Los Gatos distance star Zack Regner will lead the Wildcats into the CCS Top 8 Track Classic at the Gatos track on Friday.
Top 8 Classic attracts CCS top track athletes
By Dick Sparrer
The Central Coast Section track and field champions won't be crowned until May 28 at San Jose City College. But Los Gatos will present a preview of that event on April 23 when the top track athletes in the area go for the gold at the annual CCS Top 8 Track Classic on the Gatos oval.
The athletes with the top eight marks in each event are invited to participate in the Friday evening meet that features competition in the boys and girls varsity divisions and the boys frosh-soph group.
Distance star Zack Regner and the talented 800-meter trio of Heather Hennessy, Amy LaPine and Michelle Beritzhoff will lead the Los Gatos contingent into the meet.
Regner has qualified in the mile and two-mile, and he'll be joined in the boys varsity field by teammates Rich Esparza (discus), Ryan Smith (high jump) and Dan Hilliker (pole vault).
Sophomore Jeff Hoeft will run the 800 meters in the boys frosh-soph division.
Joining Hennessy, LaPine and Beritzhoff in the girls field will be Aly Chavez (400), Sarah McAleer (mile), Anne Farnady (shot put/discus), Cristen McClenathan (long jump), Emily King (long jump), Emily Obermeier (high jump) and Racine Lewin (300 hurdles).
Arcadia Invitational
Both Regner and Hoeft starred for the Wildcats at the tough Arcadia Invitational back on April 10, a meet that featured top athletes from the United States and Canada.
Regner raced to a third-place finish in his heat in the mile in a personal best 4:25.8, nearly five seconds better that his previous best of 4:30.5.
Hoeft, just a sophomore, finished fifth in his heat in the 800 meters in 2:00.1.
Mt. Sac Invitational
Hennessy led the Wildcats in the chase for the medals at the rugged Mt. Sac Invitational in Southern California last weekend.
Hennessy, another sophomore, romped to a third in the 800 meters in 2:17.8, and she anchored the 4x800-meter relay team that finished third in 9:34.
"That could be in the top 10 in the nation," said Los Gatos coach Willie Harmatz.
Beritzhoff opened with a 2:20.9 and LaPine finished her leg in 2:20.1. Chavez ran 2:32.0 before Hennessy anchored in a blistering 2:18.7.
The same quartet romped to a third in their heat in the 4x400 relay in 4:03.5, and the foursome of Meghan Kirby-McFarland, Katie Zuparko, Theresa Fuquay and Karisse Leis finished fourth in their heat in the 4x100 relay in 50.8.
"That was a big improvement," said Harmatz of the 4x100 relay time.
Regner came through with a seventh in the two-mile in 9:52.0. "That was his best time," said Harmatz. "He's mainly a miler."
Frosh-Soph Classic
The top young track and field athletes in the Central Coast Section got together for the 20th annual Frosh-Soph Classic at Los Gatos on April 9.
Russ Martin starred for Los Gatos with a pair of individual victories, and Matt Bates and Chavez also ran to wins for the Wildcats.
Martin was tops in the 1,600 meters in 4:31.8, with Bates fourth in 4:34.6, and Martin came back with a win in the 3,200 meters in 9:52.6, with teammate Tomas Viramontes 11th in 10:25.3.
Bates romped to a first in the 800 meters in 2:01.83, with Hoeft third in 2:02.03. Both Bates and Hoeft won their qualifying heats.
Newcomer Brian Edwards was impressive in the sprints. Edwards was sixth in both the 100 in 11.68 and the 200 in 23.72.
Sophomore Nick Skrabe was a standout in the weights for the Wildcats. Skrabe was third in the discus at 124-8 and sixth in the shot put at 46-4.
Seung Lee raced to a fourth in the 65-meter high hurdles in 9.7, and Eric Medeffesor was sixth in the high jump at 5-8.
The foursome of Bates, Darren Key, John Webb and John Slate teamed to run a 3:42.7 for eighth in the 1,600-meter relay.
Chavez led the charge for the Los Gatos girls, winning the 400 meters in 61.79.
Lewin was second in the 300-meter low hurdles in 49.74, and Zuparko was eighth in the 200 meters in 28.45. The two teamed with McClenathan and Kirby-McFarland for a second in the 1,600-meter relay in 4:16.69.
Emily King was seventh in the long jump at 14-11 1/2, Jenny Atkins was eighth in the discus at 77-6 and Kate Leary was 11th in the 1,600 meters in 6:00.5 to round out the list of Los Gatos placers.
Dual victories
The Wildcats came up winners in dual- meet action with Palo Alto in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last week.
Regner won a pair of events to lead the Los Gatos boys to a 67-53 varsity win over the Vikings. Regner took the mile in 4:32, with Martin second in 4:36.7, and Regner won the two-mile in 10:47.1.
Skrabe was first in the shot put at 46-01/2 and second in the discus at 124-31/2, with Esparza third in each event.
Lee was a winner in the 110 high hurdles in 16.86, and he added a second in the 300 intermediates in 46.11. Lee was also third in the 100 in 11.63.
Hoeft took the 400 meters in 53.14, and Bates won the 800 in 2:04.93.
Ryan Smith was tops in the high jump at 5-8, and Ben Frazier flew to a win in the long jump at 18-0.
Edwards raced to a second in the 200 in 23.70 and a fourth in the 100 in 11.99.
Farnady took both weight events to lead the Los Gatos girls past Paly 71.5-54.5.
Farnady was tops in the discus at 109-2, with Erin Dudley second at 65-6, and she won the shot put at 33-0, with Dudley third.
LaPine won the 300 hurdles in 49.67, with Lewin second in 50.27. Lewin added a win of her own in the 100 hurdles in 17.39.
Chavez breezed to first in the 400 meters in 1:01.35, McAleer took the two-mile in 12:13 and Obermeier won the high jump at 5-0.
A week earlier, the Gatos girls had run past Cupertino 78-49. Wins by Beritzhoff (mile), Farnady (discus/shot put), Hennessy (200/400), LaPine (800), Stacey Fisher (high jump), Lewin (300 hurdles) and McClenathan (long jump) sparked the Cats to the team win.
Skrabe won the shot put and discus, Smith the high jump and Lee the 300 hurdles, but the Los Gatos boys fell to the Pioneers 72-53.
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