Cross Country

Malcolm Slaney/Special to the Town Crier

Los Altos High’s Lauren Soobrian set a school record at the state cross-country meet.

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.

Courtesy of Liza Rachetto
Liza Rachetto crosses the finish line at Ironman Louisville.

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.

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.