At the beginning of the year many thought the cross-country team’s prospects were grim. Key senior runners that formed the top varsity boys’ and girls’ teams had all graduated. But the team has been largely rebuilt and is now pacing toward a promising CCS season.

Last Tuesday, the team lined up against other teams in the SCVAL El Camino Division League Finals at the Crystal Springs course in Belmont. The other teams that competed included Mountain View, Santa Clara, Los Altos, Wilcox, Milpitas and Palo Alto. The match determined which teams would qualify for the CCS match.

The cross-country team placed second overall behind Paly in the varsity boy and girl matches, first in the junior varsity boy matches and third in the junior varsity girl and frosh-soph boy matches.

Girls

The varsity girls’ team has made a recovery from last year after losing key runners, including Tori Tyler who now is at the University of Washington on a full ride, after placing third last year in State Finals. Junior team captain Jennifer Yih believes that they have come out as an even stronger team.

“We’re recovering really well, because by losing Tori we have become much more well rounded,” Yih said. “Instead of having one really fast runner we have five pretty good ones that all run in the same time range.”

Yih said that at the end of last season, the outlook for the girls’ varsity team looked bleak. Only junior Irene Graham and Yih remained as strong runners.

“[Coach Ernie Lee] was very scared at the beginning of the summer,” Yih said. “Six varsity girls had graduated and [Irene and I] were both sick. The varsity girls’ team looked very skeptical. Now we look very promising with a chance at states.”

This is largely due to strong new varsity runners that joined this year. Two freshmen girls, Joanne Reid and Allie Mayer, scored second and third place in the league finals with respective times of 18:44 and 19:08. Strong supporting runners such as junior Jessica Starr and sophomore Paige Lin are both new to Gunn cross-country.

“Amazingly, in this clear rebuilding year, the girls team yesterday was the fastest girls’ team in Gunn history at Crystal Springs,” Lee said.

Boys

The varsity boys’ team has also had a rebuilding year. Five varsity boys graduated last year, including the team’s top three runners. Several strong runners have emerged this season, including senior Carl Reid, who placed sixth in the league finals with a time of 16:34, a personal record, and junior brothers Jonathan and Calvin Chu, who placed eighth and ninth, respectively.

Although there is no front runner, Reid said that the top varsity boy runners form a pack. “Usually Calvin and his brother chase after me, everyone else is chasing after them,” Reid said.

Reid added that the team is satisfied with how they have performed this season.

“We thought this year would not be much of anything but we keep on getting new people,” Reid said. “We’ve done better than what we expected.”

The JV boys’ team swept the league finals, with seniors Jordan Claassen, Adam Dohner and junior Nathaniel Eisen taking the top three places. This helped the team to a first place finish.

Both boys’ and girls’ teams qualified for the CCS match next Saturday, Nov. 12. At stake are three spots to go to the state finals. The varsity boy runners will be facing great competition for the remaining spots behind Los Gatos, the clear favorite for the CCS title.

“North Monterey County, Paly, us, Mountain View and Aptos will all be challenging for the last two spots to the state meet,” Lee said. “It will be very close.”

The varsity girls’ team also has a chance at State qualification. “For the girls at CCS, Aptos is the clear favorite. After that, Paly and Los Gatos are relative favorites for the last two spots to the state meet, with Mitty, us and Mountain View not too far behind,” Lee said.

With an influx of new team members and a history of excellence, this year’s cross country team aims to leave the other teams in the dust.