"The first time was a charm for North Hollywood senior Ananya Balaraman, who repeated as the Division I girls' champion in Thursday's City Section cross country finals at Elysian Park. It was the first time in section history the finals meet was held on the hilly course near Dodger Stadium and despite the lack of familiarity Balaraman clocked 19 minutes, 28 seconds on the approximately three-mile route to win by more than nine seconds over runner-up Samantha Pacheco of Granada Hills."
""This is my first time ... I didn't even get to do a run through although my coach pointed out a few things to look out for," said Balaraman, who was a surprise winner in a personal-best 17:38 last year at Pierce College. "It's a harder course than Pierce. Even the downhills are steep ... you never really get a break." Balaraman started the race in the lead group and conserved as much energy as possible."
""Around the two-mile mark I started to pull away," she said. "It means so much. I came into the season feeling fatigue. I had a lot of ups and downs." Balaraman has already been to the state championships in Fresno twice, running 20:12 as a sophomore and 18:29 last fall. "It's my last time going to state and I'd like to drop even more time," she said. "That's what I'm hoping for.""
North Hollywood senior Ananya Balaraman repeated as Division I girls' City Section cross country champion, finishing in 19:28 on the hilly approximately three-mile Elysian Park course. The finals were held for the first time on the Dodger Stadium-adjacent hilly course, and Balaraman won by more than nine seconds over Samantha Pacheco of Granada Hills. Balaraman described the course as harder than Pierce, noting steep downhills and limited breaks, and conserved energy before pulling away around the two-mile mark. She has twice competed at the state championships and hopes to improve her time in her final appearance. Palisades' Zach Cohen won the Division I boys' race and Palisades swept both team titles.
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