Balaraman’s challenging season finishes with a second City title

Who needs three tries to get it right?

- By STEVE GALLUZZO

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.”