Cross Country’s Girls Varsity won Galileo’s first ever championship title at All City Wednesday, November 15th. Both Senior Noelle K. and Dario G. won first place in the Girls and Boys varsity races, with Dario being the first ever Galileo Male Varsity Champion and Noelle being the second ever Galileo Female Varsity Champion. Dario and Junior Nico R., who got first and third place, also both broke the previous Galileo school record of a 17:01 5k, with Dario setting the new record to 16:37.
“All city was a historical day for Galileo. It was the first time in school history we put a full team in all 4 races with a record number of kids out this season for the team,” says Coach Braund.
Even with the setback of most varsity runners catching Covid in the weeks leading up to All City, the team was able to place better than it ever has before. Noelle says, “Coming off of Covid it was hard for me to know where I’d be. I didn’t exactly get the time I wanted, but place wise I’m happy and grateful. And just seeing my teammates do a lot better than they thought they would, that was super inspiring.”
Regarding his race Dario says, “First place, obviously happy with that. I think our boys team is still the fastest average time in Galileo history even if we didn’t win. Our team was a lot bigger this year which was awesome. I always love to see more people join because I really do think [cross country] is underrated.”
Coach Braund remarked, “The team put in a good summer of mileage allowing for longer harder workouts during the season. It’s a balancing act with trying to push their bodies without injury but this season with the base they built, we were able to push even harder. Every year as the team grows we are building up the mileage and intensity in workouts.”
To make state, runners must place in the top 8 or be in the championship team. Because of their win, this year Galileo took the 7 girls Varsity runners, 2 back up runners, and the 2 boys runners that qualified, Dario and Nico in Clovis on November 25th.
