The Paly girls’ track team had an impressive showing in the De Anza League Finals on Thursday at Los Altos High, placing second to Los Gatos and performing well enough for many Viking competitors to qualify for Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) trials.

The 4×100-meter relay team, composed of seniors Ranecia Fields and Katy Wanner, junior Aly Seedman, and freshman Cate Olson, was seeded sixth in their event, but surprised many upon placing second in the highly competitive event and qualifying for SCVALs. The team had a final time of 50.02 seconds, just behind Los Gatos, which finished with a time of 49.27.

"The team did really well," Seedman said. "We really look forward to racing in CCS."

Junior Renata Cummins was the Viking’s primary distance runner. Cummins raced both the mile and two mile and finished fourth in both events. In the mile run, the top five finished within three seconds of each other. Cummins finished with a time of 5:13, which qualifies her for SCVALs. The winner of the mile was junior Angela Hsu of Monte Vista who finished with a time of 5:10. Also in the two mile event, Cummins had a strong race and finished in 11:35 to also qualify for SCVALs.

The 300m hurdle event was rife with controversy. The final two hurdles were set one notch too high, making the finish harder than expected. This made the times slower, which are important in qualifying for SCVALs since qualifying is based on time, not place. Senior Meghan Przybyla placed second in the event with a time of 48.19 seconds. The winner of the event was sophomore Chrystal Reed of Los Gatos who finished in 47.62 seconds. Both Przybyla and Reed have qualified for the next round, but it still is unclear whether the lower places will advance.

Sophomore Mia Lattanzi has begun to show strength not only in the 400-meter race but now the 800-meter. Lattanzi placed first in the 800 after a strong second lap and finished with a time of 2:21.39, which qualifies Lattanzi for SCVALs. Lattanzi also qualified in the 400-meter event, where she faced rival Bria Nelson of Los Altos. It was neck to neck in the last 100-meters, but Nelson edged out and won with a time of 58.60 seconds. Lattanzi was barely behind Nelson with a time of 58.61 seconds, bringing back memories of , where Lattanzi nudged into the lead while crossing the finish line.