For the first time in 10 years, both the boys and girls Los Altos High cross-country teams have qualified for the state championship after successful showings in Saturday’s Central Coast Section finals at Crystal Springs.
Both teams finished second overall behind St. Francis on the just-under-3-mile course, ensuring the Los Altos girls will get to defend last year’s Division II state title win while the boys make a state appearance for the first time since 2019.
Los Altos senior Jasleen Sidhu finished second in the girl’s race in 18:15, overtaking the second– and third-place girls in the last 30 seconds, including passing a Palo Alto runner at the last second. Los Altos head coach Steph MacKenzie said Sidhu has been the team’s No. 1 runner this year and is famous throughout the league for finishing strong in the final stretch.
“She’s known for this in track, where she can be down in the last lap, and you think she is out of it, and she just somehow in the last 100 meters will close this enormous gap,” MacKenzie said.
The Air Force Academy commit originally came to the cross-country team after playing soccer and has become one of the top runners in the state over the past two years. Sidhu finished 21st in the state playoffs last year and cracked the top 100 at the national championships in Portland. She has also previously qualified for the state meet in track and made the finals in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters, which drew attention from college recruiters. MacKenzie said Sidhu has shown the talented sophomore class how to pace themselves during workouts and how to train.
“Jasleen is definitely the leader of this squad and is the most organized and disciplined and dedicated runner,” MacKenzie said. “Jasleen has been a great leader teaching them how to train properly and what to do.”
St. Francis earned the top spot with 38 points, Los Altos was second with 51 and Los Gatos came in third with 95.
The Los Altos girls were without two of their top three runners in Lydia Anderson and Sami Patel, but it did not deter them, thanks to sophomore Emma Lewis placing 10th in 19 minutes and sophomore Lily Symon getting 11th in 19:01. Junior Emily Soobrian was 13th in 19:05, and junior Axelle Allanic was 15th in 19:07.
“For most teams, that would just destroy your chances of getting to the state meet, but for us, it didn’t really make a great difference,” MacKenzie said. “So that just speaks to the strength of our team and the depth of the squad.”
The boys needed a top-three finish to qualify for their first state title meet since 2019 and got it by placing second with 103 points. St. Francis finished first with 87 and Branham third with 113.
Los Altos sophomore Sam Hurst ended fourth overall with a personal record of 15:36, making him the fastest sophomore at Crystal Springs in school history, MacKenzie said. Junior Tomas Smilak finished 20th in 16:17, Sreyas Kadiyala 27th, Taran Davies 30th and Alex Halpin 35th.
“I thought we could come second if we had a good day, and they did,” MacKenzie said.
The boys’ goal is to finish 10th and ensure their region keeps three spots in the state playoffs, which is based on how each region’s teams finish. The team has a bright future, with all five top runners back next season. The boys team surprised some by starting strong early in the season and continuing their success in the playoffs. Both the boys and girls teams won the El Camino Division at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League finals Oct. 31.
