With the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Championships approaching on Saturday, Nov. 9, varsity cross country had its third and final regular season meet at Bedwell Park on Wednesday, Oct. 30, giving the team one last chance to prepare before the playoffs begin.

Even though regular season success doesn’t always guarantee playoff advancement, the Panthers still delivered strong performances to help build confidence for when it counts most. One of the most notable performances was from junior Stella Newman, who proved her dominance, winning the third PAL Meet at Bedwell Park in the girls’ varsity division. Despite being one of the top runners for Burlingame since her freshman year, it was Newman’s first time achieving this feat.

“I had a race plan, and I was supposed to run 6 [minutes] 5 [seconds] per mile. But then as soon as I started racing, I could tell that the people that I’m usually racing against and competing with, I could tell they weren’t feeling great. [So I decided] to go for a win because I’ve never won a cross-country race before, so I kind of threw the plan out the window and went for that instead,” Newman said. “…It felt good. I mean, I’ve been waiting for it for a while.”

Sophomore Elizabeth Carroll also placed high for the Panthers, helping the girls secure fifth overall in the team standings. A repeat performance at the PAL Championship would be strong enough to advance them to the Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships.

“We’re aiming for the top half because top half of PALs goes to CCS. So we would have qualified, so fifth place is good for our team,” Carroll said.

Though the boys’ team didn’t place at the meet, both teams are refining key strategies to maximize their performance at the championships. One of these strategies involves pre-race planning — a tactic emphasized in practice.

“I think that we made a lot of race plans before the race, and I think most of those were executed, so that really helped. Just like, what pace you want to go, where you want to be in the pack, who you want to run with and so always having a plan before makes it easier, so you don’t go in blind,” Carroll said.

Head coach Chris Coleman said he plans to keep practices light in the days leading up to the playoffs to ensure runners stay fresh.

“Right now, we don’t change our program. We’re still focusing on certain parts of the races. We are probably not doing as much mileage as we did early on because we want to make sure we don’t over-train the kids so they’re not too tired,” Coleman said. “But really, for the championship [the goal] is to place as high as we can and at the varsity level to see if we can get the teams through on the boys and girls side, and if not teams, what individuals we can get through. So that’s really our focus.”