The UHS Boys Cross Country Team is off to a great start this season and has continued to improve since last year when the varsity team qualified for the CIF Southern Section DII championships for the first time in a decade. During their CIF meet, the team faced unanticipated obstacles with an unfortunate heat wave that left many runners feeling unsatisfied with how they finished the season. 

This year, the team feels prepared to reclaim their title of league champions. 

“I’d say this is the best team we’ve had in forty years . . . our senior and sophomore classes are looking especially fast this year, as they have placed in several races so far,” senior captain Josh Malek said. 

The team has endured a grueling off-season, training to become faster and stronger as they near the end of the regular season.

“All of our varsity guys have trained very hard this summer to have a strong season,” senior captain Ansh Parashar said. “We specifically worked on our endurance and aerobic capacity doing tons of workouts at our goal pace race.”  

Parashar himself has made stellar improvements. On Oct. 15, he broke the school record and won his race at OC Champs with a 3-mile time of 14:37. Parashar is currently ranked first in the Pacific Coast League (PCL).

“My personal goal for the end of this season is to defend my title as league champion and make it as far as I can in CIF,” Parashar said. “As a team, our goal is to take down Beckman, Woodbridge and Northwood and win the league as well as make it to CIF state.” 

Both captains hope to make impressive strides as a team this year at the PCL league finals.

“Our goal for this season is to win the league, something we haven’t been able to accomplish in forty-one years,” Malek said.

Though the team placed third in PCL last year, it has struggled to rank high during the regular season over the years.  This year, runners are more eager than ever to win the title.

“We have put in countless hours over the off-season, running around 50-60 miles every week,” Malek said. “I think the leadership and work ethic of our team is what’s going to set us apart from the other schools.”