RECRUITING Newbury Park's Young Twins Commit to Stanford


Twins Leo and Lex Young, seniors at Newbury Park HS and two of the nation's elite distance runners, will attend Stanford University, they announced Sunday on their L&L YouTube channel. 

The rising seniors said they chose Stanford over Northern Arizona, where their older brother Nico will be a sophomore this season, and their longtime teammate Colin Sahlman is an incoming freshman.

Sunday's news came less than a week after the announcement that their high school coach, Sean Brosnan, would leave Newbury Park to coach at UCLA, raising speculation that the twins might join him in Westwood.  

In the 11-minute, 40-second video, which shows the boys running on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto and on the Cardinal's track, they talked about their collective passions for running, academics, and video production. They weren't definitive about their academic focus but Leo mentioned that he's interested in marketing and Lex said he's interested in "architecture, design art."

"We're really happy that we found a place that can encompass both the highest tier of running and it can also serve all of our extra interests very well," Leo said. "We're absolutely stoked."

The Young twins were part of one of the most -- if not THE most --  dominant cross country teams in high school history last fall, running a consistent 2-3 behind Sahlman, the nation's top runner.

After a cross country season that saw unprecedented performances at the section, state, and national levels, the Panthers turned their attention to the track where they ran some of the all-time fastest times in history.

Leo has California top-five all-time marks for 1600 meters (3:59.32), 1 mile (4:00.77), and 3200m (8:39.57). His outdoor season was cut short by illness.

Lex has the state record for 5,000 meters on the track at 13:43.95 (surpassing brother Nico's previous CA No. 1 of 13:50.55), and the state's No. 2 time for 3K of 7:57.06 run indoors.

He ranks fourth all-time for 3200m (8:35.72) and seventh for 1600m (3:59.99). He has a best in the mile of 4:01.52 and holds CA class sophomore and junior records on the track for both the 3200m and 5K. Last spring he ran the lead 1200m leg on the state-record DMR team that included Zaki Blunt, Aaron Sahlman, and Colin Sahlman.

Last May, with Leo shut down, Colin Sahlman and Lex opted to skip the CIF post-season and compete elsewhere. That's where Lex ran his 3:59.99/4:01.52 (1600m/mile), his 13:43.95 5K, and he also went 3:46.93 for 1500m. 

Emerging from the COVID-19 shutdown for a full fall season in '21, the Panthers, led by the Youngs, along with brothers Colin and Aaron Sahlman, had a record-shattering season, winning CIF-Southern Section Division 1 title with a perfect score, and the CIF-State Meet D-I title with a near-perfect score and a team time record.

The Panthers left no doubt about their all-time dominance with a Garmin RunningLane National Championship in a stunning performance. There, on the fast 5K layout in Huntsville, Alabama, the Youngs were part of a 1-3 finish in a 29-point jaw-dropper where their top five all ran sub-15 and the team averaged 14:14. 

The boys said they have family in Los Altos, a city adjacent to Palo Alto, where Stanford is located. Lex said that familiarity "contributed to the feeling of being at home when we're up here."

Stanford won the NCAA West Regional cross country title last fall and placed fifth at the NCAA Championships, won by NAU. 

"You guys can count that we will definitely be training as hard as we possibly can," Lex said on the YouTube video. "We want to pursue NCAA titles, both team and individual. We're really excited for the future of our athletics."

At the end of the video, the boys introduced a clothing venture, "Run Fast Apparel." 



Photos are screenshots from the L&L YouTube video.