Leo Young, Lex Young and Aaron Sahlman return to Woodward Park and produce more dominant performances for Newbury Park; Thomsen becomes No. 5 sophomore in history, with Los Altos rising to the occasion to win unpredictable girls championship race

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

FRESNO – On a day when one of the elite female athletes in the country decided not to race because of illness and the top girls team in California had sickness compromise its lineup even before the 43rd ASICS Clovis Invitational began Saturday, the most reliable and impressive boys cross country program in U.S. prep history stepped up and delivered once again at Woodward Park.

Newbury Park swept the top three spots in the Rob Brenner boys championship race, with Stanford commit Leo Young improving on the second-fastest performance in course history and brother Lex Young and fellow senior Aaron Sahlman also eclipsing the 15-minute barrier to lead the Panthers to another team title with 40 points.

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Leo Young clocked 14 minutes, 25.9 seconds on the 5-kilometer layout, Stanford-bound Lex Young ran 14:31.7 and Sahlman took third in 14:52.4, with Brayden Seymour – a transfer from Hagerty High in Florida – finishing 23rd in his Woodward Park debut in 15:34.9 and Dev Doshi holding on for 25th place in 15:37.2, despite struggling late in the race.

Leo Young eclipsed the meet record of 14:28.9 achieved in 2019 by older brother Nico Young, but still trails the 2007 performance of 14:24 achieved by German Fernandez at the Division 4 state final.

San Clemente, led by Juan Chantaca earning eighth in 15:11.3, was second overall with 138 points. Livermore Granada took third iwth 157 points, Great Oak placed fourth with 177 points and Crescenta Valley finished fifth with 192 points.

Christopher Caudillo of Clovis was fourth in 15:03.9, Ryan Mitchell of Davis Senior finished fifth in 15:04.2 and Billie Issa from West Ranch secured sixth in his Woodward Park debut in 15:04.4.

Milo Skapinsky clocked 15:09.0 to capture seventh for San Luis Obispo, which placed sixth with 239 points.

Grant Morgenfeld of Palo Alto took ninth in 15:15.8, moving up 15 spots in the final mile, with Matthew Donis of Palmdale Highland rounding out the top 10 in 15:16.1.

Caudillo was the top Division 1 finisher, Young led all Division 2 athletes, Joshua Bell from Templeton was the top Division 3 competitor by clocking 15:15.1 in the small school race, Emmanuel Hernandez of Cathedral produced the best Division 4 performance by winning the small school section in 15:13.7 and Justin Pretre of Menlo School had the fastest effort among Division 5 entries, clocking 15:49.5 to take 38th in the championship race.

With Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura passing on the opportunity to compete in the Bill Buettner girls championship race as a result of a lingering cold, a potential showdown of two of the top sophomores nationally never materialized, but that didn't prevent Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery from producing another dominant victory.

Thomsen, the reigning Division 3 state champion, clocked 17:04.2 to become one of the top 25 female athletes in course history, along with the fifth-fastest sophomore.

The anticipated impressive presence of defending Division 1 girls state team champion Buchanan was minimized significantly, with illness throughout the lineup resulting in coach Brian Weaver deciding to rest senior Sydney Sundgren and sophomore Sierra Cornett.

The Bears began the race with only five competitors and led by a projected margin of 23 points with one mile remaining, but endured the unfortunate outcome of not being able to score as a team when senior Grace Hutchison dropped out of the race following the 2-mile mark.

Elle Lomeli, a sophomore, was third overall in 17:28.1 and freshman Kynzlee Buckley secured sixth in 17:36.1 for Buchanan, which had ninth-grader Tayler Torosian place 33rd in 18:41.8 and senior Caroline Mendyk take 73rd in 19:33.5.

Ellie Dimitrashchuk, a sophomore, won the frosh/soph race in 19:37.2 for Buchanan, which would have placed fourth overall in a merge of results from all schools across every grade level.

The limited personnel for Buchanan created an opportunity for Los Altos to capitalize in the final mile and the Eagles took full advantage to prevail with 93 points.

JSerra, which was tied with Buchanan after the opening mile, benefited from Brynn Garcia taking 20th in 18:08.0 to place second with 122 points, just ahead of Newbury Park with 123 points, led by Ailish Hawkins finishing 11th in 17:48.3. St. Francis Mountain View was fourth with 197 points and Oak Ridge took fifth with 213 points.

Lauren Soobrian, a senior, was 10th in 17:47.8 and sophomore Emily Soobrian placed 17th in 17:59.2 for Los Altos, which had five scorers in the top 50. Jasleen Sidhu secured 32nd in 18:38.5, Fiona Bodkin finished 37th in 18:44 and Lydia Anderson grabbed 49th in 19:00.5 for the Eagles, who rallied from third with one mile remaining to not only secure the victory, but produce a Central Coast Section all-time team record of 92:10.0.

Los Altos eclipsed the 2015 mark of 92:26.4 achieved by Division 3 state champion Aptos High.

Gioana Lopizzo, who ran 19:11.3 for La Costa Canyon at the Division 3 state final last year, was runner-up in 17:28, just ahead of Lomeli.

Cameron Macias of Clovis West, a freshman, was fourth in 17:28.5 and Santa Margarita sophomore Sophie Polay finished fifth in 17:35.1.

Ashlyn Boothby secured seventh for Scotts Valley in 17:44,3, Mia Torrecillas of Bakersfield Highland earned eighth in 17:46.8 and Chiara Dailey of La Jolla achieved ninth in 17:47.4.

Lomeli was the top Division 1 competitor, Torrecillas was the fastest in Division 2, Montgomery was the best in Division 3, Boothby led all Division 4 athletes and Viewpoint senior JiaLian Mackey was the highest finisher in Division 5, clocking 18:19.6 to place 24th overall.

Evie Marheineke of Archbishop Mitty edged Kylie Hoornaert of Prospect by an 18;16.6 to 18:16.7 margin in the girls varsity medium school race, with University City capturing the team title with 79 points.

Amber Boothby, a senior at Scotts Valley, won the girls varsity small school race in 18:05.7, with St. Margaret's holding off San Francisco University by a 129-139 margin.

Scotts Valley took third with 158 points, despite Ashlyn Boothby competing in the championship race.

Palo Alto relied on sophomore Kinga Czajkowska (18:42.8) and seniors Hillary Studdert (18:46.9) and Elizabeth Fetter (18:49.2) finishing first, third and fourth in the girls varsity large school race to prevail with 69 points.

Denise Chen, a junior at Claremont High, won the girls varsity extra large school race in 18:13.3, with Granada Hills earning the team title with 149 points.

Jude DeVries, a senior at Santa Rosa Montgomery, achieved the win in the boys varsity medium school race in 15:26.8, as junior Aiden Aldana placed second in 15:34.9 for St. John Bosco, which earned the team crown by knocking off Trinity League rival Santa Margarita by a 94-122 margin.

Nathan Short, a senior at Folsom, emerged victorious in the boys varsity extra large school competition in 15:44.1, as Arcadia triumphed with 114 points.

Donovan Cheruiyot, a senior at Vacaville, prevailed in the boys varsity large school race in 15:49.5, as runner-up Andreas Dybdahl (16:08.4) helped Santa Barbara secure the team plaque with 118 points.

Hayden Owen of St. Francis took third in 15:29.7 behind Hernandez and Bell in the boys varsity small school competition, leading the Golden Knights to an 86-103 victory against Cathedral.