On Thursday, August 24, the Monta Vista cross country team opened the 2023 season with the Watermelon Run! The Watermelon run is a team tradition going back more than two decades. The Watermelon Run follows a challenging course. This is a real cross country test, not a tame run around a track or school grounds. There is dirt and there are hills! MVXC embraces the challenge.
The boys’ standout was Tanay Parikh, rolling in with an impressive 15:20 mark for the 2.6 mile course. Tanay’s mark is the 8th best all-time on the Stevens Canyon course, and is the fastest mark since the pandemic. Kento Murase lead the freshmen with a nice 18:49, comparable to Sohan Beesetti’s frosh mark last year. For the girls, freshman Miranda Hsu ran a sparkling 18:50 mark! This time is 18th overall (tied with MVXC legends Paru Meyyappan and Sanjana Borle) and is the 5th best time ever run by a freshman! The girls’ top five (Miranda, Margaux Francoeur, Katie Lee, Madi Polidoro and Valerie Ayzenberg) had a team time that was 1:54 quicker than last years’ top five–very solid!
Complete results are posted on XCStats.
MVXC is all about improvement…how far we travel matters more than where we end up. Personal records set at the 2023 Watermelon Run were:
- Bradley Dulay 6:40
- Nick Pantino 3:36
- Rishi Saldi 2:33
- Madi Polidoro 2:25
- Ethan Yang 2:15
- Ian Gee 2:15
- Darren Lee 1:21
- Margaux Francoeur 1:00
- Tanay Parikh 0:55
- Soham Beesetti 0:42
- Katie Lee 0:36
- Katie Li 0:13
And a spirit MVP for the day goes to Margaux for some truly exceptional team support!
Well done, MVXC! We are off to a great start.
