Acalanes cross country runners posted personal bests across multiple divisions at the St. Mary's Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 5, in Moraga. The meet on the Saint Mary's College campus gave the Lafayette program an early-season test against a deep field.
Senior Alexander Hagen led the varsity boys with a 38th-place finish in 10:52.01 on the two-mile course. Sophomore Dane Darby followed in 11:00.55, with junior David Ellerbrock (11:02.36) and sophomore Jason Rossetter (11:04.77) close behind. Sophomore Matt Roberts ran 11:18.25, and senior Peyton Eagens set a personal best in 11:25.95 to round out the top seven. Sophomore Francis Koskinen finished in 11:38.80.
No Lamorinda high school team competed at the inaugural invitational in September 2024. At the time, Saint Mary's head cross country coach Marty Kinsey told the Lamorinda Weekly that "Campolindo has a pretty strict schedule, but Miramonte and Acalanes are good candidates to compete in our future events." Acalanes competed Sept. 5.
On the girls varsity side, Avery Erb led Acalanes with a 39th-place finish in 13:08.32, a personal best. Naya Ellis ran 13:16.11 and senior Stella Hamilton clocked 13:23.37. Both times were personal bests.
The underclassmen showed depth. In the freshman boys race, Oliver Anderson placed 14th in 12:21.13. Max Mayer (13:02.14), Luke Espiritu (13:09.39) and Isaiah Sargent (13:24.97) followed. Sophomore Dylan Kubiatowicz set a personal best of 11:24.17 to finish 12th in the sophomore boys race, and classmate Greyson Blair ran a personal-best 12:32.94.
In the boys overflow race, junior Milo Anderson finished eighth in 13:09.40, followed by juniors Lachlan Tidd (13:20.66) and Charles McIlwain (13:28.52). Freshman Stone Keyser posted a personal-best 13:38.05. On the girls side, freshman Juliana San Diego placed 21st in 15:32.83, junior Julia Kunz ran 16:11.74 and sophomore Evelyn Oprea finished in 18:11.15. All three set personal bests.
The Acalanes Boosters described the invitational as an early-season chance for the program to test itself as the team builds toward the championship portion of the schedule.
