Audrey Park, staff writer

Beverly’s varsity cross-country teams excelled in the Ocean League Finals on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Rancho Park with boys varsity in second place and girls varsity in third place. The outcome of the meet qualified both boys and girls varsity cross-country for the CIF SS Division 3 Prelims.

Boys varsity was led by senior Aaron Wolfe in 3rd place (15:38), followed by senior Aaron Karlin in 10th place (17:00), junior Bardia Soltani in 12th place (17:20), senior Michael Redston in 13th place (17:34), senior David Neiman in 14th place in (17:44), freshman Noah Lee in 15th place (17:55) and junior Sean McAlister in 19th place (18:16).
The meet was a bittersweet moment for some of the senior members, such as Neiman, who will be graduating this spring.
“The meet went well. We got second in league which is worse than [we did] last year but it’s still pretty good,” Neiman said. “[However], when I finished the meet, I was kind of sad because it was my last league meet.”
Girls varsity ranked in third place with sophomore Leah Wolchin in ninth place (20:43), freshman Jillian Dveirin in 13th place (21:37) sophomore Aerin Kim in 15th place (22:44), sophomore Nastazia Moshirfatemi in 16th place (23:03) and freshman Alexis Sedacca in 17th place (23:24).
While running in the three-mile meet, Kim felt nervous not only because of the importance of the meet, but also because it was her first varsity race and she “wanted to do well.” Kim hopes to use the meet as an opportunity to improve herself and rank higher in the CIF prelims.
“The meet made me realize that I need to push myself more instead of staying at a comfortable pace,” Kim said. “I actually did not like my place and was kind of upset because I thought I could have done a lot better.”
At the end of the meet, Wolchin, the only Beverly girl to obtain All League Honors, felt “overwhelmed” with feelings of exhaustion and pride.
“I am now beginning to realize that hard work, dedication, and determination pay off,” Wolchin said. “I believe that there is always room for improvement. Running is like life; you get out what you put into it. My goal at every meet is to make a personal record, and that requires training harder and pushing myself to constantly do more.”
Moshirfatemi, who suffered from an injury prior to the meet, was satisfied with the outcome of the meet. During the course of the meet, Moshirfatemi was focused on “pushing through” to the finish line.
“I think I did alright. I was injured that week and not sure how I would do, but considering the situation I think I dealt with my injury pretty well,” Moshirfatemi said. “I prepared for the meet by eating healthy and maintaining a positive attitude. I felt good about myself but I also felt like I could’ve done a better job.”
Cross-country will participate next in the CIF Prelims at Mt. Sac on Saturday, Nov. 16.