Competing in the State Finals against almost 200 of the fastest Division II high school cross country runners in California, two members of the Paly cross country team finished in the top 36 places of the race that took place Saturday in Fresno.

Sophomore Philip MacQuitty and junior Charlie Avis ran for the Vikings Saturday at the California Interscholastic Federation State Cross Country Championships set on Woodward Park’s five-kilometer-long course. Before the race even began, head coach Jeff Billing discussed with his runners racing strategies and how he wanted each of them to approach their runs.

“For Philip, the talk centered around believing in his fitness, believing that he could compete, and beat, anyone in this race,” Billing said. “I wanted there to be no doubts in his mind, as he raced against some new competitors, that he was capable of beating them.”

In terms of time, MacQuitty was to aim for breaking 15 minutes, 20 seconds on the course, an expectation that seemed doable, given MacQuitty clocked a 15:37 on the same course at the Clovis Invitational in October. However, Saturday’s race proved to be quite different from the race MacQuitty ran at Woodward Park more than a month ago.

According to Billing, Saturday’s leaders ran their first mile 12 seconds slower than those who ran at the Clovis Invitational in October, which “threw him [MacQuitty] off his game a little,” Billing said.

MacQuitty expected Saturday’s leaders to start out faster and then naturally slow down at the second mile, where he would then overtake them. However, because the race went out slower, the leaders did not slow down as much as planned, and “instead of him [Macquitty] gaining on them, they actually pulled farther away from him,” Billing said.

MacQuitty finished in 11th place with a time of 15:47 and was the second runner from CCS [Central Coast Section] to finish. Billing imagines that Saturday’s race will act as a lesson for MacQuitty in future competition.

“Hopefully today can be a learning experience that will help him [MacQuitty] next week [at the Foot Locker West meet] and for the many years of running to come [for him],” Billing said. “He’s still very young and he’s got lots of great races ahead of him.”

When it came time to talk strategy with Avis, Billing advised that Avis try to push himself to his limits while running the race.

“For Charlie, the talk centered around using this [race] as another chance to test himself physically,” Billing said.

Avis had set up similar ambitions for himself prior to the race.

“My goal going in to the race was to push myself as hard as I could and race aggressively,” Avis said.

Avis was aiming for a time of less than 16:20 and try to place within the top 40.

Avis said he also faced pacing issues during the race Saturday; contrary to MacQuitty’s situation, Avis said he went out a bit too fast, which caused his performance during the second mile of the race to suffer. Nevertheless, Avis was still proud of how he ran Saturday, after finishing in 36th place at 16:21 and being the seventh runner from CCS to cross the finish line.

“Had I paced myself better, I may have been able to run a couple seconds faster, but I really pushed myself for the last mile and moved up at least ten places,” Avis said. “I have no regrets, though, because I put in an all-out effort.”

Billing agrees that Avis ran well Saturday, also noting Avis’s consistent performances.

“I was very impressed with his [Avis’s] race,” Billing said. “I think [the CCS Section race] was still the best race of his life, so I wouldn’t give today[‘s race] that title, but it was probably his second best, and to have two great races in a row is pretty darn awesome.”

After a cross country season that brought him all the way to States, Avis plans on easing off on running for the upcoming weeks before turning his attention to baseball and cycling. MacQuitty will compete next at the Foot Locker Western Region Cross Country Championships set for Saturday, Dec. 1 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.