The WGHS X-Country team defends its 2005 Central Coast Section title this weekend at the 2006 CCS Cross-Country Championships, which will be held all the way down in Salinas on November 11. As the final race nears, the SJ Mercury News has again featured a local runner in its high school sports pages:

Among high school runners, breaking 15 minutes at Crystal Springs in Belmont is the magical equivalent of a 4-minute mile. The barrier has been broken 71 times by 45 individuals over the 35-year history of 2.95-mile course, which has hosted more than its share of major invitational and championship meets.

This week, Willow Glen junior Mohamed Abdalla and Los Gatos senior Matthew Petrillo became the 26th and 27th runners in Central Coast Section history to have done so. It’s the first time since 2003 that two runners have accomplished the feat in the same year.

This was actually Abdalla’s second time in less than two weeks that he’s run under 15-minutes on the course:

Coach Victor Santamaria believes the windy conditions at the Blossom Valley Athletic League championships Monday prevented Abdalla from dipping under 14:50, which hasn’t been done since 1985.

Good luck to the WGHS runners!