Historic runs by Paly teams earn league titles Historic runs by Paly teams earn league titles (November 04, 2005)

Vikings sweep championships for first time in school history

by Keith Peters

Boys have been running cross country at Palo Alto High for more than 50 years. Girls have been competing in the sport for more than 20.

During all that time, Paly teams never accomplished what they did Tuesday when they swept the 2005 SCVAL El Camino Division championships for the first time in school history.

With seniors Scott Himmelberger (15:40) and Francis Reynolds (15:56) running one-two with career-best performances on the rolling 2.95-mile layout at Crystal Springs in Belmont, the Paly boys won their first league title in the sport since 1990 by scoring 49 points. Gunn was second with 56.

With Renata Cummins running a career best of 18:36 to win and fellow junior Alicia Ivanhoe clocking 19:27 for fifth, the Paly girls successfully defended their crown by scoring 34 points to Gunn's 44.

It was a truly historic day in more ways than one. Both the Paly and Gunn girls ran the fastest team times in their history.

"No question," said Gunn coach Ernie Lee. "That was the fastest (girls) league meet in SCVAL history."

The windy, often overcast conditions didn't appear to be conducive to such fast times. But, with no truly dominant runner in any race, the closeness of the competition forced the runners to be competitive.

That was Himmelberger's goal this season as the top returning finisher from last season's league meet.

"Last year, I didn't take it seriously," the Paly senior said of his running. "But I knew I was the top junior coming back and I trained for it. I wanted to win the league meet."

Himmelberger trained all summer. He watched what he ate and drank and stayed away from basketball and any other sport where he might have injured himself. He came into this season not only wanting to win the league title, but helping the Vikings finish among the top three at the Central Coast Section finals on Nov. 12 (at Crystal Springs) and earning a trip to the state meet.

The first part of that goal has been accomplished. Himmelberger and Reynolds both ran big PRs, with Himmelberger's winning time of 15:40 ranking as the sixth fastest at Crystal Springs this season. Reynolds dipped under 16:00 for the first time. Senior Zander MacQuitty was 10th in 16:56 while freshman Charlie Avis made a big move with his PR of 16:58. Senior Josh Axelrod was 24th in 17:46, fast enough to hold off Gunn.

The Titans, in a rebuilding season, had five runners finish before Axelrod. The top four - senior Carl Reid (16:34), juniors Jonathan Chu (16:41) and Calvin Chu (16:47) plus senior Roscoe Linstadt (17:08) - all ran personal bests.

To beat Paly, however, the Titans needed to have all five among the top 15. Gunn had 38 points before senior Elliot Krigel raced home 18th. The Vikings' one-two finish was just too much to overcome.

In the girls' race, Paly was the favorite coming in and ran to that expectation. Cummins, however, trailed Gunn freshman Joanne Reid for most of the race before overtaking her with just 600 to go.

Paly coach Paul Jones admitted he was a little concerned with Reid leading so late in the race because he new Gunn's young standout had a kick.

It was Cummins, however, who kicked it in and led five Paly runners among the first 11. Jones was real pleased with seniors Emily Lundy (seventh in 19:29), Katie Gosling (10th in 19:39) and Elle Burstein (11th in 19:39). All race big PRs.

"They're all seniors and they were all ready to go and finish up the league season well," Jones said.

The Gunn girls, expected to trudge through a rebuilding season, evidently are way ahead of schedule. With Reid running a PR of 18:44 for second place and fellow freshman Allie Mayer matching her PR of 19:08 for third, the Titans gave the veteran Vikings all they could handle.

Gunn had all five scorers among the first 16, with junior Irene Graham lowing her PR by over a minute (19:36) while taking ninth. Junior Jessica Starr had a PR of 20:02 for 14th and junior Jennifer Yih was 16th in 20:18.

"It was a great performance by our girls," Lee said. "For them to do this well, it took a record effort by Paly to win and that is what happened."

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