Paly’s girls’ cross country team expects solid races at the League Championship Meet after placing second at the City Championships at Gunn on Tuesday afternoon.

The Vikings competed against Gunn and Castilleja, and placed second behind Gunn. Gunn won with the lowest score of 22 points, Paly scored 38 points, and Castilleja finished with 65 points.

“We’re looking good,” senior co-captain Elizabeth Scott said. “We’re a really strong, deep team, and as long as we stay motivated, we’ll do really well at leagues.”

Scott placed fourth in the varsity race, finishing with a time of 13 minutes, 6 seconds. She dropped 18 seconds from her time of 13:24 at the Gunn Alumni Meet this September. Scott finished behind Gunn runners Lisa Fawcett, Allie Mayer, and Emma Dohner. Fawcett won the race with a time of 12:29. Mayer finished with a time of 12:36 and Dohner finished in 13:00.

“I’ve been sick and injured, so I’m pretty happy that I PR’d [made a personal record],” Scott said. “It’s really important for us to stay healthy, especially with leagues coming up.”

Sophomore Gracie Cain finished in fifth place with a time of 13:16, followed closely by junior Kathleen Higgins, who finished with a time of 13:18. Cain dropped 1:32 from her old time of 14:48. Higgins also ran a personal record on Tuesday, dropping 30 seconds from her old time. Behind Cain and Higgins was sophomore Leigh Dairaghi, who finished with 13:36. Junior Regina Wang ran the 2.18 mile course in 13:47. She took 13th place and the final scoring position for the girls’ varsity team.

“Gracie and Leigh both had awesome races,” senior co-captain Sarah Haydock said. “They both knocked lots of time off of their old PRs.”

Haydock finished with a time of 14:07 and placed 16th in the varsity race.

The team had struggled with injury and illness coming into the meet. Varsity contributor Susan Heinselman did not compete, and senior co-captain Gillian Lui raced in the junior varsity division after battling a cold.

Lui finished second in the JV race, with a time of 13:53.

Girls’ head coach Paul Jones is satisfied with Tuesday’s races, and is confident in the team’s ability to run well at leagues.

“I think our real competition is right here,” Jones said, referring to Gunn.

Haydock agrees that the team will do well at the league meet.

“We just need to work together in order to have a great race,” Haydock said.

The team will compete in the League Championship Meet at Crystal Springs on Tuesday.