Santa Rosa's Rory McLeod named boys' athlete of the week

<p>Early-season cross country meets aren’t supposed to produce record times, but Santa Rosa senior Rory McLeod defied logic and ripped off a school mark last week at the Super Septo Meet at Spring Lake.</p><p>McLeod, who also won the Montgomery Opener, ran a 15:15 on the 3.05-mile course to eclipse Zach Barrett’s Panther record of 15:21 set in 1999.</p><p>Longtime Santa Rosa coach Doug Courtemarche said he was somewhat surprised by McLeod’s time, considering he’d only raced once earlier.</p><p>“We figured he’d be under 16 minutes, but we didn’t think about a school record,” Courtemarche said.</p><p>McLeod is a team captain and has been good at running for most of his life. He dabbled in soccer and basketball, but first ran competitively in fourth and fifth grade with Santa Rosa Express.</p><p>McLeod is a multifaceted runner. During track season he runs the 1,600 meters and has also run the hurdles and still runs the steeplechase with the Express. He ran a best 4:17 in the 1,600 last year.</p><p>Cross country has grown on McLeod, who admits he isn’t fond of all the training.</p><p>“It’s a more eclectic group,” McLeod said. “There are no big egos.”</p><p>McLeod said he felt strong at Wednesday’s race and also was surprised at setting a school mark. He’s now not far off from Ryan Mack’s all-time record at Spring Lake of 14:54.</p><p>He also ran the 2-mile Spring Lake course in 10 minutes in winning the Viking Opener.</p><p>McLeod reached the state meet last year in cross country, but was disappointed in his performance. He’s hoping for a good time this weekend at the Stanford Invitational.</p><p>McLeod, who experienced a growth spurt early in high school and is now 6-foot-2, said he hopes to run in college. He also maintains a 4.47 GPA.</p>