The Palo Alto Vikings Girls Varsity Track team saw 3 of its athletes advance to the finals of the SCVAL De Anza League yesterday at the De Anza League trials, under the scorching sun at Gunn High School.
Josie Butler (13’), Pippa Raffel (14’) and Torie Nielsen (12’) all sprinted their way to qualification by time, securing themselves in the decisive race tomorrow that will send them to SCVAL CCS qualifiers, or end their seasons.
Butler, one of only two Paly entries in the Girls Varsity 400 meters, ran an impressive time of 1:02:09 to secure her 4th in her heat and qualification.
Nielsen and Raffel raced a neck in neck 100 meter heat that saw Nielsen, at 4th place and a 13.17, barely edge out her 5th place teammate at 13.26, sending them both back to Gunn for the finals. In her second event of the day, Nielsen ran her way to a 27.17 in the 200 meter dash, grabbing her third place.
Tomorrow, all three runners will return to Gunn to compete in the finals, potentially their last race of the season.