Woodside cross country competed in its last regular-season meet on Oct. 24 at Bedwell Bayfront Park on the outskirts of Menlo Park. The team has had an improved season so far, and they continued it with another successful meet.
Compared to last year’s season, the 2024–25 Wildcats have seen major improvements in both team depth and individual times. The team’s growing participation, now over 40 runners strong, has given Woodside one of its strongest cross-country squads in years. The meet was attended by 17 other Bay Area schools from the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL). This was the last meet of the regular cross country season, as the team’s focus has shifted to preparing for the upcoming championship meets on Nov. 1 and Nov. 15. The first race of the meet was the men’s 5000-meter varsity race, where Woodside sophomore Kiefer Schultz placed 7th overall with a time of 17:09.
“Each course is a little different, but proportionally, my times have gotten a lot faster,” Schultz said.
During the 2024-25 cross-country season, Woodside placed 11th within the PAL, but this year, they are on track to improve. The recent success has put cross country into the spotlight as one of Woodside’s most competitive sports. Cross country coach Nate Bowen contributed to the team’s success through the three pillars of his coaching philosophy.
“Number one is, have a positive mindset, it’s really easy to get negative in the sport. If you have a bad race or a bad workout, shrug it off,” Bowen said. “The second thing is consistency. You have to be consistent with running; you can’t take weekends off or regularly miss workouts. The third thing is to be a solid teammate. You know, like creating a team culture. If the team is united, if they are unified, if they have each other’s backs, you can do amazing things.”
This is Bowen’s second year of coaching cross country. He ran in high school, college, and even post-collegiate. He has big goals for the growing program.
“The goal for the boys is a bit ambitious, but I think it’s possible; it’s a top-three finish. We were fourth today. I think if we put it together and everybody has their best race, then the top three is definitely a possibility,” Bowen said. “For the girls. If we can finish in the top eight, that gives us a shot at the Central Coast Section (CCS) [championship] because if you’re in the top half of the PALs, that can get you into CCS.”
Many runners pointed out that the girls’ varsity team was dealing with an abundance of injuries. While the boys’ team gained momentum towards the end of the season, the girls’ varsity team has faced multiple injuries. Senior Pearl Marsyla speaks on her experience with injuries.
“I’m coming off an injury. So it’s been a little bit hard to get back into cross country, but I’ve been having a pretty good season so far and doing pretty well in my races,” Marsyla said. “I had a stress reaction in my shin, which is almost like a break, but not really; it’s able to heal up pretty quickly.”
Despite setbacks, the girls’ varsity roster is determined and optimistic going into the championship meets. As the Wildcats prepare for the postseason, the team could be on track for one of Woodside’s best cross-country years in recent memory.
“We’ve really done a great job,” Bowen said. “We have an awesome group of kids who’ve shown that with the right amount of work and a little bit of luck, we may be able to reach our goals.”
The Boys Woodside Cross Country Team placed 6th at PAL Championships, advancing them to the CCS Championship race. Three girls advanced based on individual results to run at CCS.
