The Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity cross-country team finished 10th overall at the Artichoke Invitational on Saturday. The 2.4 mile race was held at Half Moon Bay High School.

Paly varsity runner Nikolai Solgaard (‘12) finished first for the Vikings and 13th overall with a time of 12:46.

“I thought [the race] went pretty well,” Solgaard said. “It was the first time I’ve ever placed and got a medal. I’ve never received one before.”

Corso Rosati (‘12) typically runs behind Solgaard for the Vikings, but did not attend the race.

“This wasn’t the most important meet to us and with Corso not at the race, it allowed some of our younger runners to step up,” Solgaard said.

Matan Geller (‘13) finished second for the Vikings and 43rd overall with a time of 13:48.

“I felt I did pretty well,” Geller said. “The beginning was pretty fast, [but] I started to hurt during the hill. The hill was really tough for me.”

Running conditions were difficult for the Vikings, as cool temperatures in the low 60s and a very difficult climb towards the end of the race caused many runners to lose stamina.

Despite the fact that the Vikings had a long ride up to the meet and that it was their first appearance in this race, assistant coach John Welch thinks that the results were positive.

“The meet went pretty well, we only had five runners for the varsity team,” Welch said. “Nikolai ran pretty well. He went out pretty hard and hung on pretty well considering he was running with faster guys he isn’t used to running with. He helped the other members on his team.”

The Vikings’ next meet is at Crystal Springs at 3:15 p.m on Thursday, Oct. 7.