Cross Country

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.

Lars Eng/Special to the Town Crier
St. Francis High’s Eric Eng finished 11th at the state meet.

Despite its domination of the Central Coast Section, the St. Francis High boys cross-country team didn’t expect a runaway win at the state championships – not with Dublin in its division. The North Coast Section champs beat the Lancers seven weeks earlier on the same course.

“That race was a wake-up call,” St. Francis junior Eric Eng said of finishing 40 points behind Dublin Oct. 7 at the Clovis Invitational. “We came into Clovis a little too confident; it kind of humbled us. It showed us what we needed to do and how hard we needed to work.”

Photo by Malcolm Slaney/
Special to the Town Crier Los Altos High’s Owen Mac-Kenzie, above, set a school record at the Clovis Invitational. Fellow Eagle Naomi Donovan ran the second-fastest time in school history there.

The Los Altos High cross-country team has to hope its strong showing at the recent Clovis Invitational – a major meet featuring more than 100 schools from throughout the state – is a sign of things to come.

The Los Altos boys placed second in their division, tying a school record in the process, and the girls finished 19th Oct. 7 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Courtesy of the Chettiar family
Tanish Chettiar and coach Michael Davidson are all smiles at the junior nationals.

Tanish Chettiar’s standout performance in cross-country earned him a trip cross country last month.

The Los Altos resident qualified for the USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Hoover, Ala.