Menlo’s track and field team is sprinting into the 2025 season with new leadership and a smaller roster size. At the Saint Francis Invitational on March 15, the team demonstrated their strength, securing two top-five finishes and four more top-ten finishes.
Senior Raul Sandoval placed fourth in the 400-meter final race at the Saint Francis Invitational. He states a factor in his success derives from the emphasis on technical training, imposed by new sprinting coach, Khoi Tran. “He’s been amazing. He thinks about track with a mathematical mindset,” Sandoval said. “We do resistance band training and a lot of mobility training like hip and ankle flexibility.”
Along with Sandoval’s performance, fellow senior Landon Pretre won his 3000-meter race with a time of 8:42.44. In the girls mile, senior Veronica Taira took third in 5:01.39 and sophomore Henry Hauser placed fifth in the boys mile with a time of 4:23.79.
On March 22, Menlo’s sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers participated in the Firebird Relays. Freshman Tres Onyejekwe dominated his frosh-soph 65-meter and 300-meter hurdles races, running five seconds ahead of all other competition with a time of 40.81 seconds for his 300-meter race. His time set a meet record for the frosh-soph 300-meter event.
Off the track, junior Braden Rock led Menlo in the boys varsity high jump, beating his personal record with a length of 5.80 feet and placing 7th overall.
