Daily Journal Boys’ Track Athlete of the Year: Crystal’s Benjamin Bouie

Crystal runner Benjamin Bouie was part of a golden generation of cross country and track runners — not just in San Mateo County, but in the entirety of the Central Coast Section.

To know where Bouie ranked among those runners, consider this: he ran one race and set three records.

Bouie repeated as CCS champion in the 1,600 on the track this season and helped the Gryphons’ 4x800 relay team to a CCS title, as well. He then went on to record the highest finish of any Crystal athlete by finishing second in the 1,600 at the CIF State Track & Field Championships and capped his season with a spectacular performance on the national level.

Bouie already has been named the Daily Journal Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year in 2023 and earned the 2024 Boys’ Athlete of the Year.

He caps his high school career by being named the 2025 San Mateo Daily Journal Boys’ Track Athlete of the Year.

“This year’s senior class (in CCS) was outstanding. You can go down the list. It was probably the best class of boys who have ever been in CCS,” said Crystal track coach Albert Caruana, who has been with the Gryphons since 1996 and is well entrenched in the high school track and field scene.

“Ben has got to be up there (among the best ever). The technology — shoes and all that — has been a factor. But he got second at State (after finishing fourth in 2024). Any time you’re in contention for a state championship, you have to be considered a top runner.”

Bouie’s track season got off to a bumpy start, however. He ran in the season-opening Dublin Distance Fiesta March 21, posting a time of 4 minutes, 15.59 seconds to finish fourth.

This after running 4:06.92 in winning the 2024 CCS 1,600 crown to set a new personal record and break a CCS record that was set in 1977.

Bouie, a recent Crystal graduate who will continue his running career at Harvard Univerity, didn’t race again until the CCS Top 8 Invitational April 19, where he took first place in the 1,600 with a time of 4:12.26. Achilles tendon issues in both legs, coupled with a spring break trip to Japan, meant Bouie trained cautiously as he missed the first two West Bay Athletic League meets.

“We had to be careful,” Caruana said. “I thought there was to going to be a good group (at the Top 8 meet), but everybody scratched.”

But Bouie started rounding into form as the postseason approached. He won the WBAL 1,600 championship with a 4:20.12, a pedestrian time for him.

But maybe that time off was a blessing disguise. He was the top qualifier for the CCS 1,600 final after finishing first in his heat with a time of 4:15.24.

And in the final, Bouie dropped the hammer. His time of 4:06.02 was not only a new PR, it was a new CCS finals record. Later, Bouie ran the anchor leg on the championship 4x800 relay team, joining Kani Cameron, Tarik Baker and Conrad Chern to run a time of 7:51.87 — which was nearly three seconds faster than the second-place finishers from Bellarmine.

That was a CCS record that stood for a week — but was broken by the Bellarmine quartet at the state championships.

“[Bouie’s] first big competitive race was CCS,” Caruana said. “You only have so many races in you in a season. What happens is they (top runners) have all these super competitive races. I don’t know if it’s mentally draining, or what, but you have to pace yourself, race wise.”

And Bouie wasn’t done. Many athletes seem to hit a wall when they get to the State Meet because it was such a grind to get there. But Bouie had run competitively so infrequently, he was fresh when others had empty tanks.

But it was nothing Caruana or Bouie took for granted, especially considering qualifying was changed because there were so many 1,600 runners in the prelims.

“At State, it’s a war to get to the final,” Caruauna said. “But there were three heats, instead of two. Normally, the top four (from each heat) advance, but with three heats, it’s top three, but he made it through.”

Bouie qualified fifth with a 4:09.47, just a 10th of a second off of the top qualifying time of 4:09.37. And in the final, Bouie and Clovis North’s Conor Lott put on a show. The two pulled away from the rest of the pack as they entered the last lap, which became a match race between the two. Bouie stayed stride for stride with Lott down the back stretch, before Lott pulled away and won the state title with a time of 4:03.32.

While Bouie finished second, his time of 4:04.84 was nearly two seconds faster than third place. Not only was a it another new PR, but it became the fastest time, ever, by a CCS runner.

“In the (state) final, I thought there were two kids who would be a threat,” Caruana said. “What causes the fast times are bringing in other fast people.”

And Bouie still had more left in the tank. Six days after the state championships, Bouie lined up at the Hoka Festival of Miles, a national competition in St. Louis. He toed the line in the Mile, a race that is not contested at the high school, and is roughly 10 meters longer than the 1,600.

And it was in this race that Bouie broke three more records. Despite running one race, it is officially timed for 1,500 and 1,600 times as well. Like the mile, the 1,500 is not run at the high school level, but it didn’t stop Bouie from setting a record.

When Bouie crossed the finish line in a time of 4:04.71, it was the 25th-fastest mile run by a high schooler this season and a new PR for Bouie.

At the 1,500 mark, Bouie’s time was 3:48.65 and a new CCS record. His 1,600 time was marked at 4:03.23 to set another PR and lower his CCS record even further.

“It was a great way to end the season,” Caruana said, who added he did not just assume Bouie would end his high school career on such high notes.

“Each season is it own entity,” Caruana said. “It worked out really well. … He’s such a competitor. … I feel lucky I got a chance to coach him.”