(I want to apologize in advance–is going to be a quick post. I have homework to do! My “Perspectives in Well-Being” professor is killing me. Ironic, isn’t it?)
De La Salle is a good, competitive invitational. The course has been around for a long time, so the times and the records have meaning. All the top North Coast teams show up. Monta Vista has dipped in and out of this invite over the years, but we have been fairly consistent in the last half dozen seasons, and many of our athletes rate the course highly.
The Monta Vista frosh-soph and junior varsity runners took the three-mile course challenge, the first time at that distance for many of them. Freshman Kento Murase had a fabulous race; his 18:55 mark was the third fastest freshman time ever for Monta Vista on this course and was the third fastest for our boys all day. Ethan Yang was not far back with a 19:22. The JV girls were led to a 10th-place team finish by Manasi Prasad with a 24:30; Katie Li was a step back at 24:31.
The varsity girls’ team is still finding its footing after a week with some illness but still managed a 19th-place team finish. Freshman Miranda Hsu was first over the line with a 19:29 on her first try at the three-mile high school distance; Miranda’s time is the sixth fastest all-time for Monta Vista runners and is the best by a freshman. Anika Bhandarkar is now the 16th fastest all-time MVXC runner with a 21:34 in the books. Margaux Francoeur, Valerie Ayzenberg, and Madi Polidoro completed the varsity top five. The boys had some bad luck with an injury right before the race started. Once we were rolling, Tanay Parikh led the team with a 16:36 mark for the boys, the second-fastest MVXC time ever at De La Salle. Soham Beesetti was next in with a 19:06, the fourth fastest ever for a sophomore from Monta Vista.
A dozen athletes recorded personal records on Saturday, a tribute to their hard work since last year.
MVXC Personal Records at De La Salle 2023
| Time | PR | ||
| Bradley Dulay | Sr | 18:46 | 6:26 |
| Juliana Banes | Jr | 29:45 | 2:44 |
| Ethan Yang | So | 19:22 | 2:21 |
| Rishi Salvi | So | 19:28 | 1:57 |
| Darren Lin | Jr | 19:48 | 1:32 |
| Ian Gee | Sr | 21:15 | 1:30 |
| Tanay Parikh | Jr | 16:36 | 1:13 |
| Madison Polidoro | Sr | 22:56 | 53 |
| Valerie Ayzenberg | Sr | 22:48 | 53 |
| Anika Bhandarkar | Jr | 21:34 | 53 |
| Katherine Lee | Jr | 23:07 | 40 |
| Soham Beesetti | So | 19:06 | 26 |
Results are up at XCStats.
Next up for Monta Vista will be the SCVAL season opener at Baylands Park on Tuesday, September 19.
