The Fab Four is back, and they are hungry.

In 2019, the East Union boys cross country team was undefeated in winning its third straight Valley Oak League championship, won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III title and placed sixth at the California Interscholastic Federation state meet with four underclassmen — Johnny Sandoval, Alex Cuevas, Cooper Freeman and Maury Ortiz.

Joining them is Evan Cooper, who won the frosh-soph individual title at the SJS meet.

They return this year to make up for the lost time the COVID year robbed from them. The Valley Oak League did have a season in the early spring but there were no postseason meets. East Union handily won all of its duals.

“That was my first time at the state meet and I did fairly well,” Freeman said. The senior finished 14th at the 2019 section championship. “It was a new experience for me, kind of surprising. If we can come together this year, I believe we can do well at the state meet.”

Coming off a 20th-place individual finish at the 2019 state meet, Sandoval has learned from the past and is leading the charge this year. All but four of the runners who beat him in the state championship have graduated. Sandoval is the Manteca Bulletin All-Area Boys Runner of the Year.

“I finished fourth at the section meet two years as a sophomore and I think I could have done better,” Sandoval said. “I was too bold. I tried going for the win when I was outclassed, but our team won.

“A lot of us have been running independently and it has been kind of hard to get us all together. If we can all get on track, I am pretty sure we have a chance at a state title.”