Menlo News November 29, 2025

Cross country teams excel at State Meet

Boys take silver, girls 11th in another “magical” state performance

Boys Cross Country at state meet.

Girls’ Cross Country at state meet.

Menlo School’s cross country program shined on the state’s biggest stage once again, with the boys earning a third straight top-two finish and the girls racing to 11th place Saturday at the CIF-State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno. Both squads closed their seasons with performances that showcased depth, resilience, and a strong team culture.

The boys’ silver-medal run was anchored by junior Henry Hauser, who turned in one of the finest individual efforts of the day. Hauser placed seventh in 15:29.9 on the 5,000-meeter course to finish as the Knights’ top runner in the Div. V field. His performance set the tone for Menlo’s podium push and punctuated his standing as one of the state’s top juniors.

Support came in waves behind him. Senior Amay Srinivasan was 16th in 15:54.1 and was the Knights’ second finisher in his final cross country race for Menlo. Sophomore Oliver Olbekson took 21st in 15:58.8, giving the Knights three scorers under 16 minutes.

Junior Joseph Hurd (40th in 16:16.5), sophomores Toliver Bates (46th, 16:23.5) and Jack Harman (50th, 16:29.6), and junior Jonah Block (78th, 16:51.4) rounded out the seven in a 203-runner field as Menlo secured yet another state podium finish.

“Both teams had different journeys to state,” first-year coach John Dagata said. “The girls qualified for state and had their best day together of the year – we’re ecstatic about the ending. The boys are holding on despite a lot of illness, injuries – like a lot of the teams at state were fighting – and they found a way to win WBAL, CCS and today, they prepared mentally, physically and found a way to put themselves in the best position to succeed.”

The Knights girls delivered their “best day” together with an 11th-place team finish and a sweep of personal-best times. Senior Ariya Kaushek led the way with a season breakthrough race, taking 28th in 18:55.0 on the 5,000-meter course.

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I think this one it definitely had more pressure going into it but a lot more excitement at the same time because we worked so hard to get here,” said Kaushek, who has qualified for state all four years. “As a senior, and having all the underclassmen kind of under our wing was just such a special opportunity to really show them what state meet us like and hopefully our future generations of cross country will qualify as well, so just exciting to think they will carry on the legacy.”

Classmates Halle Blanchard (20:30.2) and Anya Ramani (20:51.1) followed as the team’s second and third finishers in their final state appearances. Junior Bella Ewers (21:30.9), sophomore Annika Lecybil (22:00.5), freshman Maddy Lee (22:30.4), and sophomore Grace Knowles (23:54.5) all clocked lifetime bests to complete the effort.

“Most important, it was a really special day to see the seven girls come together as a team and support each other,” said Assistant coach Sally Hauser, an All-American at Stanford. ”This sport can be quite grueling, both physically and mentally, and what came through today was knowing that they were running for each other. And to put their best performances together on a single day is pure magic.”

Kaushek said she was most inspired by an Eleanor Roosevelt quote Coach Hauser about doing what you fear the most, “ I think for me I’m always really scared of going out too hard so I sometimes I’m a little bit conservative and then I regret it later on so this race I really tried going out hard and I definitely did. I went out in like a 5:48 mile, which is pretty fast for me and then I would say I really tried working the second mile ... and that last mile I was just giving it everything.”