On Oct. 2, the wind whipped through senior Siena Parson’s hair as she ran under the oak trees and through the steep, winding paths of the Crystal Springs course in Woodside, determined to beat her personal record.   

The wild cheering of the rest of the team could be heard as the girls finished the 2.95-mile course of the beautiful, yet notoriously hilly course in a meet hosted by Monta Vista High School.

The SCVAL Crystal Springs Preview was the second meet of the season where they competed against 14 other teams. The Falcons came in seventh place overall. Out of the 101 runners, the top runners for Saratoga were senior Elizabeth Kardach, who placed ninth with a time of 19:30; junior Julia Hoffman, who placed 31st with a time of 20:35 and junior Sanjana Reddy, who placed 56th with a time of 21:40.

Three of the runners achieved their personal record for this course, including Reddy, Kardach and Parsons.

Parsons, who beat her previous time by almost a minute, said that running over the summer helped increase her speed.

“I feel happy about beating my time,” said Parsons. “I hope to keep improving this year.”  

Despite the many hills that dominated the course, co-captain senior Isabella Tan thought the meet went well for the team. As for the rest of the season, Tan hopes that they will do more practices on hills to condition their endurance, allowing them to gradually improve. She’s proud of their efforts at Crystal Springs.

“I think it was great that everyone just tried their best even though it was a tough course,” said Tan. “Everyone just tried their best.”

The team was scheduled to compete at the SCVAL meet on Oct. 17 and will compete at the SCVAL league finals on Oct. 30.