With many runners returning from varsity, and last season’s injuries now in the past, the Paly boys’ cross-country team hopes that this season will be a benchmark year in which they qualify for CCS (Central Coast Sectionals) as a team.

Since a week before school, Paly’s cross-country team has been training tirelessly in preparation for the upcoming season. Routine practices consist of a long distance run, average length of 5 miles, followed by stride drills. To strengthen muscles and improve breathing control, runners do sets of push-ups, sit-ups, and leg drills, with occasional skipping sessions thrown in.

With many returning players stakes are high, and goals have been set. "We’re confident that we will qualify for CCS as a team, and place in the top 5," returning junior David Coughlan said.

Returning sophomore Scott Himmelberger and junior Danny Vinson were top runners who qualified for CCS last season as individuals. Over the course of this season the team will look to Vinson and Himmelberger for direction. "We hope to lead the team in coming meets and help our score as a whole improve," Vinson said. "We have many top runners on our team this year and our main goal is to qualify for CCS as a team."

This year the Paly team will be moving from Division 3 to Division 2. "The competition is very stiff, the other top teams from Division 3 have moved up and some Division 1 teams have moved down to Division 2 as well," returning boys coach Paul Jones said.

Jones has returned for another year as coach of the cross-country team, but this year he will take on the responsibilities of the girls’ team as well. Liz Cotter, former girls’ coach will not return to coach this year because of occupational reasons. However, she will visit over the year to help cheer on and watch what should be an exciting season.

With their first meet against Gunn tomorrow, the Paly runners continue to practice hard and push the extra mile. "We are going to use our first Gunn meet as a scrimmage to determine where we are and who is currently at what level, junior-varsity, frosh-soph, or varsity," Jones said.

Paly runners plan to take the Gunn meet easily and save their energy because following the Gunn meet they have three more meets on Sept. 20, Sept. 23, and Sept. 27. The last of which is the Stanford Invitational, a highly competitive race. "Last year at the Stanford Invite Paly ran well, but did not seed very high," returning junior Sean Gasiorek said. "This year we hope to rank in double digits." The Stanford Invitational is an aggressive race with participants ranging in the hundreds. Jones will also look mostly at the results of the Invitational to decide what the level everyone will run at.

With many runners coming from Track and Field and new freshmen coming in, Jones is eager to see how everyone stacks up against each other. Three runners from track, sophomore Devon Dykwel, and juniors Herrel Siller and Michael Nordlund, hope to contribute to the team and give the team’s spirits a boost. "I decided to join the team to train for Track and Field," Siller said. "But after practicing with the team for a couple of weeks I am looking forward to running with them and hope to help them make CCS." Jones looks forward to watching incoming freshmen Justin and Leland Takamine in upcoming meets and hopes they will become team leaders.

Returning players to watch are Vinson, Himmelberger, and Gasiorek as well as juniors Charles Vickery and Ben Flamm and sophomore Zander MacQuitty.

Senior Pedro Duarte returns to the team after having ankle problems last year. "This year I hope to stay healthy and just perform well," Duarte said. "I hope to qualify for CCS as an individual if I don’t qualify with the team."

Paly runners are ready and eager to start off the new season with a clash against their rival Gunn tomorrow followed by meets at Golden Gate Park on Sept. 20, Central Park Sept. 23, and Stanford Golf Course on Sept. 27.