Palo Alto High School’s girls’ cross country team performed well at the Palo Alto City Championships held at Bol Park on Tuesday Oct. 27, but could not overcome cross town rival Gunn High School.

Gunn, whose current varsity team has consistently dominated in their races, beat out the Paly squad and two runners from Castilleja to take the City Championship.

While three Paly girls finished in the top 10, junior Gracie Cain was the only one to break the top five. Cain finished first for Paly and fifth overall, with a time of 13 minutes, 13 seconds. She was followed by senior co-captain Kathleen Higgins in seventh place in 13:18. Junior co-captain Susan Heinselman took the last of Paly’s three spots in the top 10, finishing ninth with a time of 13:23.

Juniors Leigh Dairaghi and co-captain Erin Kiekhaefer took 11th and 13th respectively, in 13:38 and 14:03.

Senior co-captain Regina Wang crossed the line in 14th place, with a time of 14:22, and junior Rachel Vasquez rounded out Paly’s roster in 15th place with a time of 14:59.

The abnormally windy and dry conditions provided runners with both advantages and disadvantages.

“The weather today was really weird and dry. Leigh [Dairaghi] and I ended up with really dry throats during the race which was a definite disadvantage,” Heinselman said. “We were also fighting against the wind the whole way back, though it blew behind us on the way up.”

Ignoring the adverse weather, the race went well for the team.

“Everyone had good performances,” Heinselman said. “We performed fairly well but it would have been nice if we kept up with Gunn and Castilleja.”

The City Championships have always been a highlight of the season because of the inner-city rivalries between the competing high schools. The race also serves as a benchmark for evaluating runners the week before league qualifications.

Having seen many people improve greatly from the beginning of the season, Heinselman has high hopes for the team come next week.

“We’re hoping that we can do well enough to make it to leagues, to CCS and go all the way to states. If we work hard and we work together, I believe we can do it,” she said.

In the JV division, Shaheen Essabhoy crossed first for Paly in 14:14.

League qualifications take place next Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the infamous Crystal Springs course known for its steep climbs. The varsity girls start their race at 3 p.m.