Athlete of the Week: Menlo’s Kyra Pretre

The junior standout has come up through the ranks of the Lady Knights’ prolific cross-country program side-by-side with junior Charlotte Tomkinson for three years running. With two competitive meets in the books this season, the two have each topped the team leaderboard once.

More importantly, they’ve fronted a youthful Menlo team that has now placed third in each of the prestigious meets in which they’ve run, starting with the Lowell Invite Sept. 8 in Golden Gate Park, and recently Saturday in the Pacific Tigers High School Invitational in Stockton.

“This year we’ve worked together so well and it’s so nice to have someone there to push me in a positive way,” Pretre said. “So last time it was her (who finished better) and this weekend it was me. So it doesn’t really matter.”

Pretre earned Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors because she was Menlo’s top finisher in Stockton, dashing to fifth place in the small school division of the five kilometer event. She recorded a personal-best 18 minutes, 38.9 seconds.

The feat, however, was the product of she and Tomkinson running together for most of the race. For outsiders who don’t know what that means, imagine a non-contact hybrid between racecar driving and lacrosse. That’s the layman’s science of a team navigating a cross-country course.

Thirty-six teams from Northern California competed in the meet, with Pretre recognizing just a few faces from having run in last year’s California Interscholastic Federation Division IV state final meet, where Menlo finished 18th. She settled into the Stockton course in a hurry though.

“I’ve been in big meets before,” Pretre said. “I was obviously a little bit nervous but this meet was pretty early. So it was just — go see how we can do as a team, go see if we could post a good 5K time.”

Five-kilometer courses are rare in California, where most are measured in miles. In fact, the last time Menlo competed in the distance was at last year’s Pacific Invite. Menlo placed fifth in 2017, with Pretre leading all Lady Knights with a 19:12.6, good for 11th place.

This year, she stayed with the front of the pack the entire way, hanging around that same 11th-place range until the final 600 meters. Or so she thought. Pretre scouted a tree that she was sure was within that distance of the finish line. And strategizing that was where she would look to leverage her last-gasp kick for a strong finish, she accelerated when she reached it, passing several runners along the way.

Only, Pretre misread the course. As she drew within sight of the finish line, looking to time the last of her kick with that remaining distance, she realized there was one more hairpin turn in the trail, meaning she had to double back and make her way back toward the finish one more time.

Pretre, though, has dedicated herself to a revamped athletics schedule this year. Growing up a soccer player, her sports life long had been futbol first. In recent years, with her running career moving to the forefront, she decided to step away from the pitch. This winter will mark the first time in her three years at Menlo she will not play soccer.

“So it was fine,” Pretre said of misjudging the course. “But it was like, ‘oh no, there’s more to go.’”

Pretre is accustomed to big changes. A diminutive 5-2 when she started middle school, by the time she was in the eighth-grade she had shot up to 5-8. Neither of Pretre’s parents are taller than 5-10, and before the growth spurt it was estimated she would grow to approximately 5-5. So, it was quite a surprise when she kept shooting up.

“I don’t know,” Pretre said. “I was short, and then I was tall.”

Not that being taller is the most beneficial characteristic of a cross-country runner. Sometimes, especially in the girls’ sport, it is just the opposite. Look at Katelyn Tuohy, the junior from North Rockland High School-New York who Saturday broke the national record for a high school girl in the 5K with a time of 16:06.87.

The 16-year-old Tuohy is a mere 5-4. More than the physical characteristics, Pretre said it is the attitude that makes Tuohy — the 2017-18 Sports Illustrated Girls’ High School Athlete of the Year — a burgeoning legend.

“She’s so phenomenal,” Pretre said. “It’s so impressive how amazing she is. You see interviews with her, she’s so sweet and humble. She’s worked so hard.”

In terms of making her mark, Pretre has Menlo’s two-year plan in her sights.

The team is currently ranked third in the CCS — not bad for a small school, placed behind No. 1 St. Francis-Mountain View and No. 2 Palo Alto — and is looking beyond to seeing that ranking to its logical conclusion: being a contender in the Division IV state meet this year and, especially, next year.

The 2019 season is key, considering Menlo’s relative youth. The team’s other finishers Saturday were freshman Pia Gallo (23rd, 19:40.9); sophomore Maddie Sanders (31st, 20:00.8); junior Katie Aufricht (55th, 21:19); and junior Cameron Boom (140th, 23.30.9).

Notice a theme? There are no seniors on this year’s Menlo squad.

“It’s super exciting,” Pretre said, “and it’s awesome that our team is so young, because we’re going to have another year together. … I think the main goal right now is to do as well as a team as we can at state. And next year, I know [Menlo coach Jorge Chen] is pretty ambitious, we’re looking to maybe podium at state.”