Hot, confusing, and repetitive were some words used to describe the Stanford Invitational on Saturday. But Paly’s varsity girls’ cross country team still managed to place a solid 13th out of 31 teams, an improvement of four spots from last year.
The annual invitational is hosted at the Stanford golf course, where a new 5-kilometer-long course was set up this year. Paly raced against the top teams from California as well as teams from Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, and Washington.
“Overall, I was really happy with the results,” girls’ head coach Paul Jones said. “I don’t think we have ever had five people coming under 22 minutes. That is going to put us really nice in leagues.”
However, many runners detested the race because of the confusing course and the hot weather. Others considered this year’s invitational to be the most challenging race in the season.
First to finish from Paly was senior co-captain Elizabeth Scott, with a time of 20 minutes, 36 seconds.
“Mentally, it was my hardest race ever and for many other people,” Scott said. “If you look at the times, you can tell that everyone was much slower.”
Most cross country courses mark where each mile is to give runners and coaches feedback during the race; however, the new course had none. As a result, many of the spectators, without knowing that the course had altered from last year, yelled out faulty directions to the runners during the race.
“It was like running my race blind,” Scott said.
Junior Regina Wang agrees.
“Towards the end of the race, some spectators told us that we were on the last straightaway,” Wang said, “but there were quite a few turns left.”
Second to finish was junior Kathleen Higgins with a time of 21:14. Senior co-captain Gillian Lui and Wang completed the race in 21:19 and 21:25, respectively. They were followed by senior co-captains Sarah Haydock and Grace Park, who finished the course in 22:15 and 22:38, respectively.
“This [race was] farther for four or five of [our newer runners],” Jones said. “You can’t prepare that in practice…it take a little race experience to get used to a 5k [run].”
In addition to the unfamiliar distance, many runners found the looping course mentally frustrating.
“It messes with your mind,” Higgins said. “In most cross country courses, you don’t have to come back [to the same location], but this course comes back to haunt you.”
The hot weather also broke down an abundance of runners over the day, with a few dehydrated runners unable to complete the course. A calf cramp took junior Abby LaPier out of the competition, and a few others felt dizzy after their races.
“I’m a little disappointed,” Scott said, “but it’s the only the third meet of the season, so I can let it go.”
The team’s next race is at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2 at Crystal Springs.