Irvine, CA — The Valencia Vikings traveled to the Great Park in Irvine to compete in the nation’s largest high school cross country race, The Woodbridge Invitational. With a flat, fast course snaking around the park’s soccer fields and large competitive fields, the Vikings were looking to set new PRs from top to bottom of the roster. The Vikings did not disappoint, with super sophs Cash Klinger and Emily Farrell leading the team. Cash finished sixth in the boys’ varsity race at 14:54 to set the third fastest all-time mark over 3 miles for the Vikings! Emily’s 17:39 placed her ninth and was the fourth fastest all-time mark for the Vikings! Success was found by the Vikings not just at the front of the packs. The largest year-over-year improvements went to Michael Hatch and Ariana Reyes-McCarthy. Michael dropped 3:59 from his performance at Woodbridge last year and 1:44 off his previous 3-mile PR to finish at 18:10! Ariana was at 4:37 better than her Woodbridge time last year and her 22:21 was a 48 second PR for 3 miles. Lastly, of special note are two outstanding frosh lady Vikings. Aleksa Straub (21:27) and Anika Bhattacharya (21:41) are finding their racing legs and getting better each week. They are both trying new race strategies and laying it all out on the racecourse. Their continued grit and determination is sure to carry them through the season with more improvements and continued success...keep up the outstanding work ladies! Full race results with data on each athlete’s improvements can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VYm_rCjRHNogMzSUGDuWB0IQcZoT1HLm/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114159981059278975871&rtpof=true&sd=true