Crystal Springs is top Division V cross country program in state

Then the Crystal boys finished off the trifecta. Led by three core sophomores — Benjamin Bouie, Tarik Baker and Oliver Boesch — and senior Furious Clay, the Gentleman Gryphons topped second-place Menlo School by four points in the team standings to top the podium. It marks just the second time in history both a Northern California boys’ and girls’ team from the same school has won a state championship.

“It’s really hard,” Crystal Springs Uplands head coach Albert Caruana said. “It’s hard to win one.”

The Crystal boys’ team was knocking on the door after last year, earning the last spot on the team podium with a third-place finish. There was serious reason for optimism, though, as the Gryphons did so with four freshman and no core graduating seniors.

“The first time we all came together of a group was last year and we didn’t really know what to expect,” Clay said. “I would say last year was pretty much a surprise. But once we realized we could do it, we were like: ‘Yeah, let’s go out and try to do it.’”

The Central Coast Section dealt Crystal Springs an extra obstacle at the start of the year, though. While Crystal has long been a Division V program, a realignment moved powerhouse Menlo School from Division IV to Division V. The two programs are more family than rivals. Menlo head coach Jorge Chen ran for Caruana’s team in 1992 in his first year as a head coach.

“Those boys are fast,” Clay said “That’s OK, we knew that. We’ve been putting in the work too. We had two weeks after [the CCS championships] which, quite frankly, was an advantage. So, everything was good toward today.”

Menlo seemed to be on track to claim the boys’ team title Saturday when brothers Justin Pretre (15:24.6) and Landon Pretre (15:34.80) ran onto the podium, taking second and fourth place respectively. But then Bouie (15:36), the Crystal sophomore, took fifth place as the stars began to align for the Gryphons.

Clay (scoring ninth in 15:46.4) took 11th; Baker (scoring 14th in 15:51.4) took 16th; Boesch (scoring 21st in 16:21.9) took 26th; and junior Dean Wu (scoring 24th in 16:27.70 took 31st.

“Menlo moved down from Division IV, Yosemite moved down from Division IV, so it just made it way more difficult than it was going to be,” Caruana said. “But Menlo definitely made us a better team. I know we made Menlo a better team. So, that helped both teams.”

But it was Brooks and the Lady Gryphons who set the stage for the historic day. The Crystal girls’ chances seemed nonexistent at the start of the postseason. Castilleja took first place at the West Bay Athletic League championships Nov. 4. But the promise of Brooks’ reemergence started there, as the senior won the WBAL girls’ individual championship, her first postseason title since the 2019 CCS Division V championships her freshman year.

Then two weeks ago at in CCS Division V championships, Crystal starting having visions of state glory when the girls knocked off Castilleja to earn the CCS team title, and the boys kept pace by topping Menlo to do the same.

“We knew we had a chance, but we definitely didn’t expect it,” Brooks said. “So, we’re just so grateful to have it.”

Crystal finished with 164 points, topping second-place Immanuel-Reedley. But there was plenty of drama concerning the team scoring as the first unofficial team tally had University-SF tentatively in the first-place spot, and Crystal in second. Even with this, the Gryphons’ two top freshmen — two of four freshmen who finished in the team’s top six — Anna Salter and Kira Dye were glowing, rocking their Goodr sunglasses, following the race.

“I think a huge part of it is how close our team is, and everyone is just so supportive of each other,” Dye said. “So, it really made the trip a lot more fun. It just really made us in really great moods and made us really want to do well for the team.”

Then in the team meeting, Caruana delivered the news in subtle fashion, telling the team Crystal had never won a state championship, but “we got two in the same race.”

Caruana was all smiles as he told the Crystal girls they’d moved into first place on the recalibrated unofficial team score. Minutes later, assistant coach Andy Martinez joined the team circle and held up his cellphone for the team to see the official championship had been declared. And the Gryphons went wild.

“It’s unbelievable,” Caruana said. “It’s one of those — you dream about it. I knew the boys had a shot, and the girls, we haven’t been ranked all season. We didn’t even win our league. We weren’t supposed to win CCS. And we weren’t probably supposed to win (state), but just really came together and the kids really brought it. It was a lot of fun.”

Salter (scoring 17th in 19:20.1) took 23rd; Dye (scoring 19th in 19:22.9) took 25th; junior Maya Wohl (scoring 37th in 20:16.9); freshman Lauryn Fleshman (scoring 55th in 20:42.8) took 80th; and freshman Heidy Avina (scoring 60th in 20:50.4) took 89th.