Speedster Heather Hennessy, getting a hug from coach Willie Harmatz after winning the 800 at the K-Bell Classic, was fourth in the mile at Stanford last weekend.

Photograph by Chad Pilster

King, Beritzhoff help Wildcats pull out win

By Dick Sparrer

It all came down to the mile relay.

But there was more to the thrilling win by the Los Gatos girls track team over rival St. Francis last Thursday than the four-lap relay that ended the meet--much more, in fact.

Sure, Gatos needed to win the mile relay to clinch the important win over the Lancers. But with three events still to be completed, the Wildcats needed a couple of outstanding efforts to set up the relay decider, and Michelle Beritzhoff and Emily King came through with just what the Cats needed.

Beritzhoff bolted to a second-place finish in a rugged field in the 2-mile, and King soared to an impressive win in the long jump to put the Cats in position to win the meet with a relay victory.

The clutch performances in the final three events helped the Gatos girls pull out a 69-58 win over the Lancers, pushing the Cats to 3-0 in the dual meet season in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

"We still have three more dual meets," said Gatos coach Willie Harmatz after the win, "but this St. Francis meet was the big one."

Los Gatos nailed seven individual firsts and eight seconds in the win over the Lancers, but none was bigger than King's first and Beritzhoff's second in the final two individual events contested.

King was actually trailing in the long jump heading into her final leap of the day. But she uncorked a Central Coast Section-best 17-2 1/2 effort to beat her nearest rival by six inches.

"That happened just before the 2-mile started," said Harmatz. "It was the biggest single effort come-through performance of the meet."

With the long-jump win, Harmatz knew that Beritzhoff needed just a second in the 2-mile to set up the team win with a victory in the mile relay.

Beritzhoff had already finished second in the mile (5:21.9), the 800 (2:28.17) and the high jump (4-10), and she needed one more second to virtually clinch a Gatos team win.

"I asked her just to do what we needed and she did just that," said Harmatz of Beritzhoff, who was running the 2-mile for the first time ever. "Her effort was something I will always remember."

Beritzhoff finished second in 11:59.8, but it was a finish that certainly didn't come easy.

"St. Francis put their top five runners in the 2-mile against Michelle," said the coach. "They tried to purposely box Michelle in on each lap so she couldn't get out. They purposely ran with their elbows out."

Harmatz criticized the St. Francis coach for encouraging the Lancers to run that way.

"I have never told any of my runners to do that to anyone else in 22 years of coaching," he said.

The Gatos coach was also upset that the St. Francis starter didn't allow Beritzhoff time to put on her racing spikes before the race.

"They started the race so quickly to force her to run in her training shoes," he said. "Our starters at Los Gatos would never do that to another runner."

Despite the obstacles, Beritzhoff claimed her fourth second-place finish of the day to set up the mile relay for a victory-clinching win.

Lynsey Harris, Aly Chavez, Simone Drucker and Heather Hennessy teamed to run a 4:09.0 to finish five seconds ahead of the Lancers.

Hennessy, Drucker and Chavez were all winners earlier in the meet for the Wildcats.

Hennessy was a double winner for the Cats, taking the mile in 5:21.5 and the 800 in 2:27.47. Chavez was a winner in the 200 meters in 26.6 and was second in the 400 in 59.48, and Drucker was first in the 400 in 58.94.

Annie Farnady was first in the discus with a heave of 132-2 and she added a second in the shot put at 31-3.

Emily Obermeier rounded out the list of Gatos winners with a first in the high jump at 4-10.

Kim Christiansen supported with a second in the triple jump at 34-4, and Kristen Fumia was second in the 100 in 12.72.

Racine Lewin was third in both the 100 low hurdles in 18.83 and the 300 hurdles in 49.53, Harris was third in the 800 in 2:31.6, Meghan Kirby-McFarland was fourth in the 100 in 12.97 and Mallory Thornton was fourth in the 2-mile in 12:13.

Freshman standout Carolyn Penner missed participating in the big win over St. Francis. Penner is out with a hip injury.

Hennessy stars at Stanford

The Gatos girls came back Saturday with a solid showing at the Stanford Invitational.

Hennessy starred for the Cats by placing fourth in the mile in 5:06.5, the second-fastest time in school history.

"That was a very competitive statewide field of runners," said Harmatz, who indicated that Hennessy's time is the seventh-best in the state this season. "This was Heather's first big invitational mile race in her career."

Farnady whirled the discus 133-2 for a fourth at Stanford. The senior sensation is currently tops in the CCS and ranks No. 3 on the Gatos all-time list in the event.

The Cats were also fifth overall in the 4x800 relay in 10:00.1 with Beritzhoff (2:22.8), Kate Leary (2:34.5), Marisa Teel (2:30.0) and Harris (2:31.30) joining forces for the event.

Chavez was first in her heat in the 100 in 12.43 (10th on the LG all-time list), Drucker was third in her heat in the 400 in 59.4 and Obermeier went 4-10 in the high jump.

Bates nails second

Matt Bates led a solid showing by the Los Gatos boys at Stanford. Bates finished second in the mile in 4:22.0. The time was a lifetime best for the Gatos junior, who now ranks seventh on the LG all-time list. He ranks among the state's top 10 this year in the mile and 800.

Brian Edwards finished third in the 400 in 49.89, good for sixth all-time in LG history.

Edwards (52.0) and Bates (52.4) teamed with Jeff Hoeft (51.6) and Matt Hintz (53.2) to run 3:29.4 and finish third in their heat in the 4x400 relay.

Seung Lee was third in his heat in the 110 high hurdles in 16.2.

JVs lose to Lancers

The Los Gatos girls junior varsity lost 81-32 to St. Francis last week to slip to 2-1 in the division.

Mel Lopes was first in the 100 hurdles in 18.97, and Leary was a winner in the 1,600 meters in 5:41.8 for the Cats.

Seconds went to Natasha Wilder in the high jump, Erin Caillouette in the discus and Rebecca Fong in the 400, and thirds went to Lopes in the 100 and 300 hurdles and Katrina Lebedeva in the long jump.

The Los Gatos girls and boys will all be in action this week when the Cats host Wilcox in a dual meet on March 30, 3 p.m. Gatos will send teams to the St. Francis Invitational and the Oakland Invitational this weekend.

Photo: Oak Meadow Park fire engine

DeCinzo: Joel Gambord

Photo: The Mighty Avalanche Choir

Bob Lewis Volkswagen owner wins Quality Dealer Award

Picture From the Past

Sports Briefs

LG boys tennis team wins three

Wildcats beat Lancers at track meet

Los Gatos girls defeat St. Francis in swim meet