The girls varsity tack team will go into its league qualifiers meet Tuesday with newly gained momentum after beating rival Gunn on Thursday as part of a four-team sweep.
Helping lead the Lady Vikes to victory were standout performances by seniors Alicia Ivanhoe, Alyson Seedman, Chelsea Williams and Jacqueline Huang.
The win was significant for all four Paly teams, not only because it was over Gunn. The frosh/soph boys teams from both schools entered the meet with 4-1 records, meaning the winning team would secure at least a share of the league title.
It also marked the varsity girls’ second win, the first being against Lynbrook earlier in the season.
Because of their victory over Gunn, the varsity boys were able to keep its undefeated (6-0) record and thus the league title.
“It’s always nice to win against Gunn,” coach Jason Fung said. “Especially when all the [Paly track] teams can win.”
Paly literally let it rain as the sprinklers turned on to celebrate all four track teams emerging victorious over the cross-town rival.
To lead off the girls’ varisty win, Ivanhoe blew through the competition and won the 1600m race with a blazing time of 5:11.
“I was really nervous because [Gunn distance runner] Allegra [Mayer] is known to have a really fast kick,” Ivanhoe said. “The plan was to slowly increase pace halfway through the race so she would tire out and wouldn’t be able to sprint as quickly at the end.”
Ivanhoe also placed third in the 800m race, contributing a grand total of six points to the team’s score.
Huang added greatly to the girls’ win by running in three events, and earning four points for the team. Huang placed second in the 100m hurdles, third in the 300m hurdles, and ran the first leg of the defeated 4x400m relay.
“You can run a maximum of four events,” Fung said. “Running three events isn’t that rare but it is tough.”
Williams threw her heart into the meet, placing first in both the shotput and discus throwing events, contributing a total of 10 points to the team’s final score.
The biggest surprise of the meet was Seedman, who placed second in the 200m race after a five-week break from running due to injuries, and donating blood to the Paly blood drive just days before.
“I definitely did not think that I was going to win because I hadn’t run for five weeks,” Seedman said. “The whole time I was thinking that it was my last high school meet, so I just gave it my all. I was very happy though — it was a nice ending to my high school track career.”
As a result of injuries, Seedman will not run in the league championship meet on Thursday, however the sprinters will not be at a complete loss as junior Mia Lattanzi is expected to return to the track after recovering from injuries.
“Alicia, [senior] Renata [Cummins], Mia, and Jacquie all have a chance of going to CCS,” Fung said. “So does Jacquie, but these girls need to start dropping their times down a little more. It gets a little harder as you get through the league. The girls’ side of the league competition is very competitive this year.”
The varsity girls team will face this tough competition at 3 p.m. at Los Altos High School on Tuesday for the De Anza League Trials, and qualifiers will race again on Thursday for the league finals.