After a five-year stretch which resulted in multiple league championships and berths in the CIF State Meet, the Los Gatos High School boys and girls cross country teams are in a rebuilding phase this season.
Both squads were hit hard by graduation, especially on the girls side. The boys team did return some key pieces from the 2024 squad, including brothers Kevin and Ryan Sacco along with Peter Malone. Moreover, Finn Allan has come on strong in his sophomore year, highlighted by a standout performance in the prestigious Woodbridge Classic in Southern California on Sept. 20.
Allan, the son of LGHS girls coach Ibet Allan, has alternated with fellow sophomore Kevin Sacco for the team’s fastest times, with Ryan Sacco and Malone in the mix as well.
“We’ve been having a lot of swapping in the top four positions,” boys coach Geoff Elmore said. “Peter Malone is often times our second guy overall when you look at consistent performances. He’s doing much better than last season. This summer he trained perfectly and he’s probably been our most consistent runner out of our top four guys.”
At the first SCVAL De Anza Division Meet—a 3.1-mile race at Palo Alto’s Baylands Park on Sept. 23—Kevin Sacco took second overall in 16 minutes, 57 seconds. Malone was fourth in 17:12, Allan 24th in 17:45.8 and Ryan Sacco 30th in 17:52.6.
Despite the strong performance, Elmore said it would be a mistake to gauge the team’s potential league finish based on the first meet.
“You didn’t get to see stars from a lot of the other schools push it, so we don’t know where we stand,” Elmore said. “The SCVAL is hard to handicap right now.”
On the girls side, junior Piper Pyle has been the team’s top performer, finishing fourth in the first league meet in 20:14.9. Pyle is in her third season on the varsity squad and has improved her times each succeeding season.
“Piper is looking quite strong,” Elmore said. “We’re very pleased with her rate of improvement. Piper is very strong mentally, and that’s her greatest asset. When she commits to something, she’s a true athlete and that is showing itself this year. She is absolutely maximizing what she has and she has enough lifetime miles on her legs where she’s able to push herself in various workouts. She’s only getting stronger.”
Fellow junior Elise Greenstreet is coming off a solid 2024 season and is looking to lower her times as the season progresses.
“Elise is an exceptional student and her academic load is quite heavy,” Elmore said. “She did some other academic related things in the summer and perhaps didn’t train quite as much as she wanted to. She’s probably three weeks behind where she normally would want to be. But she’s a tall girl, a physically strong girl, and her real strong suit is the track in the 800 meters and mile run. We expect quite a bit from her in the next track season.”
Elmore’s daughter, Shea, had a standout career at LGHS and is currently running for the UC San Diego women’s cross country team. As a true freshman, Shea Elmore is among the top seven runners and on the traveling team.
Finn Allan inherited some serious running genes from his mom, Ibet, who is a multiple Boston Marathon qualifier and an elite Masters level runner.
“Ibet is still running a lot and running very fast,” Elmore said. “I wish I could run as fast as her. She got invited to run the New York City Marathon, but couldn’t do that because of scheduling conflicts.”
Even in a rebuilding year, the coaches see tremendous progress this season which portends a strong foundation in the years ahead.
“In general on the boys side, we do have some decently strong freshmen,” Elmore said. “We see more than diamonds in the rough. They truly have talent and the interest to work hard. When you combine that with Finn and Kevin who will be back next year, we’ll be that much more competitive.”
