Cross Country Places 6th for Boys Varsity, 17th for Girls Varsity in De La Salle/Carondelet Nike Invitation

The cross country team competed in the De La Salle/Carondelet Nike Invitational on Saturday, September 15 in Concord, California. The team placed 6th overall for boys varsity and 17th for girls varsity and ran against some of the fastest teams in California.

“The boys varsity team got 6th place overall, which is really good because a lot of the top teams in the state were there,” head coach Dan Oren said. “It was a highly competitive meet, and they did great…The varsity girls ran really well also; we were missing our top four runners, but the girls that competed did awesome and most got PRs as well, so there were a lot of great performances.”

At the meet, varsity runners raced against numerous strong teams from the North Coast Section (NCS) that they wouldn’t normally race, adding an interesting twist to the meet and giving many runners the experience of competing with teams outside of the Central Coast Section (CCS).

Junior Terence Rabuzzi led boys varsity to a 12th place finish with his first sub 16 minute race at the 3-mile distance, followed by seniors Josh Cohen (20th) and Alex Carr (23rd), freshmen Ben Zaeske (55th) and Tim Scott (77th). Each of Los Altos’ top five runners set a new personal record at the meet, improving their three-mile times; the school’s top three runners received medals as well.

Although the top four runners on varsity girls team were absent from the meet, four of the five top runners PRed in their races as well. Junior Wendy Wu ran a 22:28 to earn the fastest time among the school’s runners and was followed by junior Elizabeth Bishop, Samantha Buhr, Elise Witham, and Samantha Le.

The team’s strong performance at the meet has continued the team’s momentum and built upon their success at their first two meets, readying the Eagles for another great season.

The team will race again at the Central Park Invitational on Tuesday, September 25, in Santa Clara.

[Photos courtesy of Andy Cohen]