4x800 relay 2nd at state; Young 10th in high jump

Menlo School’s record-setting 4x800 relay of Aiden Deffner, Will Hauser, Landon Pretre & Justin Pretre took second in California with a time of 7:39.10 at the CIF- State Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High.

The Knights set a Central Coast Section record and secure a place in history of the inaugural 4x800 state final with their time of 7:39.10, just .6 seconds off the CIF lead. Menlo’s 4x800 previous-best was 7:47.23 set at the Arcadia Invitational.

“It was another great accomplishment to add on to an unforgettable season,” Menlo Coach Jorge Chen said. “It showed the heart of these kids - no matter how small our school is, their love of competition and for one another is enormous.”

Making a splash in her debut season, junior Summer Young finished 10th in the state with a mark of 5-4. At the CCS Championship, she finished second and set the school record, clearing 5-5. 

Young came to track late after making the NorCal Championship game with the Menlo basketball team. The starting forward had made her way to the Cartan Field the past two seasons on the lacrosse team in spring. This year after she jumped and touched the rim during practice, Basketball Coach John Paye took notice and spread the word. Her first meet was the third and final league meet of the season. She qualified for league finals, then made CCS by having one fewer miss at 4-10. Young trained for the first time with a jumps coach the week before and jumped 5-2 in trials and set a school record with a 5-5 at CCS finals before state.

“Well, it definitely wasn’t expected that I would get this far,” Young said. “States was so much fun and I was shocked I made it to the finals. “I had jumped for the first time five weeks prior. It was nerve-racking being probably the most inexperienced one there. However, it was such an incredible experience and I couldn’t be more grateful for what has happened.”  

On Friday, CCS Champion and school-record holder William Floyd, a senior who will compete for University of Chicago next season, cleared 14-6 in the pole vault on Friday to finish 15th in the state. At CCS, he broke his own school record to take gold in pole vault, clearing 15 feet. He reached his previous mark of 14-6 he set at the first WBAL meet this season.

Double qualifier Justin Pretre, who is headed to study and run at Cal,  started his two-day state meet, running the 1600m in 4:18.48 for 25th place. Deffner is set to continue his academic and athletic career at Johns Hopkins. 

“This was a big season and truly memorable,” Chen said.