Menlo News April 10, 2022

Knights with remarkable run at Arcadia Invitational

Distance medley relay fifth in nation
Distance medley relay of William Floyd, Justin Pretre, Aiden Deffner and Landon Pretre

4.9.2022 – It was a race for the ages when the Menlo boys’ distance medley rallied with a remarkable finish to take third at the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday night. They hold the fifth fastest time in the country as of Sunday night.
The distance medley team - Landon Pretre, and juniors William Floyd, Aiden Deffner and Justin Pretre running a remarkable anchor - captured third place in the DMR with a PR 10:17.18.
This after freshman Landon Pretre took third in the Rising Stars Mile earlier in the day while William Floyd won gold in the pole vault in the O’Condon meet Friday, and Justin Pretre ran the Open Mile at Arcadia on Friday night. “We really were not sure how the DMR was going to play out. In a relay you have to trust that all of your teammates will come out and race to the best of their abilities and then you turn off your mind and run,” Justin Pretre said. “I have a lot of trust in my teammates and I think that they definitely did their work to put us into striking position for my leg.”
With about 300 meters to go, Pretre made his way toward the Santiago, Vista Murrieta, Great Oak runners.
“While I was running I tried to remain conservative for the first lap and not let the handoff adrenaline get to me and then after that I just focused on picking off the people in front of me one runner at a time,” Pretre said.
The DMR eclipsed its previous-best of 10:18.83 set a week before at the Stanford Invitational. On Friday, Justin Pretre won the Open Mile in 4:14.36, shaving 10+ seconds off his time from last year’s Arcadia Invitational. Earlier Saturday, brother Landon Pretre placed third in a tough Rising Stars Mile in 4:21.58 and Floyd took first in pole vault, clearing a PR 14 feet in the O’Condon Invitational.


Arcadia Invitational distance medley relay