The CIF Cross Country State Championships assembles the strongest field of distance runners from across the state to compete head-to-head in a 5k (3.1mi) race at the historic Woodward Park in Fresno, California. The 38th CIF State Cross Country Championships this year were highlighted with broken records and repeat winners, as well as a single representative from Pacific Grove High School for the first time since 2019: Betinho Zunguze.

Zunguze, a Junior on the PGHS Cross Country team, is a long-time runner and member in the sport. After moving to Pacific Grove from Asheville, North Carolina during the height of the COVID pandemic, a 7th-grade Zunguze joined the Breakers in his second ever cross country season. Since then, Zunguze has consistently ranked among the top varsity runners at both the middle and high school levels, finally breaking into the top ranked spot this past November to clinch 3rd in the PCAL Mission Division and leading the Breakers to a repeat league title.

Zunguze entered the Central Coast Section (CCS) Division 5 Championships with the Varsity boys team, where he ran yet another breakout race to finish the 2.95mi course in a personal record of 16:22.9 (5:32/mi), an impressive 1 minute and 22 second improvement from his performance the previous year. Zunguze’s time placed him in 13th place, making him among the top 16 eligible to qualify for the state championships. He also led the Breakers to a 5th place team finish, a narrow 2-point gap behind the 4th place finish required to move on as a team.

Just two weeks later, Zunguze finished 60th in the boys Division 5 race at the state championships in a time of 16:39.1 (5:22/mi), averaging a significantly faster pace over the slightly longer course. This performance in particular is difficult to compare to past times, since Zunguze had never run the course prior to the state championships, but was still an incredible benchmark to set during his junior year. His coach, teammates, and family are extremely proud of him, and more excitingly, he will almost certainly have another shot to improve the time again next year.

Zunguze is looking ahead to the Track & Field season after winter sports, where he will likely return to the 800m race and attempt to qualify for the CCS Semi-finals as an individual. Of course, Zunguze is anticipated to lead the Varsity Cross Country team next year in their potential promotion to the Gabilan Division and hopefully make it beyond the CCS Championships as a team.