MVXC Competes at Nike De La Salle!

Monta Vista Cross Country boarded the bus in the pre-dawn darkness on Saturday, September 21, 2024, to compete in the Nike De La Salle Invitational. The Nike DLS meet is highly competitive and serves as a great test for any team. Monta Vista athletes were ready to push themselves—each athlete was entered in the three-mile race, with many opting to compete in faster groups.

The grass was still wet when the gun fired for the junior varsity girls’ three-mile race. Freshman Vishakha Shastri, running in her first high school cross country race, led the group with a time of 24:15. Two other freshmen, Anna Bauer and Medha Rustagi, were close behind, clocking in at 26:07 and 26:35, respectively, in their debut three-mile races. Senior Hemani Kamarshi, in her final run on the Newhall Park course, posted a 26:48, improving her time by 2:33 from last year. Junior Aletheia Ju, in her first season of cross country, continues to improve—her average pace on the three-mile course was 9:33 per mile, faster than in any of her previous shorter-distance races. The only way to run faster in longer races is to put in the work, and it seems she is doing the work!

The next event, the JV boys’ race, was an eye-opener for MVXC! The boys secured 18th place, and all the scoring runners—Tanun Gandhi, Rui Yamada, Constantine Chua, Ritik Shenoy, and Ashwanth Sundaramoorthi—were freshmen. Only three of the 17 teams ahead of them had even a single freshman among their scorers. Monta Vista fielded the youngest team to take on the three-mile course. Tanun and Rui finished nearly side by side in 78th and 79th place, with times of 18:37 and 18:38, respectively. Only three freshmen from other teams finished ahead of them! Sophomore Aidan Cushman-Kihnley set a personal record, improving by 42 seconds over his freshman time—improvements are the goal for all  runners. Just imagine what these freshmen will achieve a year from now after 12 months of effort!

The varsity girls’ team took 17th place, led by Miranda Hsu, who set a personal record with a time of 19:26 and a top-25 finish. Junior Suhani Pahuja, seniors Manasi Prasad and Katie Lee, and freshman Naomi Hsu rounded out the scoring runners. Naomi, competing for the first time with the varsity squad, fit right into the pack with Manasi and Katie. On the boys’ side, the team finished 27th, with Tanay Parikh running a 37-second PR to place in the top 30. Senior Ryan Liu, sophomore Kento Murase, and juniors Ethan Yang and Soham Beesetti completed the scoring. Sophomore Simha Satoor was the first to finish for the second JV boys’ group, with a time of 21:29.

Comparison can often be the enemy of joy, but it becomes a source of pride when we reflect on how far we’ve come and how much our hard work has paid off. Eleven Monta Vista athletes set personal records on Saturday, led by Andrew Liu, Abhi Kotari, and Sridhar Shivashankar, who each shaved more than a minute off their all-time bests. Congratulations to all!

Personal Records Set at Nike DLS

October 21, 2024

Tanay’s run took over the top spot on the all-time Monta Vista record board for the Newhall Park three-mile course, breaking a 17-year old record.  Miranda’s run is good for 6^th all-time.  Tarun and Riu now have the third and fourth-fastest Monta Vista freshman times for three miles at Newhall Park, and Vishakha holds the fifth freshman girls’ spot.

Complete results and much more can be found on XC Stats. 

Next up for MVXC is the first Santa Clara Valley Athletic League meet at Baylands Regional Park next Tuesday, followed by the Artichoke Invitational on Saturday, October 5.

Don’t we look good?!?!