The Palo Alto High School girls’ cross-country team placed second out of three schools at the Palo Alto City Meet at Gunn High School Tuesday afternoon.
Paly scored a total of 35 points in the Lady Vikes’ second meet at Gunn this season, in between third place Castilleja ( 64 points) and first place Gunn (32 points).
Kieran Gallagher (‘12) of Gunn finished first overall, winning the meet with a time of 12:44. Katie Foug (’13) placed first for Paly and second overall, finishing the 2.18 mile long course with a time of 13:09.
Paly’s other race at Gunn was the Gunn Alumni Meet on Sept. 9, the team’s first meet of the season. Sarah Robinson (‘14) won with a time of 12:39.1. Foug did not compete in the varsity race the first time around, running frosh-soph instead. Unlike Tuesday’s results, Paly finished last in the Gunn Alumni Meet.
Girls’ coach Paul Jones was very satisfied with the team’s performance and the improvements the squad has made since the start of the season.
“Lots of big improvements [from last time]. We are right about where we want to be for League [Championships],” Jones said.
Co-captain Torie Nielsen (‘12) agrees that the team has made substantial improvements over the course of the season.
“We had a few improvements [from the first meet at Gunn], and overall we improved by about 20 seconds [per person] on average,” she said.
Nielsen also partially credits this drastic progress to the team’s leadership and cohesiveness.
“This year I think that our captains have been very supportive, and I think we definitely team bonded a lot more. We have such a dedicated group of girls this year, which is such a big improvement from last year, and I’m really looking forward to how it all plays out.”
Teammate Audrey DeBruine (‘14) believes that the team’s hard work throughout the season, which resulted in the team’s improvements, will pay off in future competitions.
“We have been improving so much, and we have been working really hard and I think that showed today. Hopefully we will be able to do really well at League [Championships] next week, and as a team we are hoping to make it to states,” DeBruine said.
The team’s next meet is Leagues, taking place next Tuesday at Crystal Springs.
