* Menlo School's Landon Pretre scored the fastest time over three miles on the first day of the Woodbridge XC Classic on Friday
Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit
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IRVINE, Calif. -- Over the last mile of what would become the dominant performance of the day, Menlo junior Landon Pretre managed to stumble off the grassy course, dodging spectators as he realized his error.
On another day, it might've cost him -- but Pretre already had a 10-second lead.
He veered back on course, then stormed his way to a 14:46.4 win on the first day of the 42nd annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic.
Pretre, who placed fourth at last year's CIF Division 5 cross country championship, was one of only two boys to break the 15-minute barrier on Friday night's 3-mile course at the Orange County Great Park. The other, senior Malcom Oakes of Convent & Stuart Hall, finished second to Pretre in the boys White Varsity A field with a 14:58.7.
Menlo won that race's team competition by a 93-point margin.
On the girls side, the best was, truly, saved for last.
Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit
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Juniors Sophie Guilfoil of Portola and Kianna Larsson of Rio Americano battled head-to-head in what was essentially a two-woman race in the Red Varsity B heat.
Larsson led going into the home stretch, but Guilfoil put up an eleventh-hour kick to take gold with a 17:57.8 finish. Just 1.5 seconds later, Larsson crossed the line, leading Rio Americano to a one-point team win over Valencia.
The only other girl to dip under the 18-minute mark Friday night -- who in fact finished the fastest out of everyone -- was Palos Verdes senior Natalie Wang with a 17:57.3 in the Red Varsity A heat; she helped her school coast to an easy team win in that division.
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