A Paly senior placed at the Kiwanis-Bellarmine Invitational on March 13 at Los Gatos High School.

Senior Kathleen Higgins placed sixth in the 3200-meter race, against 35 competitors from 22 different schools.

Higgins ran an impressive time of 11 minutes, 41.25 seconds, beating her previous personal record by 25 seconds.

“I have been trying to break 12 minutes for almost two years, so this race was a welcome surprise,” Higgins said.

Higgins has been running for the track team for the past four years, competing in both the two-mile and the one-mile race, but was surprised by her success.

“Since this was the first race of the season, I didn’t know what to expect,” Higgins said.

As a multi-event athlete, Higgins hopes to excel in future invitationals throughout the year and continue her recent success with strong performances in the one-mile .

“I want to break 5:30 in the one-mile, and I hope to keep improving my time in the two-mile,” Higgins said.