The Cupertino Courier
Sports
Tsai leads pack headed to CCS finals
Hsu, Worsham also set for return trip
By MIKE BARNHART
As the track and field season comes down the home stretch, several local athletes are entering foreign territory--the Central Coast Section finals. All but three of the 11 Fremont Union High School District students that have qualified for the CCS championship meet will be newcomers.
Homestead senior thrower William Tsai and Monta Vista junior distance runners Angela Hsu and Lisa Worsham will be repeat competitors at the finals on May 26 at San José City College. Field events begin at 4 p.m., and the first track final is set for 6 p.m. Eight finalists will vie in each event, except for the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs, which will feature 12.
Tsai, who placed second in the boys discus and fifth in the shot put a year ago, had the top qualifying discus effort at the CCS semifinals, May 20 at San José City. He hurled the platter 17-3, nearly 4 feet shy of his winning heave (178-10) a week earlier at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Qualifier, but 2 feet better than his winning effort at the El Camino Division meet on May 3. If he continues his consistency, Tsai likely will earn a return trip to the state meet, as no challenger has reached 170-0.
The top three finishers in each CCS contest qualify for the CIF State Championships June 2-3 at Cerritos College in Southern California.
Tsai, who also qualified sixth in the shot put (51-7), will be joined in the boys competition by Cupertino senior Travis Scibetta and Lynbrook junior Sameer Thadani. Scibetta qualified second in the triple jump by bounding 46-0 and sixth in the long jump (21-10), while Thadani eked out the last spot in the 100 field. Thadani, who had won the SCVAL Qualifier with a personal best 11.21, was one of three runners to clock 11.34 at the CCS semifinals, but earned the nod by virtue of a second-place finish in his heat. The other challengers placed lower in their respective heats.
Hsu (11th in the 1,600) and Worsham (12th in the 3,200), who reached the finals in the same events as last season, will be joined by freshman teammate Jean Feng, who qualified in both. Feng's 5:10.51 was the ninth fastest time in the 1,600, and her 11:23.65 was seventh in the 3,200.
Monta Vista's girls, De Anza Division co-champions with Palo Alto this spring after claiming the El Camino crown the previous two seasons, also will be represented by seniors Maria Nelson (100, 200) and Julia Co (long jump) and sophomore Helena Montin (high jump).
Nelson placed first in the short sprints for the third straight meet by winning both of her semifinal heats. Her times of 12.40 in the 100 and 25.54 in the 200 were better than her winning efforts in the De Anza and SCVAL meets, but ranked third behind two other CCS semifinal heat winners, Khrystal Carter of Valley Christian and Jeneba Tarmoh of Mt. Pleasant.
Co's produced the sixth-best effort (17-5) in the long jump, while Montin--one of eight to clear 5-0--grabbed the final spot in the high jump based on fewer misses.
Cupertino senior Melanie Boyle, the SCVAL triple jump champion and El Camino Division runner-up, was fourth at the semifinals. Her effort of 36-1 was a personal best and was just 3 inches short of a 24-year-old school record.
Homestead sophomore Sarah Engle cleared 10-6 to qualify fifth in the girls pole vault.
While 11 local jumpers and runners survived the gauntlet, several others had outstanding seasons end at the CCS Semifinals.
Among boys non-qualifiers were Brian Cramer (400) and Matt Kemp (shot put) of Lynbrook, Scott Russell (400) and Patrick Lee (high jump) of Monta Vista, Jay Atkins (100) and Rishi Agrawal (800) of Homestead and Kevin Schneider (3,200) and Elijah Carrillo (1,600) of Fremont.
Top girls whose season came to a close at the semifinals were Stephanie Cham (1,600) of Monta Vista, MayC Huang (800, 1,600), Jessica Tsai (high jump) and Cynthia Siu (pole vault) of Lynbrook and Dandrell Thomas (long jump), Nadia Chow (long jump), Erica Buchinski (hurdles) and Sumika Shiokawa (3,200) of Cupertino.
At the De Anza Division championship meet on May 4, Lynbrook sophomore Eric Surprenant won both hurdle events in the frosh-soph boys division. Surprenant zipped over the 65 high hurdles in 9.88 and the 300 lows in 43.55.
A day earlier at the El Camino finals, Homestead's Nick Oliver (3,200) and Leo Haasbroek (400) were frosh-soph winners. Austin Lopez placed second in both the discus and shot put for the Mustangs, and teammate Dale Ishizahi-Brown was second in the high jump.
Homestead junior Madeline Weeks was a double winner in the girls junior varsity division, taking the 800 and 1,600 races. Homestead senior Lisa Danz was first in the 3,200, while teammates Amy Fredrickson (1,600, 3,200) and Laurie Sartain (discus, shot put) both placed second in two events.
