The first Baylands race of the season introduced Monta Vista cross-country to a full-distance 5km race and the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) competition. But why does it always have to be so hot? Once again, we faced 90-degree temperatures in 2024—though there was a breeze that helped cool things off, even if it was annoying to run against.
There were some standout individual performances. Anika Bhandarkar, fresh off a college recruiting trip, and sophomore Miranda Hsu posted the 10th and 11th best times in the league, with marks in the low 20s. On the boys’ side, Tanay Parikh secured the 6th fastest time overall. Several Monta Vista athletes improved their paces by 20 seconds per mile or more compared to the three-mile race at De La Salle three days earlier, including Vishaka Shastri, Brandon Wang, Vikram Mallya, Jonah Chang, Derek Li, and Siran Gao.
Seven Monta Vista athletes set new personal records at Baylands: Manasi Prasad, Abhi Kotari, Jonah Chang, Andrew Liu, Aidan Kushman-Kihnley, Ryan Liu, and Brandon Wang. Many of our athletes were running Baylands for the first time and will have a chance to set a new personal best when we return in four weeks for SCVAL 3.
The varsity girls finished 7th overall, while the JV girls placed 8th. The boys’ teams secured 9th and 8th place finishes. The SCVAL is an extremely competitive league—so much so that an SCVAL all-star team could hold its own at many state championship meets. This race is a true test of our abilities and a chance to push ourselves. Despite the heat and having just raced three days earlier at De La Salle, we performed well and will build upon this over the next two months!
Complete results can be found on XCStats.
There are lots of photos posted by Malcolm Slaney (father of a Palo Alto alumni runner, Mr. Slaney comes to many SCVAL competitions and takes photos for free; he is a really nice person, and if you see him at a meet, saying ‘thank you, I’m glad you do this!’ is a great idea).
In ten days, we travel to the Artichoke Invitational in Half Moon Bay. That meet is a lot of fun! See you there!
