Six individuals in 10 events, and two relay teams from the Paly boys’ varsity track and field team will compete in the Central Coast Section semi-finals at San Jose City College on Saturday, May 19.

After a strong showing at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League qualifiers at Los Gatos High School on Friday, the boys’ team placed second overall, only ten points behind Los Gatos’ 107 points.

The meet began with a strong showing by Paly’s 4 x 100 relay, comprised of freshmen Daniel Jones, senior Trenton Hart, junior Mike Scott, and sophomore Paul Brown.

As Scott came around in the third leg of the relay, he was tied with two other teams. Instead of handing off the baton to senior Will Frazier, he gave it to Brown, subbing for Frazier, who was ill. In a close last leg, the Vikings beat out Lynbrook High School by 0.09 seconds.

Scott also took first in the high jump, long jump, and the triple jump in a personal record; contributing a total of 40 points to the Viking’s score. His 6′ 4″ vault in the high jump, was equal to the second place SCVAL Qualifiers’ meet record jump of Los Gatos’ Kevin Rutledge, who placed second after Scott. His long jump, 22′ 1.50″, a personal record, puts him down for the third longest jump in the SCVAL Qualifiers’ meet history. The season came to a close however for juniors Dominic Powell and Nick Godin, who finished seventh in the high jump and long jump, respectively.

Hart was also able to come out with another first place finish, in the 100m, with a time of 11.17. He also qualified in the 200m, with a third place finish, .03 seconds after Milpitas’ Aric Armon. Jones finished 11th in the 100m, running 11.67, which was the same time as the ninth and 10th place finishers. In the 200m, Jones narrowly missed the top five qualifying spots, placing sixth, 0.18 seconds behind the fifth finisher.

“He [Jones] had a great year,” head boy’s coach Jason Fung said. “He has nothing to be disappointed by.”

Paly showed its athleticism in all sprinting events as senior Sam Margevicious qualified in both the 110m and 300m hurdles, placing second and third, respectively.

The 4 x 400m relay team consisting of Brown, senior Alex Dalal, and juniors Julius Berezin and Willie Xiang, finished fourth, 2.14 seconds after first place, and also qualified for the semi-finals.

“I expect the 4 x 400 to advance to finals,” middle distance coach Joe Ginanni said. “We’ll see how things go next week.”

In the 400m individual race, Dalal qualified with a third place finish of 52.46.

“I did expect to qualify [to CCS semi-finals], I’m not going to lie,” Dalal said. “I’m not expecting to qualify [to CCS finals] in the 400, but I am in the 4 x 400, but we don’t have Will [Frazier].”

Teammate Xiang narrowly missed qualifying by placing sixth, a mere 0.24 of a second behind the fifth place finisher. Berezin likewise missed qualifying by 0.85 of a second in the 800m, finishing sixth, with a time of 1:59:08.

“I was expecting both those guys to qualify,” Ginanni said. “Julius [Berezin] ran his best race and still didn’t make it. In a way I think these guys are relieved to not have the pressure of an individual event. They enjoy running together as a team.”

Freshmen Philip MacQuitty finished more than six seconds ahead of senior Los Gatos runner Matthew Petrillo, to place first in the race with a time of 9:30.35 and also placing himself with the fastest time in the SCVAL Qualifiers’ meet records. The previous record was held by Gunn runner Andrew Lipkin in 2004, with a time of 9:34.85.

In the shot put, senior Fred Koloto finished fourth, however he missed qualifying in the discus with a seventh place finish and a 132′ 10″ throw.

Those that qualified will run the CCS Semifinals on Saturday, May 19, at San Jose City College. If they place in the top eight (winner of each heat or eight fastest times for the 1600m and 3200m), they will advance to the CCS finals on Friday, May 25, at San Jose City College.

“We all face competitors, everyone,” Fung said.