The varsity cross country team dominated the Grand Prix #4 in Prospect Park on October 15. In a field of 45, all four Pace runners finished in the top 20.

Maintaining her consistent top performance, junior Maya Zolotoriov finished the five kilometer race 30 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor with a time of 23 minutes and 38.10 seconds.

Zolotoriov said her strategy is to treat the races as practice to keep improving. She stated that she thinks about the finish line as she’s running without a competitor ahead of her or at her side. “The faster I run, the faster I get it over with,” she said. “I wanna finish and just chill out.”

Teammate, Guadalupe Abarca Vazquez, also a junior, had a burst of energy in her final 200 meters of the 5K race to maintain her lead over Ariana Wise from Benjamin Banneker Academy. Abarca Vazquez’s third place finish was a personal and season best milestone for her.

Vivienne Levy tied for ninth and Mariaya Atik finished seventeenth. Atik said that she was pleased with her performance because this was her first time running in Prospect Park in Brooklyn and she was unfamiliar with the course.

Six other Pace runners ran the 1.5 mile novice race.

The cross country team is coached by Mr. Cyphert and Ms. Burke this year. Both Zolotoriov and Abarca Vazquez have taken leadership roles in recruiting and rebuilding the team after the loss of Mr. Worthington and Ms. Martinez as coaches in the past. Both runners were notified by the PSAL sports and the school administration that the program would be unable to field a team with so few participants.

Even with her strong run, Atik said, “We need more members!”

After the race, coach Cyphert said, “I think it was the best showing so far this year. So proud of these girls. Proud of the work they put in.” Varsity runners have been consistently placing in the top 10 of each race.