’t one key player to rely on to be able to play,” Wilke said.

Boys Cross Country:

Boys cross country is also having a good start to the season. The returning team members of cross country have been practicing a lot, and they are in good shape to play this season.

“We’ve had a great start to the season. Most of the returning team had been running all summer, so we were in very good shape when practices began,” Johnson said.

The boy’s cross country team has been very dedicated to the sport and their team, which is making them a stronger team this season.

“I expect our boy’s team to challenge the league standings. I expect that by playoff time we will have several individual runners vying for a position at state,” Johnson said.

Boys cross country is a good team to represent VHS as all the players are talented and work to learn from each other.

“The athletes are all committed, hard-working, kind, inclusive, and talented. They struggle together and they have fun together. We have sweat, mud and laughter constantly. I’d have it no other way,” Johnson said.

Tennis:

The tennis team is well into a successful season with a 6-1 conference record. Senior Evan Keppler is excited to watch underclassmen develop.

“[The team has] lots of young talent to help us through the years. And [it’s] not just all seniors carrying [the team]. It’s great to have lots of underclassmen playing,” Keppler said. “[The season is] looking really promising; we’ve got a lot of players around the same skill level. So it really helps with competitiveness because everyone wants to be better than everyone. It just helps everyone improve,” Keppler said.

The tennis team is hoping to win their league for the third year in a row.

Cheer:

The cheer team has four members this year: junior Tessa Snowden, sophomore Malia Grantor, and seniors Bella Allen and Emma Pettis. Pettis is grateful for such a close-knit team.

“[The season] has been really fun,” Pettis said, “Most of our season is spent teaching new people the cheers, so the fact that a lot of us are returners … has allowed us to progress.”

VHS is looking forward to seeing what the cheer team is going to bring at the next football game.

Volleyball:

The volleyball team has 29 players this season, and a majority of them are seniors. Senior Emerson Dunn plays defensive specialist.

“[I am] feeling pretty good [about the season so far],” she said. “I am looking forward to playing a lot, and getting to know my position,” Dunn said.

The team recently did well at a tournament they played in Ocean Shores, Washington, and is looking forward to the rest of the season.