Justin Pretre, a University of California at Berkeley-bound senior at Menlo School, and sophomore brother Landon Pretre join DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss their pursuit of the first boys podium finish in program history at the CIF Division 5 state championship Nov. 26 at Woodward Park in Fresno. Justin Pretre is the reigning Central Coast individual champion and Landon Pretre placed third for Menlo, which took second by a 32-37 margin Nov. 12 behind Crystal Springs Uplands at the section final at the Crystal Springs course in Belmont. Menlo placed seventh last year in the Division 4 state championship, with Justin finishing 14th and Landon placing 17th, but the Knights were moved to Division 5 this season, along with Central Section winner Yosemite, which earned 14th in Division 4 last year. The brothers reflect on their sister Kyra Pretre contributing to Menlo placing second in the 2019 Division 4 girls state championship and their inspiration to make similar history for the Knights boys team. They explain how significant the rivalry is with Menlo and Crystal Springs Uplands, which also prevailed against the Knights by a 36-37 margin Nov. 4 at the West Bay Athletic League final at the Crystal Springs course. Justin examines the challenge of winning a Division 5 individual title and racing against Micah Sanchez of Liberty Charter, Jack Olney and Ben Olney of Yosemite, Tiernan Colby of Sonoma Academy, Malcolm Oakes of Convent and Stuart Hall, as well as Eyan Turk of Woodcrest Christian. Landon analyzes how competitive the team battle will be involving Crystal Springs Uplands, Yosemite, Menlo, Lick-Wilmerding and Viewpoint, and the valuable roles that teammates Aiden Deffner, Will Hauser, Jared Saal, Alex Boesch and James Yue will play in helping the Knights achieve a podium finish. The siblings speak about how instrumental the leadership and guidance have been from Menlo coach Jorge Chen, in addition to how meaningful the support has been from their family and friends. Justin also shares his decision to attend Cal and why it was the right fit for him academically and athletically, and Landon discusses how significant it will to compete with his older brother at his final cross country state championship race, and what it will take to achieve success at Woodward Park.