Menlo School hurdler Tres Onyejekwe stars at Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon

That included Menlo School’s Lawrence “Tres” Onyejekwe, a rising junior and a rising hurdles star in the world of track and field. He — along with a 4x800 relay quartet of Menlo runners Oliver Olbekson, Joseph Hurd, Amay Srinivasan and Henry Hauser — competed in the Nike Outdoor Nationals & USATF U20 Championships at famed Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon where they all put together strong performances.

Competing the 400-meter hurdles for just the third time this season, Onyejekwe, running unattached, ran a new personal record. Participating in the Championship flight, Onyejekwe finished fifth in a time of 52.53. Utah’s Josh Hamblin won the event with a time of 50.28.

Onyejekwe’s performance was good to earn All-American status. The time is also the second-fastest 400 hurdles race by a California high school runner this season. Elk Grove’s Cy Lugo ran a 52.28 at the Stanford Invitational in April. Onyejekwe was also in that April race, running a 54.33 to set a Menlo School record and finished third.

The 400 hurdles is not a race normally run during the regular high school season. It is not an event run at the CIF State Meet. Instead, high school runners compete in the 300-meter hurdles and not surprisingly, Onyejekwe is one of the best at that distance, as well. He won the race at the K-Bell Track and Field Classic and John Owens Invitational in March and took the title at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in April. In May, he added the West Bay Athletic League championship before finishing second at the Central Coast Section championships, setting a new personal record of 36.88. He qualified seventh for the State Meet final May 30, finishing fourth overall.

Onyejekwe prepped for the Nike Outdoor Nationals by participating in the Nor-Cal Youth Championships June 6 at Santa Clara High School He ran 54.60 to win the Nor-Cal title and 55.62 to win the Region 14 Junior Olympic crown. That set him up for his performance in Oregon.

Onyejekwe also competed in the 110m hurdles at Nike, finishing 23rd overall in a time of 14.36, a new PR.

But Onyejekwe wasn’t done. A week after Oregon, he was participating in the USATF Region 14 Junior Olympics at Monterey Peninsula College, winning both the 110 and 400 hurdles races.

While Onyejekwe is putting Menlo hurdles in the spotlight, the legacy of the Menlo distance runners is well established and the relay quartet proved why. Running with the Olympian Elite club, Olbekson (rising junior), Hurd (rising senior), Srinivasan and Hauser (rising senior) finished 11th in the Championship flight, finishing with a time of 7:48.49 to earn second-team All-American status.

It was the same quartet that won the CCS title in May, posting a CCS-best 7:46.26 and finished ninth at the CIF State Championships.

Hauser, who runs the anchor leg and was the last man to go in Oregon, set a new PR with a 1:50.74.

But that time does not count toward an open 800 time. Hauser also competed in the 800 at the Nike Outdoor Championships. He was his heat with a time of 1:52.86 and finished 18th overall.