Los Gatos distance star Matt Bates was named the athlete of the meet after winning both the 800 and 1,600 meters at the CCS Top 8 meet held last Friday at Los Gatos.

Photograph by Jeff Kearns

Bates a double winner at Top 8

Farnady throws discus to victory in CCs precursor

By Dick Sparrer

It was a precursor to the prestigious Central Coast Section finals.

And if the results of the April 21st CCS Top 8 Track Classic are any indication of what could follow at the May 26th CCS championships, Los Gatos could have a pretty good day.

The Wildcats certainly had a good day at the Top 8.

Gatos won the girls title and finished second to Bellarmine in the boys competition.

Leading the effort for the Los Gatos boys was Matt Bates, whose effort wasn't good, it was sensational.

Bates doubled with wins in the 800 and 1,600 on his way to winning athlete of the meet honors.

His winning time of 4:16.9 in the 1,600 ranks as the best this year in CCS and places him No. 4 on the all-time list at Los Gatos.

"Matt won it by over four seconds as he pulled away from the field in the last 200," said Gatos coach Willie Harmatz. "His [62-second] last lap was too much for anyone in the field. He proved he can beat the best in CCS."

But the junior did more than just win the 1,600 in impressive fashion at the Top 8 meet. Bates came back just over an hour and a half later to take the 800 meters in 1:54.7, also a CCS best and No. 6 all-time at Los Gatos.

"He took the lead after the first 200 and never looked back," said Harmatz. "He won pulling away in the last stretch by over two seconds."

"I couldn't believe how fresh he looked," added the coach. "He ran with great confidence."

Bates helped the Cats roll up 40 team points to finish second to Bellarmine's 55.

Brian Edwards also starred in the meet for Gatos, finishing first in the 400 in the school-record time of 48.85. Edwards crushed the mark of 49.16 set in 1995 by Peter Cifelli.

"This was his biggest win in his track career," said Harmatz of Edwards, whose time is the best of the year in CCS. "The coaches always knew he could be a big time 400 runner, now he is just starting to show it."

Edwards also ran third in the 200 in 22.28.

Antwon Guidry of Leigh won the 200 in 21.97. Guidry also took the 100 in 10.82 and anchored the Leigh 400 relay team that finished first in 42.92.

Rounding out the list of Gatos boys who placed at the Top 8 meet were Russ Martin, fourth in the 3,200 meters in a lifetime best 9:24.09; Tomas Viramontes, eighth in the 3,200 in 9:42.6; Jeff Hoeft, seventh in the 800 in 1:59.19; Seung Lee, eighth in the 110 high hurdles in 15.61; and Peter Baunach, second in the frosh-soph high jump at 6-0.

The Los Gatos girls ran up 56 points to finish ahead of Mitty and San Lorenzo Valley, who tied for second place overall with 52 points apiece.

Individual champ Annie Farnady led the Wildcats to the team title with her win in the discus. The senior sensation whirled the platter a lifetime best 133-8 to finish more than 11 feet ahead of her nearest rival.

"Annie's been very consistent," said Harmatz of the Cats weight star. "She can do 140-0 soon."

Farnady's mark ranks second in CCS this season and pushes her to third on the Los Gatos all-time list.

Aly Chavez and Michelle Beritzhoff also came through with impressive performances at the Top 8.

Chavez was second in the 100 in 12.43 and tied for second in the 200 in a lifetime best 25.52. She also teamed with Simone Drucker, Kristen Fumia and Meghan Kirby-McFarland for a first in the 400 relay in a season best 49.11.

Beritzhoff romped to a second in the 1,600 in 5:06.6, finishing just inches behind the winner, Raquel Barrientos of San Lorenzo Valley. The sophomore bettered her previous best by 11 seconds with the time that ranks third in school history.

"She was so focused running off the leaders through the entire race, waiting for the final stretch," said Harmatz. "Coming off the last turn, she actually passed [Barrientos] with 50 meters to go, but Barrientos came back to nip Michelle at the tape.

"It was a tremendous race by both girls."

Kim Christiansen flew to a third-place finish in the triple jump with a lifetime best 36-0 1/2, and Emily King nailed fourth in the long with a 16-10 effort. Christiansen was seventh in the long jump at 16-2 1/2, with teammate Lynsey Erickson eight at 16-2, and Erickson was seventh in the triple jump at 33-6 1/4.

Freshman Carolyn Penner romped to a fifth in the 400 in a life best 59.48, with Simone Drucker seventh in 59.94. Drucker was sixth in the 200 in 26.46.

Kirby-McFarland nailed eighth in the 100 in 12.78, with Fumia ninth in 12.79, and Mallory Thornton was 10th in the 3,200 in 11:38.9.

Frosh-Soph Classic

It was a record-breaking day when top young athletes from the section turned out for the CCS Frosh-Soph Classic on April 7 at Los Gatos.

In all, 10 new meet records were set in the event, all of them in the girls competition.

Chavez and Christiansen of Los Gatos, Devon Tracy of St. Ignatius, Natalie Nunn of St. Francis, Christina Hardeman of Wilcox, Janelle Stevens and Loranne Swaby of Monta Vista Christian, Leanna Sanchez and Jill Ralston of Aptos, and Janelle Beranex of Santa Clara all set new meet standards in the frosh-soph event.

Chavez cruised to a 12.76 for a win in the 100 meters, snapping the old meet record of 12.86 set last year, and Christiansen soared 17-2 in the long jump for a first, bettering the 1999 meet record of 16-10 1/2.

Tracy went 5-5 in the high jump to break the '98 mark of 5-4; Nunn ran 26.45 in the 200 to snap the mark of 26.79 set last year; Hardeman ran 59.63 in the 400 to trim the record of 60.91 set in 1998; Stevens covered the 1,600 in 5:15.79 to shatter the '98 mark of 5:18.2; Swaby ran 46.50 in the 300 low hurdles to break the record of 47.63 set last year; Sanchez ran 11:41.9 to crush the mark of 11:49.6 set in '98; Ralston covered the 100 high hurdles in 16.87 to trim the '98 mark of 16.9; and Beranex heaved the shot put 38-3 to better the '98 mark of 35-7.

Christiansen was a double winner for the Wildcats. The Gatos sophomore also won the triple jump with a 35-2 1/2 effort.

Erickson was second in the long jump at 16-4 3/4 for the Cats, and Kristen Turner was second in the 100 high hurdles in 17.23.

Thorton ran fifth in the 3,200 meters in 12:05.1.

Heather Davis was sixth in the shot put at 89-2, Karen Rossmassler was eighth in the high jump at 4-9, Harris was eighth in the 800 in 2:27.5, and Kate Leary was 10th in the 1,600 in 5:44.81, with Erica Williams 12th in 5:45.62.

For Leigh, Michelle Taylor was third in the high jump at 5-1, and Holly Johnson was fifth in the 100 in 13.14.

Baunach starred for the Gatos boys in the Classic. The soph soared 5-10 for a second-place finish in the high jump. Eric Medefesser topped the bar at 5-8 to tie for fifth.

Clay McKell ran 2:07.94 to finish 15th in the 800 meters for the Cats.

Collin Green had a big day for Leigh, running fourth in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 43.91 and finishing ninth in the triple jump at 38-2.

Cats top Falcons

The Los Gatos track teams beat Saratoga on all levels in dual meet action in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last week.

The Gatos girls posted a 78-37 varsity win over the Falcons with Beritzhoff winning the 800 in 2:27.2 and the 1,600 in 5:25 and Fumia taking both the 200 in 26.91 and tying for first in the 100 in 12.81.

Emily Obermeier took the high jump at 5-0, Christiansen flew 33-9 1/2 for a win in the triple jump, King soared 17-3 for first in the long jump, Farnady threw 114-7 for a win in the discus, and Penner won the 400 in 59.88.

Edwards was a triple winner, and Bates and Nick Skrabe won two events apiece to lead the Los Gatos boys to a 79-50 varsity win over the Falcons.

Edwards breezed to wins in the 100 in 11.02, the 200 in 22.08 and the triple jump at 41-2.

Bates was first in the 1,600 in 4:34.3 and the 800 in 2:00.0, and Skrabe took the shot put at 44-10 and the discus at 144-0.

Lee was tops in the 110 high hurdles in 15.35, Baunach flew to a first in the high jump at 6-0, and Viramontes took the 2-mile in 10:06.4.

Danny Leis won the long jump (17-3 1/4) and the triple jump (36-9 3-4), McKell took the mile (5:10.6) and the 800 (2:17.27), and Ivann Venter was first in the high jump (5-4) and the 300 hurdles (47.31) to lead the Los Gatos boys to a 71-52 frosh-soph win.

Jamal Modir added a first in the 400 (57.63), Nick Crafford won the shot put (43-2), Jason Yuki took the 2-mile (11:13), and Jacob Myer won the discus (86-6) for the Cats.

The Gatos girls were 72-47 winners in the girls JV division. Firsts went to Erica Williams in the mile (5:46), Sarah Jolitz in the discus (69-0), Natasha Wilder in the high jump (4-8), Cristen McClenathan in the long jump (15-10), Mel Lopes in the 300 hurdles (53.33) and the 200 (29.31), Kristen Turner in the 100 hurdles (17.75) and the 100 (13.51), Rebecca Fong in the 400 (65.59) and Merin Clark in the 800 (2:33.77).

Gunning for Gunn

The Los Gatos track team will host Gunn in a big league meet this week, and the girls are gunning for the Titans.

The girls and boys teams will both be in action on April 27, 3:15 p.m., but it will be the girls teams going at it for the dual meet championship. Both teams are 6-0 in division competition heading into the meet.

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