Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity cross-country lost to Gunn High School on Oct. 26 in the city championships at Bol Park.

Nikolai Solgaard (’12) placed fourth overall with a time of 11:25 and was first for Paly, followed by Matan Geller (’13), Ricky Estrada (’12), Marco Vienna (’13), Corso Rosati (’12), Sam Carilli (’12) and William Hall (’12). The runners placed 10th through 15th, respectively .

Andre Gouyet (’12) dropped out of the race with a strained calf caused by a collapsed arch, but was pleased with how his teammates performed.

“I thought we did pretty well,” Gouyet said. “One of our top guys, Corso, wasn’t feeling well and there weren’t too many people to race against.”

Geller was trying to beat 12 minutes for the course, and got a time of 11:45.

One thing the team mostly agreed on was the fast pace of the race.

“This race was a lot faster [and] more competitive,” Geller said.

Although the pace may have seemed overwhelming to some runners, Paly coach Joe Ginanni expressed optimism with the results of the race.

“A lot of guys were where they should be,” Ginanni said. “Gunn is a really good team… our varsity was in a good spot, in a pack… it was encouraging to see them all together, I’m excited to see what happens at Crystal.”

While Ginanni and most of the runners were pleased with how they raced, other athletes were not so happy with their races.

“I was more excited with my time at the beginning of the season,” Solgaard said. “I was hoping to do better than I did today.”

The next race will be at Crystal Springs on Nov. 2.