As teams began to line up at the start line Friday, the St. Mary’s girls varsity team came to a small huddle to pray to Our Lady of Victories before the Titan Invitational.

The girls started to line up in their block in rows of two and waited for the sound of the gun to signal the start of the race.

Beads of sweat started to form on the girls' faces as the sun burned bright for the 11 a.m. race.

The course is comprised of multiple turns and hills that are marked by a series of flags and arrows to guide the runners in the right direction.

This meet was crucial for St. Mary’s because they saw how they match up against other runners in their section for the sectional meet on Nov. 8.

After finishing the meet, team members felt they have a chance to make it in sectionals and compete in state.

“I think we have a fair shot of finishing in the top 50 percent,” said head coach Don Durkee.

“We’re kind of in the middle of the pack, a little bit high in the middle of the pack, we have a really good chance of making it with the runners we have this year,” said boys varsity runner Pierce Vittone.

The girls varsity team came in 11th place out of, 13 schools to compete, with an overall team score of 246 just three points behind San Carlos High School.

“It was a lot uphill and it is really hot today,” said sophomore Kristen Keating.

The boys varsity team came in 12th place out of 31 schools, with an overall team score of 331.

“I need to get better at running hills, hills are going to be a crucial factor because the sectional race is going to have a lot of hills unlike other meets where it’s a flat course,” Vittone said.

According to Durkee, they plan to do a lot of sprint training and hills during practice in preparation for the sectional meet in four weeks.