FRESNO – Cross country in California showcased in Division 5 is for the smallest schools in a sport that has purely enrollment-based divisions.
Most of the time there’s the unspoken sentiment of, “it’s nice there’s a division for small-school kids who wouldn’t be able to compete against kids from larger schools.”
Well, whether it’s a trend or a single remarkable meet, Division 5 had several moments other divisions envied at Saturday’s CIF State Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park.
In the Division 5 boys final, Woodcrest Christian senior Eyan Turk won his second straight individual title, becoming the first male athlete to win back-to-back championships in the division since former St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda star Cooper Teare.
Eyan Turk of Woodcrest Christian | Ken Martinez photo
But Turk ran 14 minutes, 32.5 seconds over the 5-kilometer course, which not only shattered the Division 5 all-time mark of 14:51.0 set in 2021 by Francis Parker standout Kenan Pala, but was the top performance on the day, guaranteeing him a spot at Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 7 at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Ore.
“One of my goals was to make NXN, not necessarily have the fastest time of the day,” the University of Kentucky-bound Turk said. “That (time) is definitely a major bonus. I was not expecting that. I have to give the Lord thanks for this one. It was by his will to give me the power to run faster than I could even have imagined. This is one of my best races hands down.”
Turk’s talent is undeniable, but there were some circumstances that helped put up his time.
First, the Division 5 boys final was the last race of the day, so Turk knew what he needed to run to nab one of the five individual spots from California in order to compete NXN.
Second, he had the athlete with the second-best time of the day running in his race in Menlo School senior Landon Pretre, who ran in 14:38.8.
Ben Bouie of Crystal Springs Uplands, left, with Eyan Turk of Woodcrest Christian and Landon Pretre of Menlo School | Ken Martinez photo
“It was definitely a true honor to be pushed by Landon,” Turk said. “I was anticipating it to be him, Ben Bouie (third, 14:54.5) and I and in the last mile it was Landon and I. With 600 or so to go, I knew if I wanted it, I had to go now and I just took off and never let off the gas for a second.”
Pretre didn’t qualify for NXN as an individual because his Menlo team, which won the state title with a Division 5 record 28 points – eclipsing the 29 points established in 1996 by McFarland – was second overall in the merge of the championship races in every division, thus qualifying for NXN as a team.
Menlo, which won its first title in program history, had a team time of 76:37 that also beat the old Division 5 record set in 2015 by Flintridge Prep by more than three minutes.
Menlo School boys cross country | Photo courtesy of Menlo School
“We knew we had a special group,” Menlo coach Jorge Chen said. “They just kept on getting better. I’m still in shock. The coaches and I knew that if they are healthy, if they did the right things, executed the race in the right way – which every single kid did – that something like this could happen.”
Viewpoint, which was the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 champion last week, was led to a second-place finish Saturday with 118 points by junior Olly O’Connor, who was fifth overall in 15:05.8.
“Division 5 is the division that’s been getting exponentially better each year,” O’Connor said. “I remember freshman year, for Southern Section championships, we won that year, but looking back on our team then to how we are now, we are so much better. If we were that same team as my freshman year, we wouldn’t have even qualified for state this year.”
Crystal Springs Uplands, which competes in the same West Bay Athletic League as Menlo, followed its back-to-back state titles with a third-place finish Saturday at 144 points.
Ben Bouie, a senior at Crystal Springs Uplands, elevated to the No. 4 all-time competitor in the division, as the championship race produced three sub-15 performances for the first time since Division 5 was added to the state schedule in 1996.
In the girls Division 5 final, Ross Branson won its first title since 2013 with 82 points, and a team time of 94:41, setting a new division record to eclipse the 95:19 effort achieved in 2016 by Flintridge Prep.
Ross Branson girls cross country | Photo courtesy of Ross Branson
The championship race produced three of the four fastest team performances in division history, with third-place Lick Wilmerding clocking 95:22 and runner-up Immanuel achieving 95:24.
Although girls individual winner Amelia Sarkisian of Brentwood, a sophomore, did not set a new division record in winning in 17:31.8, it was the best Division 5 performance in five years and the first championship for the school since Tani Brown secured the victory for the Eagles at Woodward Park in 2003.
Sarkisian became the second-fastest sophomore in Division 5 history behind only Mission Prep graduate Jordan Hasay and elevated to the No. 4 all-time competitor in the division, lowering her mark at Woodward Park of 18:12.1 from Oct. 11 at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational.
“I knew there were a lot of really strong girls from other (CIF) sections,” Sarkisian said. “So, I was definitely not expecting to win it. Just getting out there and working with those girls was amazing.”
Amelia Sarkisian of Brentwood, left, with Ayanna Hickey of The Bishop’s School and Ella Mogannam from Lick Wilmerding | Ken Martinez photo
It also looks like the Division 5 girls race could be even better next year, since the top five girls are all sophomores and juniors.
Ella Mogannam of Lick Wilmerding – runner-up for the second year in a row – achieved a 17:47.4 performance, in addition to Castilleja sophomore Brooke Oliveira taking third in 17:58.2 in her state meet debut, marking the first time in division history three female competitors eclipsed the 18-minute barrier.