The Paly girls’ cross country team competed extremely well at the Central Park meet, placing second out of thirteen teams, on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Led by junior Gracie Cain, who finished with a time of 14 minutes, 52 seconds, the varsity team finished just behind Lynbrook High School, whose top runner, senior Erin Hicks, ran the 15th fastest time at the course.

Rebounding from a disappointing race at the Stanford Invitational just three days before, almost all of the varsity runners received medals in the 2.3 mile race. With the top 25 runners receiving medals, senior Kathleen Higgins, juniors Leigh Dairaghi and Erin Kiekhaefer, and sophomores Emy Kelty and Lydia Guo all placed in the top 20.

According to Kiekhaefer, the varsity runners who had ran at Stanford initially approached this race cautiously, trying not to let the short amount of recovery time between the Stanford Invite and the Central meet lead to injuries. However, the friendly weather helped ease the girls back on to a winning pace.

“Many of us were worried about racing and getting hurt since we had just run [the] Stanford [meet],” Kiekhaefer said. “I think that we felt good because the weather was so much better.”

The course is not a favorite of some team members. The narrow, twisting terrain at the beginning of the race often frustrates runners trying to establish a good rhythm.

“I’m not the biggest fan of the grass field and the sloped grass by the street, but it’s not awful,” Kiekhaefer said.

In the JV race, freshmen Nora Rosati, Shaheen Essabhoy, and Maryssa Sklaroff finished first for the team in fifth, seventh, and 11th. The JV girls ended with a strong fourth place showing.

The girls’ next race will be at Gunn for the Palo Alto City Championships on Tuesday, Oct. 27.