Fort Steilacoom Invitational 2026: Boys & Girls Varsity Gold Preview
Update, Sept 15, 2026: Central Kitsap's Mana Voss — the fastest listed time in this field — has been confirmed out for Saturday by the athlete and his coach. The rankings and analysis below have been updated to reflect his scratch.
Olympia Bears sophomore duo Leah Hennen and Gemma Stevick battle through the tree line at Fort Steilacoom.
Dear Parents of First-Year XC Athletes,
The Fort Steilacoom Invitational might be your kid's first 5,000m race in high school — it might be their first big invitational, period — so I wanted to share my experience with you.
The first time I rolled into Fort Steilacoom Park and made my way toward the playground, as soon as I turned the corner it was nothing but buses, athletes, tents, food trucks — it was like I had arrived at the fair. Fear not, you're in the right place, and this is where the magic happens.
The races start and finish in close proximity to one another. The beauty of this course is that you can spot your athlete multiple times without breaking a sweat: at the start, then as they turn left near the red barns around mile 1, and then at the finish — that's the light version. If you want to break a sweat, you can catch them more.
A finish-line sprint at Fort Steilacoom — this close, every stride counts.
The start and finish are the "chaotic busy" areas of the course. Mile 1 is where you want to be if you want to know how the race is shaping up. First big race of the season, fast start, who's getting dropped, who went out too hot — this is where you'll find out.
One thing you shouldn't take for granted: length of day. This is a long day for anyone heading out early and staying through. That said, it's fun from start to finish, and with food trucks on site, it's easy to handle.
Coaches get their own moment on the line before the community race kicks off the day at Fort Steilacoom.
The day kicks off with community races, then middle school, then the ambulatory heats. The ambulatory races allow adaptive athletes to compete and participate at a competitive level. These heats run on a 2-mile course rather than the 5,000m run the rest of the day — many of the athletes you'll spectate at this race will compete in Pasco at the WIAA State Championships in November.
Next up are the JV Top-5 Races, which are always super competitive. If an athlete is outside the 8 allowed for varsity, the next 9–13 run in the JV races. I love these two heats — they showcase the depth of many of the top teams.
The day continues with the freshman heats (bracketed by projected time), then steps up into varsity: bronze, silver, and then gold — this is where the serious action is.
Got an athlete I should be watching for?
Send a name, school, and bib number (if you have it) ahead of Saturday and I'll make sure they're on my shot list at Fort Steilacoom.
Flag your athlete ↗2:00 PM: Boys Varsity Gold
Coming into Saturday, many of these athletes haven't run a competitive 5,000m race this season. My rankings are based on their listed PRs and based on what I have seen from them.
Central Kitsap's Mana Voss leads Seattle Prep's Henry Herb and Olympia's Quenton Lanese early at Fort Steilacoom.
Battle Ground's Lord King Nana-Badu-Weah enters with the fastest time on file at 15:03.0, with Olympia's Quenton Lanese right behind at 15:05.4 and Eisenhower's Kian Compton at 15:05.9. (Central Kitsap's Mana Voss, who would have entered as the top seed, is confirmed out for Saturday.) The lineup for this race is still impressive top to bottom — my hunch is this comes down to who's willing to take a risk early and push the pace.
The Gig Harbor boys enter with the most athletes on my top-times board (6), with Peninsula (4) just behind them. The Tides are coming off a team win in the boys' senior race at the Olympia XC Classic (2 mile), where Jack Greer (10:28.4, 3rd), Joshua Minner (10:32.4, 4th), and Max Dower (10:34.8, 5th) all finished within 6 seconds of one another — that's how state championships are won. Thomas Atkins (10:45.9) was just behind them in 9th.
Gig Harbor's senior boys before the Olympia XC Classic — three of them would finish within six seconds of each other that day.
The Tides won't have it easy Saturday — they'll have to fend off a strong Battle Ground duo in Lord King Nana-Badu-Weah and Trae Copper, and Mead comes to town from Eastern Washington with two absolute powerhouse runners in Stejer Franklin and Aaron Pooler. A name to keep your eye on this season: a strong Kamiakin team led by a freshman, Elijah Teeples. In the scrum you'll have Stadium, Olympia, Issaquah, Central Kitsap, and Camas.
Mead's Stejer Franklin racing at NXR Northwest — the powerhouse Fort Steilacoom will have to contend with out of Eastern Washington.
Eisenhower's Kian Compton and Battle Ground's Lord King Nana-Badu-Weah at the state track championship.
Who's fastest on paper
Squad depth
Final Thoughts on the Boys Varsity Gold
The battle up front is going to come down to who has the best gameplan from the start. With Voss out, Quenton Lanese goes from chaser to target — he's smart and patient, but now everyone's racing him. Kian Compton and Stejer Franklin both have the range to make it a real fight rather than a formality.
The Gig Harbor boys show the most promise and depth coming in, but Stadium and Mead could both disrupt that. I have the Olympia boys as my outside favorite due to their depth and stellar sophomore roster.
2:07 PM: Girls Varsity Gold
Kamiakin's Jaycee Jenkins leads the pack through the trees at Fort Steilacoom.
On the girls' side, Kamiakin brings in a strong roster with 7 athletes on my tracking boards. Behind them are Lakes and Emerald Ridge. Ciana Johnson enters as the clear favorite, but she's going to have to line up and battle it out like the rest of them — there are a lot of strong runners in this group.
Ciana Johnson, the reigning 3A 800m state champion, rounds the curve at the WIAA state track championships.
Battle Ground's Sophia Rogers and Camas' Kate Westfall at the 2025 district track championships.
Camas' Kate Westfall (18:04.2) finished 5th at the Ultimook Race a couple of weeks ago in 21:22.3 — an impressive time on that course. Her legs are going to feel a lot faster at Fort Steilacoom. Redmond's Lenorah Mcgarty (18:07.5), Issaquah's Sally Davis (18:13.0), and Battle Ground's Sophia Rogers (18:27.1) all sit within the top 10 coming into this race.
Leah Hennen crosses first in the sophomore race at the Olympia XC Classic.
A few sophomores to keep your eye on: Jaycee Jenkins (Kamiakin), Maya Wentworth (Federal Way), and Leah Hennen (Olympia). These three all had standout freshman campaigns and showed improvement over the course of the track season. Look for them to assert themselves early.
Ella Savage wins the junior race at the Olympia XC Classic.
Teams to watch: Issaquah, Gig Harbor, Olympia, Mead, Tahoma, Camas, and Kamiakin are all ranked in the top 10 of their classification's preseason polls.
Who's fastest on paper
Squad depth
Final Thoughts on the Girls Varsity Gold
Ballard's Ciana Johnson looks to be in a league of her own entering this race, but I suspect there will be early signs of whether the PRs hold. Leah Hennen comes into the season looking ready to compete, with a whole list of athletes behind her who stand a chance to find themselves up front battling down the stretch.
Olympia's state runner-up squad at NXR Northwest — Leah Hennen, Gemma Stevick, Eliza Johnson, Carolina Schilter, and Azalea Barksdale are back this season; Sydney Kosa and Ava Barr are no longer on the roster.
Olympia enters as my favorite to take the team victory, with Issaquah right behind them — this will be an early-season rematch of last year's 1st- and 2nd-place finishers at the state championships. The Gig Harbor girls could squeeze into the top 3 if they have their day.
Fort Steilacoom is always an incredible invite, and on paper the varsity races look like they're going to be a barn burner.
