Malcolm Slaney
Palo Alto High School senior Amaya Bharadwaj competes during the fall cross country season. Bharadwaj qualified for Nike Cross Nationals, becoming the first runner from Palo Alto High School to advance to the national meet. “You just have to run your fastest and hope you are going to be in the top five,” Bharadwaj said.
Senior Amaya Bharadwaj entered the season without national attention, but her results quickly shifted expectations. By the end of the fall season, she had qualified for Nike Cross Nationals, finishing 20th overall with a time of 17:45.3 in the girls’ race, something no runner from Palo Alto High School had ever done before.
According to Bharadwaj, qualifying for the meet is a significant achievement.
“I was the first person from Paly to ever make it to Nike Cross Nationals,” Bharadwaj said. “It is really hard to do that because at the state meet you have to get the top five fastest times from all the girls that run that day.”
Bharadwaj said that divisions are separated by school size, so athletes compete without knowing how runners from other divisions performed.
“You just have to run your fastest and hope you are going to be in the top five,” Bharadwaj said.
Alongside her cross country success, Bharadwaj ran a 5000-meter PR of 16:52.7 at the CIF State Cross Country Championships and also posted competitive track times in the mile.
By the end of the cross country season, despite not appearing in the national preseason rankings, she became a nationally ranked runner.
“I was not even in the top 100 rankings nationally before the season started,” Bharadwaj said. “Now I’m 20th.”
Bharadwaj said that running shapes her entire week, since she trains six days with two-hour practices after school and gym sessions two times a week.
“I only have basically a week off of running the whole year,” Bharadwaj said. “Three days after track and three days after cross country.”
According to Bharadwaj, intense cross country training has called for a unique academic routine that works best for her.
“After I get home from practice, I cannot do work,” Bharadwaj said. “Most practices I’m on the ground exhausted after the workout. If I have a big test, I wake up at 5 a.m. to study for it.”
Bharadwaj said her senior year changed how she approached competition. Because she committed to Princeton before the season, she entered races without the same pressure she felt as a junior.
“There was no pressure because I knew I was committed,” Bharadwaj said. “I did not have the same stress as last year.”
However, the recruiting process had been difficult earlier in her high school career.
“Getting recruited is super stressful,” Bharadwaj said. “Junior year, all the races felt like it was the end of the world.”
According to Bharadwaj, the final stages of recruiting are highly unpredictable.
“There are many last-minute changes,” Bharadwaj said. “I am so grateful that the Princeton coach believed in me. I had the best season of my life this cross country season.”
Identity also plays a role in her goals. Bharadwaj grew up in India and moved to the United States at 14, which meant adjusting to a new athletic community took time.
“When I first moved, it was definitely difficult,” Bharadwaj said. “Everyone you look up to is Indian when you are in India.”
According to Bharadwaj, the lack of representation became more noticeable as she entered higher levels of competition.
“At the state meet on the start line for the mile, I was the only Indian girl,” Bharadwaj said. “It is so cool to see an Indian girl performing well nationally because it is not that common.”
Bharadwaj hopes her results this year place her in the national conversation more consistently.
“If I was not in their thoughts before, I hopefully am now.” Bharadwaj said.