Menlo News November 08, 2019

Girls win; boys take second at WBAL cross country finals

Murray wins gold; K. Pretre second for CCS-bound Knights CCS

11.8.19 – At the West Bay Athletic League Cross Country Championships, the Menlo girls took first in a record-breaking team time and the Knights boys took second, setting a school record in the process, Friday at Crystal Springs-Hallmark Park in Belmont.
Both teams are headed to CCS and return to Crystal Springs on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The Knights girls have won every race they have entered this season. Senior Kyra Pretre took silver, finishing the 2.95-mile course in 18:08.9.
On the boys’ side, junior Kamran Murray won gold with a time of 15:44.9, crossing the finish 6 seconds faster than his closest competitor.

Every Knights varsity girls runner placed top 14 and Menlo had 34 points, topping second-place Castilleja by 26. The girls set a league championship course record of 93:39.6, beating their previous time of 99:15.7 set in 2017. Crystal Springs was third with 120. Menlo junior Marisa Castagna was sixth in 18:49.8 and senior Camerin Boom seventh (18:51.7). Junior Alexandra McCusker (18:52.7) and senior Amanda Foster (18:56.6) were ninth and 10th. Senior Katie Aufricht and sophomore Pia Gallo were 11th and 14th for the Knights among 53 runners.

The varsity boys’ race was a tight one with Menlo finishing with 47 points, just 10 points behind Crystal Springs. Woodside Priory was third with 81. The boys team time of 82:48.8 to beat a school record 84:28.0 set in 2017. With Murray winning, Knights junior Calvin Katz was fourth in 15:59.4 and freshman Justin Pretre was sixth in 16:22.2. Seniors Jackson Aldrich crossed the finish in 16:59.2 for 13th and Luke Virsik in 17:43.1 for 23rd.  Sophomore Nishan Rajavasireddy and freshman Aidan Deffner took 36th and 46th, respectively. The JV girls won the WBAL finals with Grace Tang, Maddie Sanders and Sidney Peña sweeping the top three spots. The JV boys, led by Ned Eyre, placed fifth overall.