Thomsen produces fastest 2.78-mile effort in meet history by clocking 15:13.93, with Pretre brothers also achieving all-time marks; Los Altos girls take team title, as well as Granada boys

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The success of multiple sets of siblings were among the highlights Saturday at the 49th San Francisco Lowell Invitational.

But the most impressive performance among the four varsity races came from Hanne Thomsen, a sophomore at Santa Rosa Montgomery and the reigning California Division 3 state champion.

Thomsen produced the fastest time in meet history, covering the 2.78-mile course at Golden Gate Park in 15 minutes, 13.93 seconds, helping Montgomery place three athletes in the top 15 in the opening girls varsity race and take third overall with 139 points.

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Seelah Kittelstrom, also a sophomore, was fourth for Montgomery in 16:15.23.

Granite Bay, despite competing without senior Carly Foster, still relied on Emily Allison taking third in 16:05.83 and Grace Baxter earning eighth in 16:30.27 to capture the team title by an 80-94 margin over Saugus, which had freshman Lucia Pearson secure seventh in 16:27.38.

Athena Ryan of Sonoma Academy, a junior, placed second in 16:00.96, with Louisa McNatt of McClatchy edging Kylie Hoornaert of Prospect for fifth by a 16:19.13 to 16:19.88 margin.

Lauren Soobrian triumphed in the second girls varsity competition in 15:56.51, leading five Los Altos athletes in the top 20 to produce a 40-70 victory over Menlo-Atherton, with Clovis North relying on a runner-up performance from senior Ashlyn Leath (16:03.44) to finish third with 96 points.

Sienna Faldi of Convent and Stuart Hall was third in 16:04.06, Palo Alto’s Kinga Czajkowska placed fourth in 16:09.08 and Emily Soobrian provided strong support for Los Altos by grabbing fifth in 16:09.99.

Justin Pretre and Landon Pretre of Menlo School took the top two spots in the second boys varsity race with the fastest 2.78-mile marks achieved at the meet, leading 17 athletes to sub-14 performances and helping the Knights finish sixth overall with 227 points.

Granada prevailed with 66 points, followed by Larkspur Redwood with 119 points and Saugus with 145 points.

Justin Pretre, a senior, clocked 13:20.10 and sophomore Landon Pretre ran 13:22.93, followed by Palo Alto junior Grant Morgenfeld (13:24.45), Dougherty Valley senior Andrew Richards (13:27.14) and Redwood senior Daegan Cutter (13:29.50).

Dheeraj Gurusamy led five Granada competitors in the top 20, securing sixth in 13:38.47, with fellow senior Roland Ruckmann-Barnes placing 11th in 13:45.43.

Monte Vista senior Ethan Miller was seventh in 13:39.12, with Saugus teammates Gavin Dion (13:40.16) and Jacob Fredericks (13:41.12) earning eighth and ninth, followed by Pioneer sophomore Carson Hedlund (13:45.40) completing the top 10.

Mountain View senior Evan Markelz triumphed in the opening boys varsity competition in 13:47.94, contributing to a seventh-place finish for the Spartans with 259 points.

Sequoia had five scorers in the top 50 to emerge victorious with 115 points, as Central Coast Section programs took the top three spots, with Westmont benefiting from a third-place effort from Shane Dalziel (13:56.31) to hold off Bellarmine Prep by a 153-162 margin for second overall.

El Cerrito junior Niall Monteleone was runner-up in 13:53.46 and Sonoma Academy senior Tiernan Colby also eclipsed the 14-minute barrier to finish fourth in 13:57.25.