The boys and girls cross country teams dominated in their race at Westmoor High School, placing second and third overall on Wednesday. This was the teams’ first PAL meet of the season.
This meet, originally supposed to take place at Half Moon Bay High School, was recently relocated due to a teachers’ strike. The Bears had never competed at Westmoor, so they went into the meet unaware of the course ahead.
“Going into it we had a picture and a couple videos of the course, but you never know what to expect,” junior Cason Mitchell said. “When we showed up, we saw this massive hill, and we were like, ‘Oh crap.’”
The course consisted of three major hills, so as soon as the team arrived, they walked the course’s path to get a feel for what they would be running just an hour later.
Mitchell was a crucial runner for the success of the boys’ team, ranking first overall out of 100 competitors. While all seven of the M-A boys were able to place in the top 50, with three finishing in the top 10, the absence of two of their teammates was significant. “In cross country the top five people score, so it was a big deal having two of our guys out,” Mitchell said.
“Cross country is a really big team sport, so I was really happy that I could contribute to getting our team a better score,” freshman Caroline Pflaum said, who scored fifth overall, the highest scorer for the girls’ team. “It was very refreshing to be able to run at the front of the race, but I was mostly excited about our team scoring third overall,” Pflaum added.
With strong results, the Bears are going into future PAL meets with confidence, and are ready to give their competitors a run for their money.
The Bears’ next meet will take place at Half Moon Bay High School for the Artichoke Invitational on October 5 at 9:00 a.m.
