Henry Saul, Sam Craig and Reed Foster went 1-2-4 and the Palo Alto boys’ cross country team dominated the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Meet II on the 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course in Belmont on Tuesday with 31 points. Second-place Los Altos earned 68 points.
Gunn’s Joyce Shea continued her amazing season, winning the girls’ individual title with a time of 18:12, six seconds ahead of Homestead’s Rebecca Hasser.
What made her victory even more impressive is that she trailed most of the race.
“Joyce had a real come from behind finish because she was behind by a lot at 1mile, and she still had a 10m gap at the 2.5 mile mark,” Gunn coach Patti Sue Plummer wrote in an e-mail.
Julia Doubson and Miranda Jimenez ran 5-6 for Palo Alto, which won the girls’ team title with 66 points, just ahead of Monta Vista, which scored 73. The Titans placed fourth with 134.
All five of Paly’s boys runners placed among the top 13 for the victory. Saul went 15:51.0 to earn the individual title. He finished about three seconds ahead of Craig (15:53.9) and about seven seconds ahead of Foster (15:57.9).
Donald Taggart ran 16:13.0 to place 11th and John Tayeri was 13th in 16:23.1. Gunn’s top runner was Justin Chiao, who finished 15th overall in 16:26.3. The Titans were eighth in the team race.
While Shea was in control for the individual title, the team title was a little more dramatic. Doubson and Jimenez gave the Vikings a big edge but the Matadors bunched four runners between ninth and 16th, making Kai Douglas’ 12th place finish (19:55.5), Gretchen Berndt’s 17th place finish (20:09.7) and Audrey Lemoine’s 26th place finish (20:28.9) all the more important.
Monta Vista’s fifth runner was 27th, a half-second behind Lemoine. Gunn’s second runner, Sophie Alexis was 20th in 20:16.9.
Girls volleyball
Ashley Dreyer and Sianna Houghton each recorded 10 kills and Menlo School won its 10th straight, beating visiting Mercy-Burlingame, 25-9, 25-12, 25-11, in a West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division match Tuesday.
Selina Xu added six kills and recorded 14 assists for the Knights (17-3, 5-0), who travel to Harker for a league match Thursday. Menlo has yet to drop a set in league action.
Kristin Sellers delivered 20 assists and served seven aces. Senior Grace Enright posted 15 digs and Houghton picked up eight more.
Sacred Heart Prep beat host Notre Dame-San Jose, 25-19, 25-12, 25-20, to assume sole possession of third place in the WBAL, a game behind Notre Dame-Belmont and two games out of first.
Cate Desler led SHP with 16 kills, while Ally Polverari added 15 kills, Haley Martella had 26 assists and Caroline Caruso recorded 18 digs.
The Gators (18-5, 3-2) play Mercy-Burlingame at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Serra-San Mateo gymnasium.
Woodside knocked off visiting Menlo-Atherton, 22-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-23, in a PAL Bay Division match Tuesday.
Sarah Strus recorded 14 kills and served six aces to lead the Wildcats (12-9, 4-3), who host league-leading Burlingame (14-5, 7-0) at 6:15 p.m. Thursday. The Panthers host Lowell-San Francisco in a nonleague match Wednesday.
M-A (5-10, 3-4) travels to Carlmont for a 6:15 p.m. match on Thursday.
In the WBAL Skyline Division, something has to give between co-leaders Crystal Springs Uplands and The King’s Academy when they meet Thursday in Sunnyvale. Both teams are 4-0 in league play and both have dropped just a single set thus far.
Third-place Castilleja looks to stay in the chase when it plays at Pinewood and Eastside College Prep hopes to invigorate its season when it goes to Priory, both at 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
Girls golf
Palo Alto remained unbeaten following a 192-222 victory over Los Gatos at LaRinconada on Tuesday.
Defending CCS champion Stephanie Yu earned medalist honors, shooting a 35. Madison Pineda followed with a 37 and Marina Mata fired a 38 for the Vikings (9-0, 6-0).
Menlo topped Notre Dame-Belmont, 226-273, in a West Bay Athletic League match on Tuesday at Peninsula Country Club.
Gianna Inguagiato shot a 38 to lead the Knights (8-1), who play Notre Dame-San Jose at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday at San Jose Muni. Vikki Xu posted a 43, Vivian Herr shot a 44, and Sulwen Ma came in at 47.
On Monday, Menlo beat The King’s Academy, 210-288, at Sunnyvale Muni as Inguagiato shot a 36, Sacred Heart Prep topped Mercy-Burlingame, 276-293 at Menlo Country Club and Harker downed Notre Dame-Belmont, 205-237, at Poplar Creek golf course.
Harker and Castilleja brought identical 7-1 records into competition Tuesday. Both schools were favored to win. Castilleja is scheduled to play TKA in Sunnyvale Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Water polo
Palo Alto lost, 10-9, at Los Gatos in a SCVAL De Anza Division contest as Bryan Look scored three goals.
The game was played under protest by the Vikings, which lost to the Wildcats by a goal earlier in the year. Protests can be filed only if there was a misapplication of a rule. Judgment calls cannot be protested.
Palo Alto (5-10, 4-5) will look to sweep the season series from Gunn (9-8, 7-2) when the teams meet at Palo Alto on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.
The Palo Alto (7-11, 1-6) and Gunn (8-6, 6-1) girls match opens the festivities at 3:30 p.m.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports