The Palo Alto High School boys’ cross-country team split into four teams by grades at the Crystal Springs Preview meet on Oct. 7. Juniors finished fourth out of nine teams, sophomores sixth out of nine and seniors 10th out of 11.

Nikolai Solgaard (‘12) finished first for Paly with a time of 16:49.1. He got 10th place overall in the junior race, along with Ricky Estrada (‘12) who placed 22nd and finished in 18:18.2. Solegaard’s pace per mile was 5:42, with Estrada slightly behind at 6:12.

“I was pretty happy with [my time], I was trying to break 17 [minutes].” Solgaard said.

Matan Geller (‘13) placed 15th with a time of 17:56.6 in the sophomore race and got Paly’s second-fastest time. Ben Hawthorne (‘13) finished with a time of 18:21.9. He was the second Paly sophomore runner to finish and placed 21st.

In the senior race, Charles Lockner (‘11) finished first for Paly with a time of 20:31.9 in 38th place overall.

Coach Joe Ginani was pleased with the boys’ times, especially the sophomores.

“A lot of people PR’d [got a personal record]… I wasn’t expecting to have everyone at their best,” Ginani said.

He plans to use the times from this race to help decide who he will run in varsity the next time Paly goes to Crystal Springs for leagues on Nov. 2.

The next cross-country meet is at Toro Park in Salinas for the Monterey Invitational on Oct. 15.