It's time to get fired up for cross country! Our traditional XC countdown is back, although it may look a little different this time around - our longtime data analyst Jeff George has moved on, leaving this energizing project to the MileSplit team in CA. Our collective goal is to briefly highlight 30 boys and 30 girls teams that we think will have an impact this fall. We will spotlight one team per gender per day over a 30-day period. Similar to past countdowns, we will provide a cross-sampling of teams from all 10 sections without regard to statewide or even division ranking (those will come later, as will articles previewing each section, and returning athletes to watch). As always, if you catch an error or have updated information for us, email CA state editor Jeffrey Parenti (jeffrey.parenti@flosports.tv) and we'll make the corrections.
Menlo (CC/Division 5)
2021 was a historic season for the
Menlo boys cross country team. They won the WBAL league final edging out Crystal Springs Uplands, 33-36. They went on to place second at the Central Coast Section meet, a mere point behind a strong Scotts Valley team, 44-45. At the CIF-State Meet, Menlo placed seventh in Division IV with the majority of their team returning for the 2022 season.
The team was led by the Pretre brothers,
Justin Pretre and
Landon Pretre. The two brothers continued their impressive running on the track as they both notched spectacular times in the spring.
Justin, as a junior, had personal bests of 1:54.26, 4:12.75, and 9:08.38. He also anchored a strong Menlo DMR team at the Stanford, Arcadia, and Penn Relays invitationals. He was also the WBAL MVP with an incredible effort at the league final running the 1600, 800, 3200 and 1600 relay.
Landon, an impressive freshman, had PRs of 4:19.97 and 9:09.13. The latter time was a freshman CCS record and he also qualified to the State Meet in the same event with a second place finish at the CCS finals.
This year's team, now in Division V, will also be bolstered by rising sophomore
William Hauser. He had a best of 4:23.55 in the mile which he achieved in the summer. If the Hauser name may seem familiar, his dad Brad ran for Stanford University in the '90s as part of the famous Hauser twin duo (along with brother Brent). He had PRs of 13:27.31, 27.58.02 and 2:14:15 during his running days.
2021 Returning Times for 5000 Meters
Scoring is against all California teams with returning boys.
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Photo courtesy of Menlo coach, Jorge Chen
