Athlete of the Week: Menlo’s Landon Pretre

The evening belonged to Landon Pretre, though. The freshman emerged in the boys’ 3,200 meters to claim second place, who chased down a personal record with a time of 9 minutes, 9.13 seconds.

“Based on training, we knew Landon is capable of doing that,” Menlo head coach Jorge Chen said. “But to do it on the biggest stage as a freshman is a different story.”

The brothers Pretre competed in different events. Justin, a junior, geared up for his specialty event, the boys’ 1,600, but settled for 10th place with a 4:23.53, finishing well off his PR of 4:12.75 set a month previous at the CCS Top 8 meet.

The youngest Pretre, by the midpoint of his run in the 3,200, looked destined to finish in the middle of the pack as well. With three laps to go in the eight-lap distance race, the only freshman in the heat was hanging in sixth place. Then Pretre dug deep, perhaps from a place of competing against a brother two years his elder all his life, and started picking off runners one by one, until there was only one other runner in front of him.

“I was kind of in no man’s land right there,” Pretre said. “I mean, that’s not where I wanted to be. So, I just started racing my heart out for those last couple of laps.”

The tall, wiry strong Pretre was a picture of statuesque elegance as he powered through the bell lap. York senior Michael Julian, who took first place in 9:03.50, simply put too much distance between himself and the rest of the field to be caught. But when Pretre crossed the finish line six seconds behind the top spot, he looked strong enough to knock out another eight laps.

Pretre said the showing of strength was just a way of coping with the burning in his legs and the voice in his head.

“I was really fighting a battle in my head to keep going,” Pretre said. “But … that’s how the end of every 3,200 is. So, I just told myself that the pain is temporary, but my time would be forever. So, I just went for it.”

Pretre had previously tasted success as a freshman.

During the winter season with the Menlo club team at the California Winter Championships in Arcadia, it was older brother Justin who won the day, taking first place in the boys’ 1,500 finals, with the younger Pretre taking 11th place. The brothers banded together for a first-place finish in the boys’ distance medley relay, though, teaming with Nik Khuntia and Aiden Deffner to take first place in 10:43.86.

The foursome went on to run on the national stage, taking third place in the DMR at the Penn Relays in Pennsylvania in April.

“Landon’s always been running very mature,” Chen said. “We ran relays … we came in third in the DMRs, in the country. I mean, that’s insane.”

The Pretre years at Menlo started with Kyra, who won a CCS championship in the girls 1,600 in 2019. Both of Kyra’s brothers were at Gilroy High School for that one, but only in attendance, as neither were in high school at the time. Saturday, the roles were reversed as Kyra was on hand as a spectator — although she did take the chance to work the infield as a photographer.

“I attended when she won CCS when she was 16 … that was pretty cool,” Landon Pretre said. “Then my brother and I, we have been training and racing together pretty much our entire lives. So, he’s just an amazing training partner. I know he’s probably still a bit faster than me but it’s just motivation for me. He doesn’t want me to pass him, so he keeps going himself.”

Now, with a chance to run at the CIF state championship this weekend at Buchanan High School in Clovis, the youngest Pretre is looking to continue his family’s amazing Menlo legacy — though he is also enjoying the ride, having surpassed all the high expectations placed on his for his debut freshman season.

“I knew I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to this season, this was just the cherry on top,” Pretre said of his success at CCS. “So, I raced my heart out.”