Members of the Palo Alto girls’ varsity cross country team failed to overtake their Gunn counterparts at the dual meet on Tuesday at Bol Park. Head coach Paul Jones and the rest of the team, however, were still pleased with the outcome of the meet.

“We met our expectations and performed well,” Jones said. “Gunn is second or third in CCS, so a victory would have been very difficult.”

With temperatures reaching the lower 80 degrees, many of the runners were sweating even before they got to the starting line. Despite the heat, the squad’s strong determination showed in their performance, with several top ten finishers among the group who ran the over two mile length course.

The top six finishers for Paly were seniors Mia Lattanzi (13:33) and Leah Gaeta (13:52), juniors Gillian Lui (13:44) and Elizabeth Scott (14:20), and sophomores Regina Wang (14:09) and Kathleen Higgins (14:10). All of the girls are pleased with their times and their results as a team.

“Gunn is good competition, so I’m pretty happy with our result,” Lattanzi said.

The meet also marked the last event of the season between Paly and Gunn cross-country. Prior to the start of the meet, a ceremony was held for all of the graduating seniors.

Lattanzi, who suffered a foot injury last year during track, has been using much of this season to get reacquainted with her running. Her presence on the team has helped in previous instances throughout the season.

“It was hard at first to start running again after my injury, but I’m finally getting back into it,” Lattanzi said. “With a little more work we should be ready for the postseason.”

Lattanzi’s optimism on the outcome of the race is reflective of the team’s positive attitude throughout this season. The end of the season also gives many of the runners a chance to meditate on some of the goals they set for themselves and what can still be done to accomplish them.

“I think that we have definitely met our goals for the season thus far,” Higgins said. “The season still isn’t over yet though, so we should have even more opportunities to prove ourselves.”

Many of the runners used Gunn’s competitive speed as an opportunity to establish good individual paces for the remainder of the season.

“They [Gunn] were really fast, so I think in a lot of ways the meet helped us to see how fast we will need to go for the remaining meets,” Higgins said. “You could almost think of it more as a learning meet.”

While pacing is a crucial factor in a runner’s performance, Jones has his own ideas on what the girls need to improve on.

“I think that some of the girls start out too aggressively too soon,” Jones said. “If they go too fast at the beginning, it could hinder them throughout the remainder of the race.”

The team still has two more tough challenges to face this season: the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) Championships next Tuesday and the Central Coast Sectional (CCS) Championships on Nov. 10.

“A lot of the team’s hard work is being dedicated to the SCVAL meet next Tuesday,” Jones said. “Only the top four teams from SCVAL qualify for CCS, and, as of today, I would put our team at about number three.”