The Paly boys’ cross-country team ended its season Saturday with a 12th place finish at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state meet at Woodward Park in Fresno, California.
Philip MacQuitty (’10) led the team on the 5K course with a tenth place finish in 15 minutes, 24 seconds. The team finished with 304 points overall, well behind first place Mountain View, which won convincingly with only 98 points, and 12th out of the 23 competing teams.
However, the team was very pleased that it beat cross-town rival Gunn, which finished 15th with 360 points.
“I think we did well,” Josh Newby (’10) said. “Most importantly, we beat Gunn, which is what we all set out to do.”
Newby finished second for Paly and 55th overall in 16:12.
His teammates shared his view that beating Gunn was a major triumph for the Paly team.
“Fifth time’s a charm,” Peter Wilson (’10) said, referring to Gunn’s higher placing in the past four meetings between the rival teams.
Newby credited the victory to good efforts and good luck.
“Everyone came out and gave it our all,” Newby said. “We peaked at the right time in the season. I think Gunn peaked too early.”
Despite the victory over Gunn, the boys felt some disappointment over their overall place, as the team finished 8th at the state meet last year.
“We kind of wish we’d gotten higher up in the places,” Henry Jordan (’10) said.
Nonetheless, Newby felt the team did its best and had no reason to complain.
“It was an awesome course because it was not that hilly,” Newby said. “Perfect temperature. You can’t make any excuses about the conditions. It was perfect.”
Not only were the weather conditions perfect, but Wilson believed that the team raced well as a whole.
“It was our best day as a team,” Wilson said.
Wilson finished third for Paly and 98th overall in 16:36, followed by Jordan (104th in 16:40), Ben Sklaroff (’10), who was 132nd in 16:54, Alex Voet (’10), 145th in 17:05, and Varun Kohli (’10), 186th in 18:11.
Overall, the varsity team raced competitively throughout the season, achieving a Paly boys’ team record at the Crystal Springs course and advancing to the state meet for the second time in two years.