Cross Country

Lars Eng/Special to the Town Crier
Five Los Altos residents ran in the championship boys division of the Foot Locker West Regional Dec. 1 in Southern California. Pictured, from left: Rian Lawlor and Adam Sage of Los Altos High, and Eric Eng, Mason Elefant and Colton Colonna of St. Francis High.

The cross-country season didn’t end at last month’s state championship meet for a handful of local boys. Runners from Los Altos and St. Francis highs qualified for the Foot Locker West Regional, held Dec. 1 at Mount San Antonio Community College in Walnut.

St. Francis High senior Eric Eng placed 15th in the championship boys race, which included 221 runners. Running the 5-kilometer course for the first time, the Los Altos resident finished in 16 minutes, 2 seconds. That made him the top finisher from the Central Coast Section.

Lars Eng/Special to the Town Crier
St. Francis High’s Eric Eng runs in Saturday’s state cross-country meet in Fresno. He placed 11th in his division.

Returning six of its top seven runners, the St. Francis High boys cross-country team was optimistic about its chances of repeating as Division II state champions this year.

But as senior Eric Eng said after returning from Saturday’s event in Fresno, “The state meet is always crazy.”

Lars Eng/Special to the Town Crier
St. Francis runners – wearing yellow-and-white uniforms, from left, Eric Eng, Euan Cairns, Colton Colonna and Aiden Maddison – compete in the CCS Division II race. Colonna won the race and Eng took second.

Smoky skies forced Central Coast Section officials to twice push back the date of the cross-country championships – and move the venue south – but that didn’t slow down St. Francis High. The Lancers’ boys and girls teams repeated as CCS Division II champions Sunday at Toro Park in Salinas, qualifying for this weekend’s state meet.

The St. Francis boys ran away with the title, besting second-place Mitty by 77 points. The top three finishers in the race were Lancers, and two more St. Francis runners placed in the top 10. Colton Colonna was crowned champion with a time of 15 minutes, 31.1 seconds, Eric Eng was the runner-up (15:48.7) and Juan Pablo Garcia took third (15:56.1). Daniel Skahill came in fifth (16:02.2) and Mason Elefant placed 10th (16:33.5).

Courtesy of Malcolm Slaney
Los Altos High’s Adam Sage competes in last week’s league championship meet.

With their top runner sidelined, the Los Altos High boys weren’t able to catch Palo Alto at last week’s Santa Clara Valley Athletic League cross-country championships. The Eagles finished second to the Vikings Oct. 30 at Crystal Springs in Belmont.

Duke University-bound senior Owen MacKenzie – who led Los Altos to victory over Paly at last year’s meet – has nearly recovered from a stress fracture in his leg and is expected to return Saturday for the Central Coast Section championships, also at Crystal Springs.