While many members of the Paly girls’ track team had good scores in many events, some Vikings struggled with their races in the SCVAL qualifier meet.

The competition began with the 4×100-meter relay, and the Paly team was coming off a strong race in the De Anza League finals. The race began well for the team, but senior Katy Wanner stumbled and fell before making her handoff. Because the team received a DNF, they are not abel to move on to the CCS trials. The winner of the 4×100-meter relay was Los Gatos who had a time of 49.17 seconds.

In the mile run, junior Renata Cummins raced well. Cummins stayed in the middle of the group for most of the race and finished in sixth place with a time of 5:13. This qualifies Cummins for the CCS trials, where she is expected to do well. The winner of the mile was junior Jill Goodwin of Los Gatos, who finished with a time of 5:10.

In the other distance event, the 3200-meter, senior Naomi Horiuchi surprised many by finishing in fourth. Horiuchi stayed in the middle of the pack and kept a steady pace throughout the race. Then in the last 200-meters Horiuchi had a big kick and passed many competitors in the final straightaway. Horiuchi finished the race with a CCS trials qualifying time.

Another great race for Paly was the 800-meter event. Sophomore Mia Lattanzi showed that the 800 was her race to win. Lattanzi broke ahead in the first lap and had a comfortable 40-meter lead. Then in the last 200-meters Lattanzi left no chance for the competition to catch up and stepped her pace up. Lattanzi crossed the line in first place with a time of 2:16, which qualifies Lattanzi for the CCS trials. Her closest competitor was sophomore Callie Mulgannon of Los Gatos, who crossed the line with a time of 2:20.

In the 100-meter hurdle event, senior Elissa Chandler placed second with a time of 15.90, which qualifies her for the CCS trials. The winner of the race was junior Nha-Dien Bui, who finished with a time of 15.76.

The team heads to the CCS trials meet at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 20 at San Jose City College.