Photos

Youth didn't translate into inexperience for the Menlo-Atherton girls' cross country as five freshmen and two juniors ran the Bears to the team title at the Peninsula Athletic League Championships on Saturday at Crystal Springs in Belmont.

The Bears put five runners, four of them freshmen, among the top 15 finishers while winning easily with 40 points over runner-up Carlmont (71). M-A finished fourth in last year's race.

Junior Taylor Fortnam was the lone experienced runner among the Bears' scorers and toured the 2.95-mile layout in 19:30 while taking fourth. After that, it was all freshmen as Annalisa Crowe was sixth (19:49), Maddie Worden was seventh (20:00, Madeleine Baier took eighth (20:01) and Katie Beebe finished 15th (20:38).

In the varsity boys' race, Menlo-Atherton duplicated last season's runner-up finish by scoring 67 points. Carlmont defended its title with 19 points as the Scots place all five scorers among the top eight.

M-A's veteran lineup was led by senior John Lovegren in ninth (16:13) with senior George Baier 10th in 16:27. Junior Zack Plante was 11th (16:42), senior Alexander Aguiar was 18th (17:13) and junior Eric Snyder 19th (17:14) to round out the team scoring.

Both teams will be back in action on Nov. 10 at the Central Coast Section Championships at Toro Park in Salinas.

Gunn and Palo Alto, meanwhile, will compete in the SCVAL El Camino Division championships on Tuesday, also at Crystal Springs. The girls' race begins at 4:30 p.m., with the boys going off at 4:50 p.m.

Girls' volleyball
Palo Alto (26-5) went 4-1 at the annual Milpitas Spikefest II tournament on Saturday. After easy wins over Alisal (25-13, 25-7) and Mercy-Burlingame (25-19, 25-9), the Vikings dropped a 27-25, 26-24 decision to Central Valley Christian of Visalia and fell into the Silver Bracket.

Palo Alto bounced back and finished strongly with a 23-25, 25-23, 15-12 win over Homestead and a 22-25, 25-14, 16-14 triumph over Burlingame.

Paly will host Los Gatos on Tuesday (6:45 p.m.), with a victory giving the Vikings the SCVAL De Anza Division title.

Also on the line Tuesday will be the PAL Bay Division title, which host Menlo-Atherton can win by beating Mills at 5:30 p.m.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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