Paly’s girls’ cross country team is gearing up for its first meet against cross-town rival Gunn High School on Thursday after school.
Although last year’s team’s top two runners Leah Gaeta and Mia Lattanzi graduated last year, the group is looking forward to having a team that is deeper overall.
“I think the team is going to do really well,” senior Tamar Ben-Shachar said. “We have a lot of returning runners, some fast people from track, and some great new freshmen and sophomores who will add depth to the team.”
The team boasts 10 returning senior girls. Some notable senior runners include Gillian Lui, Elizabeth Scott, and Sarah Haydock. Juniors Regina Wang and Kathleen Higgins, as well as sophomores Susan Heinselman and Erin Keikhaefer, all promise to also be valuable assets to the team.
“This is the deepest team we’ve had here at Paly for many years, if not ever,” girls’ head coach Paul Jones said.
In order to get ready for the upcoming season, the team began practicing over the summer. They met at the Paly track in the evenings and practiced at least five times per week. By the end of the summer, much of the team had been running 35 to 45 miles a week, according to Jones.
“We’ve been getting stronger,” Jones said. “The girls have been looking forward to taking some muscle shots to show off.”
The girls’ team has set high goals for itself. According to Jones, the team plans to finish in the top two at leagues in order to win a qualifying spot in CCS, where the team hopes to place in the top three in order to make states. Each individual athlete also plans on striving for new personal records.
“My goals for the season are to get PR’s [personal records] and not get injured,” Ben-Shachar said.
The cross country coaching staff boasts a five-member team. New coaches John Welch, former Paly runner David Coughlin, and former UCLA runner Jaclyn Nolan will be joining Jones and the boys’ head coach Joe Ginnani.
While the longest course the team will run on this season is 3.1 miles, or five kilometers, for the Stanford Invitational, Thursday’s meet will be held at the 2.2 mile-long Gunn High School course. It’s a relatively flat course, as well as the shortest that the team will be running on this season.
“The Gunn course is a lot of fun. There are no hills or anything so we can really focus on our running strategies,” junior Abby LaPier said.
Gunn will be a competitive and challenging team this year for the Paly Vikings.
“It should be fun. We want to win, of course, but that’s going to be tough,” junior Regina Wang said.
Paly’s girls’ cross country team will race in their first meet of the season at 4 p.m. on Thursday at Gunn High School.