For Los Altos High and the other cross-country teams in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, this season will look like no other.
For Los Altos High and the other cross-country teams in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, this season will look like no other.
Record runs by Lauren Soobrian and Adam Sage highlighted a banner day for Los Altos High at the state cross-country championships in Fresno, where the Eagles’ boys team also made school history Nov. 30.
Soobrian finished fourth in the Division I girls race with a time of 17 minutes, 42.7 seconds that made her the fastest freshman girl at the entire meet (five divisions). Her time beat Lauren Jacob’s school record, set in 2013, by nearly 10 seconds. Coach Steph MacKenzie is confident no Los Altos runner has ever placed as high at state as Soobrian did.
As Liza Rachetto approached the finish line at Ironman Louisville in October, she was overcome by the feeling of success. The Los Altos resident had just won the women’s race by more than 8 minutes.
“It was one of the best feelings to know I could cross the finish line and lift the banner,” she said.
Coach Phil Pompei will be pulling double duty at St. Francis High in the fall.
The school announced this month that Pompei, the Lancers’ boys cross-country coach since 2013, also will take over the girls squad next season. He replaces longtime girls coach Roberta Chisam, who is retiring at the end of this school year and moving out of the area, according to St. Francis officials.