The Paly boys’ cross-country team placed 21st out of 35 teams at the Stanford Invitational this Saturday. This five kilometer race is held annually at the Stanford golf course.

Nate Cook (‘15) finished first for Paly and 73rd overall in a race with over 200 participants. Cook ran the course with a time of 17:22, and a blistering 5:36 mile pace. Ben Hawthorne (‘13) finished second for Paly and 108th overall with a time of 17:47. Completing the scoring for Paly were Ben May (‘13) in 122nd place, Sean Keegan (‘14) in 133rd place and Samuel Mignot (‘14) in 149th place.

Coach Marcus Stone was impressed by the improvement of the team over the last few meets.

“The team overall did great,” Stone said. “[We showed] a lot of improvement, not only the varsity but the younger runners also.”

Stone was especially pleased with Cook’s performance in the race.

“He’s really fast,” Stone said of Cook. “He’s getting better, also. He and Ben had been switching [between first and second place] the past couple meets, and this race he took it from Ben.”

The team has a quick turnaround before its next meet, which is Tuesday’s Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) Preview at Crystal Springs.