Following a historic 2025 cross-country campaign that saw Adrian Cantu record the fastest 5k time in Foothill League history at the California Interscholastic Federation State Championship, the Saugus High School junior was awarded city, county, state and congressional awards recognizing his achievements.
“Being recognized at both the city and state level makes all the hard work feel worth it,” Cantu said in an interview with The Signal. “It motivates me to keep pushing myself and getting better.”
In late November, Cantu ran a total time of 14:54.0 in the Division 2 CIF State Championship race held in Woodward Park in Fresno. The junior placed fifth in the category as he broke the Saugus High School 5,000-meter time record.
Along with breaking the school record, Cantu also set the fastest time ever by a Santa Clarita Valley high school runner in the state championship, breaking the mark set by Dave Hartman of Canyon High School, who recorded a 15:04.0 in 1990.
The awards, which are presented as certificates, were a complete surprise for Cantu as he never expected to receive recognition from those outside of the sport such as Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste and Rep. George Whitesides.
“I was honestly surprised and really excited,” he said. “I didn’t expect that kind of recognition, and it meant a lot to know that people outside of the running community noticed my accomplishments.”
In addition to the awards, Cantu was also honored alongside fellow student-athletes such as cross-country teammate Lucia Pearson, record-breaking football quarterback Jake Nuttall and all-CIF running back Ty Hall, to name a few.
The student athletes were recognized for their success in the fall and winter sports during halftime of the Centurions’ final boys’ basketball home game of the regular season.
With the track and field season set to begin in the spring, Cantu is looking forward to working hard to keep on impressing those around him. And with the recognition from high-profile figures, he’s using recent success as a stepping stone to break more records.
“For me, I’m going to use it as motivation for track season,” he said. “The cross-country season helped me build strength and confidence. And I want to keep working hard and stay focused as I prepare for track and try to break more records.”
