The girls’ track team fell behind cross-town rival Gunn High School with a loss of 48-79 in the last dual meet of the season on Thursday at the Paly track.
Alhough the season is still dragging on without any wins for the girls’ team, head coach Jason Fung feels that there have been improvements in event participation. Unlike last week’s dual meet against Los Gatos, in which no runner from Paly raced in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter events, the Vikings participated in every event against Gunn on Thursday.
“Today we held our ground,” Fung said. “We had people in all of the events, and this really helped the team as far as the ability to have people compete and hopefully win.”
Stunning times and notable personal records filled the result tables throughout the night. According to Fung, the Gunn meet brought out the best of both teams.
In short distance events, junior Emily Yeates earned a victory and a personal best of 12.3 seconds in the 100-meter event. Yeates continued on to earn vital points for the team by winning the 200-meter and 400-meter relay events.
In the hurdles, senior Sylvia Price ran consistent times, taking third and first in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles, respectively. Price earned a personal best in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.1 seconds.
In long distance events, sophomore Susan Heinselman placed third in the 1600-meter event with a new personal best of 5 minutes, 28 seconds. Junior Regina Wang placed third in the 2-mile event with a personal best of 11:58.
With the the critical Santa Clara Valley Athletic League [SCVAL] league preliminaries fast approaching, Fung feels that the team is moving in the right direction.
“We’re on track – the relay team is on track, the distance team is on track,” Fung said. “For leagues, everybody’s got to start dropping times. Again, avoid injuries if we can. I think the freshman girls have really helped out to move up to varsity spots.”
The SCVAL preliminaries will start at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5 at the Milpitas High School track.
Editor’s Note: This version of the story correctly states that Paly competed in the 800-meter race, and that junior Emily Yeates won the 400-meter relay, not the 100-meter relay event.