Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Palo Alto’s Ariel Le seems to be flying over the hurdles. Courtesy Malcolm Slaney.

While the Palo Alto track and field team was competing in their final regular season meet at Los Altos on Friday, the SCVAL Board of Managers were deciding whether the season would continue or not.

Student-athletes had no idea if they were coming to school Monday to turn in uniforms or prepare for another meet.

Los Altos won both the boys (98-29) and girls (64-51) competitions, but, really, everybody won.

The 14-team Santa Clara Valley Athletic League will hold its league finals, a necessary step to qualify for the Central Coast Section meet, on May 29, tentatively set for Santa Clara High.

For the boys, Aleksei Seletskiy, John Bard, Vianga Mahe and Aaron Kim each won events, while David Evans, Brody Simison, Pashalis Pashalious, Kenji Tella, Jeremy Huang and Rishi Tella each placed among the top three.

Seletskiy went 4:15.74 to win the 1,600 meters, Bard won the 800 in 2:00.07, Mahe threw the shot put 34-8 to place first and Kim went 6-7 to claim the high jump.

  • 38170_original
    Palo Alto athletes resting during their dual meet at Los Altos. Courtesy Malcolm Slaney.
  • 38171_original
    Elizabeth Fetter (right) and Hillary Studdert finished 1-2 in the 1,600. Courtesy Abbey Liao.
  • 38172_original
    Getting ready to start the 4×100 relay. Courtesy Abbey Liao.
  • 38173_original
    The 100 meters. Courtesy Malcolm Slaney.
  • 38174_original
    The 1,600 meters. Courtesy Malcolm Slaney.
  • 38175_original
    The high jump. Courtesy Malcolm Slaney.
  • 38176_original
    Relay. Courtesy Malcolm Slaney.
  • 38177_original
    High jump. Courtesy Malcolm Slaney.

For the girls, Elizabeth Fetter won the 1,600 in 5:05.01, just ahead of Hilary Studdert’s 5:05.12, and then raced 10:52.40 to win the 3,200. Emilie Difede was third.

Katherine Cheng went 2:18.36 to win the 800. Studdert finished second. Natallia Cossio went 5-0 to win the high jump and the Paly 4×400 relay team finished the meet with a victory.

Ariel Le won the 100 hurdles in 17.21 and placed second in the 100, just ahead of teammate Meya Gao. Heidi Mathews placed second on two events and Madeline Lohse placed second in another.

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer

  • 38191_original
    38191_original
  • 38194_original
    Mountain View High School Science Olympiad club at the Golden Gate Invitational award ceremony, which was held virtually due to the pandemic. Courtesy MVHS Science Olympiad.

Most Popular

Van catches fire at Mountain View intersection Thursday morningVan catches fire at Mountain View intersection Thursday morningSeptember 25, 2026 11:16 am
Obituaries: Local residents who have died recentlyObituaries: Local residents who have died recently21 hours ago
Mountain View's Cinemark Century 16 theater won't close for good after allMountain View's Cinemark Century 16 theater won't close for good after allSeptember 16, 2026 8:02 pm

Leave a comment