The Paly boys’ cross country team looks ready for its best League Championships ever with tremendous improvements across the board at the Palo Alto City Championships on Tuesday.

Josh Newby (’10) led the Vikings with a third place overall finish and a ninth all-time record on the Bol Park course. His time of 10 minutes, 47 seconds was more than 30 seconds faster than his personal record.

Head coach Joe Ginanni noted similar improvements from the other varsity boys, with Peter Wilson (’10) finishing in a 17th all-time record (5th overall in 10:57) and Ben Sklaroff (’10) finishing 19th all-time (6th overall in 10:58).

“Everybody went out fast, but they were able to handle the times,” Ginanni said. “They all ran really fast times.”

Although senior standout Philip MacQuitty did not compete in the race due to injury, the entire team made up for his absence with strong efforts. Henry Jordan (’10) finished seventh overall in 11:07, and Alex Voet (’10) finished fifth for Paly and ninth overall in 11:18.

Despite the impressive improvements, the Vikings lost to cross-town rival Gunn High School by a small margin. However, Wilson was quick to point out that this loss was no indicator of the team’s future prospects.

“Phil wasn’t running, and it was not a big race,” Wilson said. “Phil’s our number one guy, so losing by only a few points without Phil, we could definitely beat Gunn at leagues and CCS.”

Jordan expressed similar optimism about both the team and his personal performance.

“I placed where I wanted to place in the race,” Jordan said. “It was a 20-second PR [personal record]. I’m good with mine and my team’s performance. I think it was a very good race. If Phil had run, we would’ve won.”

The Vikings will have a chance to prove themselves at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Championships next Tuesday at Crystal Springs.