Girls CCS Meet Record: Mt. Pleasant 46.55 2006
Boys CCS Meet Record: Bellarmine 41.37 2016
The first girl's running event will be an interesting one since the two fastest teams will also be competing for the team title. In the semifinals, Archbishop Mitty posted the fastest time in CCS this year with a time of 48.49. St. Ignatius posted a time of 48.68 which is also their season best. Look for St. Ignatius freshman Elie McCuskey-Hay who will anchor for her team and will try to chase down the front-running Mitty team. Menlo-Atherton and Los Altos should battle it out for the last auto-qualifying spot.
For the boys, the fastest team heading into the finals is Los Altos. They won the CCS Top 8 meet and posted the fastest time in the section at the semifinals with a 41.74 time. Sacred Heart Prep has been the 2nd best team in the section and once again ran the 2nd fastest time in the semifinals at 41.88. Harker was the section champion last year in this event and will be looking to make the state meet again by finishing ahead of Serra, Hollister, and Valley Christian SJ.
1600 Meters
Girls CCS Meet Record: Anna Maxwell San Lorenzo Valley 4:42.57 2013
Boys CCS Meet Record: Nolan Topper Bellarmine 4:07.97 2021
The strong favorite to win this event will be Scotts Valley junior Ashlyn Boothby. She has been the best distance runner in the section and would have been favored to win any of the three distance events. She has chosen to focus on the 1600m and the race here should be for 2nd place. The next best runner is Palo Alto sophomore Kinga Czajkowska. She ran a season-best of 4:52.39 at the CCS Top 8 meet. The next best runner appears to be Castilleja senior Samira Kennedy who will also be among the favorites in the 800. Sophie Tau of Los Gatos and Jasleen Sidhu of Los Altos will be looking to break into the top 3 and qualify for their first state meet.
The boy's 1600 may be the most competitive distance race of the day. Although the recently set section record by Nolan Topper may be safe, the winning time should be quite fast. The fastest entrant is Menlo senior Justin Pretre. He is the most experienced competitor in the field and had the honor of competing in the mile at the prestigious Penn Relays this season. He will have plenty of competition here from three sophomores, Ayden Stefanopoulos of Los Gatos, Carson Hedlund of Pioneer, and William Hauser of Menlo. A wild card on the field is Priory senior Levente Palvolgyi who has a best of 50.09 in the 400 and will be quite a threat if he is still in contact in the last lap.
100/110 High Hurdles
Girls CCS Meet Record: Vashti Thomas Mt. Pleasant 13.52 2008
Boys CCS Meet Record: Arend Watkins Silver Creek 13.84c 1997
The Archbishop Mitty girls (Mitty Athletics Twitter photo above) could make quite a statement in this event by taking the top three spots. Laniah Simpson posted the lone sub-15-second time in the prelims and will be favored. Teammates Taylor Oden and Tiana Osuna are the next-best hurdlers and Mitty may secure all three auto-state qualifying spots. Aptos senior Lena Manchester and Menlo Atherton sophomore Sara Nordlund will be looking to break up the Mitty sweep.
The overwhelming favorite in this event is Leland senior Miles Roberts (Karl Mondon photo above). He has been the best hurdler in the section as well as one of the top hurdlers in the state. The hurdle field seems to have been whittled down a bit with several injuries which should clear the way for an easy win for Roberts. After Roberts, the next best hurdler is Serra senior Peter Olson who will be looking to garner valuable team points for Serra. Shyon Ganguly of Lynbrook and James Buellesbach of Bellarmine will be vying for the last state meet spot.
400 Meters
Girls CCS Meet Record: Leslie Maxie Mills 53.92 1982
Boys CCS Meet Record: Bill Green Cubberley 45.51 1979
The two 400-meter races will be super competitive. If you look at past seasons, this is the strongest two fields I can recall in this event. For the girls, the favorite will be Mountain View sophomore Hannah Rutherford. She was the section champion last year and has the fastest time so far this season (55.08). She will be challenged by 2022 state meet finalist Anjali Yella of Harker. Melia Middleton of Christopher has the 2nd fastest time in the section at 56.21 and will be a state meet threat in multiple events. Other contenders are Burlingame junior Cora Haggerty and Archbishop Mitty senior Alice Tsioutsioulikli who both posted the same time in the semis with their 56.75.
The boy's 400 is going to be a tremendous race. The last time all three state qualifiers were under 49 seconds was in 2014. I checked to see the last time the entire field all ran faster than 50 seconds and I am not sure if that has ever happened. The last qualifier from last Saturday was Kyle Busey of Palo Alto at 49.67 so we might be witnesses to a unique result. The favorite to win will be Los Gatos senior Wil Brennan. He's been the best quarter-miler in the section and recently posted a 48.02 lifetime best time. Teammate Levi Romero ran his PR of 48.20 while winning the CCS Top 8 meet. Cameron Johnson of Menlo Atherton led the field last Saturday with his best of 48.67. Serra senior Parker Harrison has also dipped under 49 seconds this season and will be looking to break into the top 3. Alisal's Devin Tapis also ran his season-best time of 49.06 this past Saturday and will definitely be a threat to the already-mentioned competitors.
100 Meters
Girls CCS Meet Record: Jeneba Tarmoh Mt. Pleasant 11.39 2006
Boys CCS Meet Record: Rubin Williams Valley Christian SJ 10.37 2002
St. Ignatius freshman Ellie McCuskey-Hay (Karl Mondon photo above) will have a very busy section final competing in four events. Her first individual running event will be this event and she will be favored to win. Her main competition will come from Santa Catalina senior Juliette Kosmont, the defending champion from last year's section meet. Another freshman, Menlo Atherton's Kei'Niyah Talton posted her best time of the season at 12.39 at the semis.
Harker senior Andrew Fu has three section titles to date but none so far in his individual sprint events. That should change here as he comes into the meet as the favorite to win this event. He has the fastest time this season at 10.50 and ran the fastest time last Saturday with his 10.57 effort. His main competition should come from Los Altos senior Zachary Fagin who has the 2nd fastest time in the section at 10.59. Archbishop Riordan senior Zachary Jones rolled to a best of 10.60 in the semis and will contend as well. Leland senior Ryan Teeple was the other heat winner at the semis, a state meet competitor in the 200 and should not be overlooked.
800 Meters
Girls CCS Meet Record: Alicia Follmar Saratoga 2:07.79 2005
Boys CCS Meet Record: Rick Brown Los Altos 1:50.7 1970
The girls 800 should be the best distance race on the girl's side. It will feature many of the returning athletes from last year's section final who have all improved their time this season. I believe the favorite at this point is Menlo Atherton junior Tatum Olesen. She ran 2:11.14 at the Arcadia Invitational and just recently posted a 4:51.35 personal best in 1600. Her main competition will come from Palo Alto senior Hillary Studdert and Castilleja senior Samira Kennedy. Studdert posted the fastest time at the semis while Kennedy has the fastest time this season at 2:09.82. 
The boys' 800 will be an interesting race. Menlo senior Justin Pretre has the fastest time this season with his 1:52.98 from the Stanford Invitational. That time is by far the fastest in the field and he will be the favorite in the open 800. His main competition will be comprised of three runners who have run between 1:55 and 1:57 this season. They are Homestead sophomore Evan Gardner, Aptos senior Trent Nosky, and Bellarmine senior Tommy Snyserski.
300 Meter Hurdles
Girls CCS Meet Record: Tisha Ponder Del Mar 41.71 1996
Boys CCS Meet Record: John Montgomery Independence 36.60 1988
For the girls, Christopher senior Melia Middleton will be the slight favorite to win this race. She posted the fastest time in the section this year with her 44.09 time established last Saturday at the semis. Tiana Osuna of Archbishop Mitty has the 2nd fastest time in the section and will be Middleton's main competition. Burlingame's Avah Reichow will have both hurdlers in front of her and should be pulled to a 3rd place finish.
Leland senior Miles Roberts will have a chance to win two hurdle events. He will be a strong favorite to win the high hurdles and will definitely be a contender here. He seems to have added this event fully to his arsenal this season and will be hard to beat after he posted a PB of 38.78 in the semis. His main competitor will be Independence senior Ben Kin Ho Tsang who has the fastest time in the section this year at 38.19. He is returning to competition following an injury but don't count him out in the final. Fremont senior Katir Balakrishnan won the Firebird Relay at 38.58 and is never afraid to mix it up with the best hurdlers in the section. Serra senior Peter Olson will be aiming at more valuable team points for his team.
200 Meters
Girls CCS Meet Record: Jeneba Tarmoh Mt. Pleasant 23.47 2006
Boys CCS Meet Record: Robin Williams Valley Christian SJ 20.84 2002
In the girls 200, we have the classic race that will pit the 100 meter specialist vs the 400 meter specialist. Elie McCuskey-Hay of St. Ignatius will be favored to win the 100 while Hannah Rutherford of Mt. View will be favored to win the 400. Following both those events, these two athletes will determine who is the best half-lapper in the section. Both have dipped under 25 seconds and we should have quite the showdown here. The third spot seems to be wide open with lots of contenders. Among those contenders will be Alice Tsioutsioulikli of Archbishop Mitty, Anjali Yella of Harker, and Juliette Kosmont of Santa Catalina.
On the boy's side, this should be quite a showdown with multiple sprinters competing for the victory. Harker's Andrew Fu will be the favorite and will need to stay in front of WBAL rival Carter Shaw of Sacred Heart Prep. Leland's Ryan Teeple, a 2022 state competitor in this event, seems to be hitting his stride this season and will be looking to break into the top 2. Serra's Parker Harrison and Los Altos junior Nathanial Guillory will both be chasing the top 3 sprinters and trying to claim one of those coveted state meet spots.
4 x 800 Meter Relay
This is a new event for the section and state. Unlike other events, only the top 2 teams will advance to the state meet which will make for two uber-competitive races. From looking at the top times in the section, it appears that the Palo Alto and St. Francis MV teams may be a step ahead of the field. They both recorded their season-best times at the Arcadia Invitational and were only separated by 4 seconds. Other teams that should be considered are SCCAL teams Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley as well as a talented Menlo Atherton team that will be anchored by Tatum Olesen.
For the boys, the favorite to win will be the Menlo team. They have posted the fastest time in the section this year with their Arcadia Invitational 2nd place finishing 7:47.23. The next best team is Bellarmine as they rolled to a 7:55.39 best at the Mt. SAC Invitational. Crystal Springs Uplands ran 7:58.90 at the Dublin Distance Fiesta and is the 3rd team to dip under the 8 minute mark in this event. Another contender in this field will be Homestead. The team has three legs that have all dipped under the 2 minute mark and should be in the mix with the top teams. Other teams that will also be podium contenders here are Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, and St. Ignatius.
3200 Meters
Girls CCS Meet Record: Cory Shubert Del Mar 10:09.5 1983
Boys CCS Meet Record: Gordon MacMitchell Gunn 8:58.60c 1973
Last season, Lauren Soobrian of Los Altos won the section final in the 6th fastest time in section history (10:17.17). She will be back to defend her title this year and her main challengers should be Archbishop Mitty sophomore Evie Marheineke and Crystal Springs Uplands School senior Kaiya Brooks. Marheineke has been most impressive with bests of 4:52.42 and 10:28.21. Brooks ran her season-best time of 10:42.63 at the Arcadia Invitational and won the state Division V title in cross country in the fall. Other runners that should not be overlooked are Los Altos junior Jasleen Sidhu, Los Altos freshman Lydia Anderson and Wilcox senior Mircea Kippes.
For the boys, the favorite will be Palo Alto junior Grant Morgenfeld. He has the 2nd fastest time in California as he rolled to a 8:49.21 scorcher at the Arcadia Invitational. Morgenfeld scratched from the 1600 and will be focused on running this race only. His main competition should come from Menlo sophomore Landon Pretre who qualified for the state meet last year as a freshman. Other runners that will be in contention are John Cooper of Wilcox, and Evan Markelz of Mountain View. A wild card in this field will be Aydon Stefanopoulos of Los Gatos. He won the CCS Top 8 meet with a best of 9:08.99. He will be doubling back from the 1600 and may be also running the 4 x 400 for his team but is a confident competitor in any race he enters.
4 x 400 Meter Relay
Girls CCS Meet Record: Mt. Pleasant 3:49.9 2005
Boys CCS Meet Record: Los Altos 3:15.8 1970
The girl's 1600 relay should be quite competitive. St. Francis, MV has posted the 2nd fastest time in the section this season at 4:01.35 and will be the slight favorites here. The fastest time recorded this season was the 4:00.62 at the CCS Top 8 meet by the Archbishop Mitty team. They just missed qualifying for the final which opens the door for other teams to finish in the top 3. The Sacred Heart Cathedral team has the next fastest time at 4:02.23. The next two teams will feature a couple of the best 400 runners in the section and provided their teams can keep them in the race will be threats. Burlingame will be anchored by Cora Haggerty while Christopher will be anchored by Melia Middleton.
The favorite to win the boy's race will be Los Gatos. They won the CCS Top 8 meet at 3:17.94 and might be the lone school to be able to dip under the 3:20 mark. Their team features Wil Brennan and Levi Romero who have both run very low 48 times in the open 400. They may be down one of their top four runners which may make the race a bit closer and more competitive. Their main competitor should be Serra which has been consistently one of the best schools in this event. Homestead posted the fastest time in the semis and will be contending as well. Archbishop Mitty, Palo Alto, and Fremont will be looking to get past the already-mentioned teams and make Fresno reservations for the following week.