Siuslaw cross country coach Chris Johnson was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and not smile.

Or, in his case, gift Mustangs.

Siblings Murray and Morgan Bingham were training to be Hidden Valley Mustangs this summer when the family moved from Grants Pass to Florence.

"Murray basically shows up on my doorstep the first day of school," Johnson said. "We knew he was going to be good, but it's hard to come into a training program sort of midway."

Murray, a freshman, has been the top boys runner for the Vikings this season, while Morgan has been a steady No. 2 performer behind fellow junior Celie Mans.

"Luckily both Murray and Morgan had been running all summer long," Johnson said. "That's the key. They had a good base."

The Vikings are counting on the siblings to continue their steady improvement at the 4A district meet on Thursday and the state championships Halloween Day.

Siuslaw's top-ranked girls team will be relying on Mans, Bingham, seniors Sierra Potter and Mikaela Siegel, junior Destinie Tatum and freshmen Kaeli and Trinity Ramos.

The boys team will need strong performances by Bingham, sophomores Isaac Griffes and Kyle King, juniors Jack Pickell, Andrew Rannow and Sean Burns and senior Tyler Williams.

Murray won last Thursday's annual Run for the Brownies at Sandpines Golf Links, but it was the times of his Vikings teammates that had Johnson encouraged.

Murray had the only sub-10-minute time for the 3,000 meters at 9 minutes, 53.4 seconds. Griffes ran 10:14.6, Williams 10:15.0, King 10:16.8, Pickell 10:38.2, Burns 10:42.9 and Rannow 11:05.0.

"Murray looked great," Johnson said. "If our boys finish that close to Murray at district, we're going to be a solid team and have a chance to win."

The Far West League championships are scheduled for William M. Tugman State Park, the site of the District Preview Meet in September.

The Vikings boys placed fourth at the Preview Meet behind Bandon, North Bend and Brookings-Harbor. The Siuslaw girls won by one point over meet host North Bend.

Thursday's district championships start at noon with the girls varsity race, followed by the boys varsity race at 12:45 p.m. The boys and girls junior varsity race will be run together at 1:30 p.m.

An awards ceremony is scheduled for 2:15 p.m., and will be conducted by the host school, which this year is Marshfield.

The top five individuals and the top two teams qualify for state, which is Oct. 31 at Lane Community College in Eugene.