Quenton Lanese was so focused on the race he failed to realize he had put his pants on backwards.
Nevertheless, the wardrobe miscue, much like every other runner in the field, did little to slow him down as the Olympia resident easily won the 8-year-old boys division at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross County Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, in December.
“We all got a good laugh out of that,” said Quenton’s father, Chris Lanese, when recalling his son’s pants situation. “We didn’t realize it until after the race.”
Which makes perfect sense because it would be easy for anyone to overlook as Quenton’s stellar performance during the race superseded everything else on the course. He was that dominant.
A member of the Olympia Barron Park Striders, Quenton covered the 2K distance in a speedy 7 minutes, 23 seconds. His final running time was more than 13 seconds faster than any other competitor. It also significantly bettered the time he posted at last year’s nationals as he saw a 72-second improvement.
“I was surprised because there were so many other fast kids there. I was really excited to win because it’s a big deal to win nationals,” said Quenton when asked about winning by such a large margin. “It was exciting to run at nationals. It was a lot of fun to have so many people cheering.”
The event featured thousands of the national’s top youth cross country runners competing in sub-freezing temperatures. Age divisions for both boys’ and girls’ races included 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18.
Quenton’s twin sister, Caitlin, participated in the girls 7-8-year-old division, finishing 78th overall in a time of 9:40.
“It was nice having my family there to support me,” Quenton said. “We are very supportive of each other and like to run around the course cheering for each other.”
Just two years into the sport, Quenton is already a two-time All-American as the top 25 finishers earn the distinction. He placed 19th at nationals in 2018.
“It was a great experience,” Chris said. “Cross country is an incredibly supportive environment with parents and runners being very positive and encouraging of all athletes. It’s also very rewarding as a parent to watch your kids find a healthy activity they are passionate about.”
In addition, Quenton also qualified for track nationals this past spring in the 800 and 1,500, finishing among the top 5 in both races, and won the 2,000 meters at the Pacific Northwest Association Championship last year, breaking the course record at Seattle’s Woodland Park by 30 seconds.
However, it’s not surprising Quenton would be a natural at the sport given his background, including the origin of his name.
“My wife, Megan, and I were both competitive runners in high school and college,” Chris said. “I met her when we were 16 when I was working at a running store and sold her a pair of track spikes. We became friends through running and started dating during our freshman year of college. During high school, I gave Megan a copy of my favorite book, ‘Once A Runner’ by John L. Parker Jr. The main character is a collegiate runner named Quenton Cassidy, which is how Quenton got his name.”
Both Chris and Megan were distance and cross-country runners at Dartmouth College. Chris saw his collegiate athletic career end at the age of 19 due to an injury, while Megan competed all four years for the Big Green.
“Despite our history with running,” Chris said, “our kids really did find their way to the sport through happenstance via friends as we have always been very conscientious about not wanting to push running, or any sport, on our kids. I started running again this fall after nearly two decades away from the sport to accompany Quenton and Caitlin on runs.”
Quenton and Caitlin were two of four members of the Barron Park Striders to compete at the nationals. Henry Schumacher (9:22) finished 105th out of 190 runners in the boys’ 7-8 age division, while teammate Gemma Stevick (10:13) finished 100th out of 157 in the girls’ 7-8 division.
