By Dick Sparrer
It was billed as the CCS Top 8 Meet.
But Top 8 Meet, nothin'! It was the Top 1 Meet as far as Stephanie Chavez and Joseph Carter of Los Gatos were concerned.
The two Los Gatos stars were each double winners in the rugged track and field meet at Gatos last Friday night, and they ran off with special awards for their efforts.
Chavez and Carter were each named athletes of the meet for their outstanding performances on their home track. Chavez was picked the female athlete of the meet, and Carter won the same award in the boys' frosh-soph division.
"They are both on fire," said Gatos coach Willie Harmatz of Chavez and Carter. "They're just great."
They certainly were great when the best of the Central Coast Section turned out for the Top 8 Meet at Los Gatos last Friday. And so was the meet.
"It was the best crowd we've ever had," Harmatz said. "All of the standouts from CCS were there. It was very exciting."
And it was the athletes who made it exciting. In all, the athletes set three meet records, broke two field records, posted one state best time and recorded 12 state top 10 marks.
Aaron Bryant of Wilcox raced to a state best 10.50 with his win in the 100 meters, and meet records went to Arend Watkins of Silver Creek (13.89 in the boys' 110 high hurdles), Guy McGowan of Leigh (38.06 in the boys' 300 intermediate hurdles) and Vanessa Yerba of Gonzalez (11-0 in the girls' pole vault).
Chavez joined the list of record-breakers in the meet. The Gatos senior didn't set a meet record, but she did nail a school record with her win in the 400 meters.
Chavez raced to first place in the 400 in 55.9, breaking the old school mark of 56.16 set in 1987 by Lezli Jensen. Chavez now holds the school records in the 200, 400 and 800.
Chavez came back just 40 minutes later to win the 800 meters in 2:17.6 with teammate Lina Biber-Ferro second in 2:18.9.
The two teamed with Amy La-Pine and Karisse Leis for a second in the 1600-meter relay in 4:02.8. Chavez clocked in with a 57.4 split, with Biber-Ferro at 59.3 and LaPine at 60.4. Leis, a freshman, was running on the relay for the first time.
LaPine added a fifth in the 800 meters in 2:21.4, and Leis ran a lifetime best 48.9 in the 300 hurdles to rank No. 8 on the Los Gatos all-time list.
The Los Gatos girls tied for third in the team standings behind Los Altos (44) and St. Ignatius (4123). The Cats finished with 39 points to tie with Piedmont Hills for third.
Leigh's McGowan also had a big night at the Top 8. The Leigh senior won the 300 intermediate hurdles in the meet record time of 38.06, and he was third in the 110 high hurdles in 14.40. Leigh's Thomas Hocker was second to McGowan in the 300 intermediates in 38.30.
Mike Pugh was the only Los Gatos placer in the boys' varsity division with an eighth in the discus with a heave of 137-10.
Distance star Peter Carter sat out the meet with a hip problem.
His brother, Joseph, didn't sit this one out, though. The sophomore raced to wins in the 800 and mile to star for the Wildcats.
Carter took the 800 in 2:00.5 and the mile in 4:29.4, both lifetime bests.
"Those were his PR's by far," said Harmatz.
Don Hilliker came through with a second in the frosh-soph pole vault at 11-6 and Erick Sturm was third in the long jump at 19-1134. Ben Emmons was sixth in the discus at 116-10, with Jed Martin 11th in the two-mile in 10:18.3 and Zack Regner 12th in the two-mile in 10:32.2.
Los Gatos will be back on the track on May 1 when the Wildcats head to Saratoga for a dual meet in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Action begins at 3:15 p.m.
The Cats are coming off of losses to Palo Alto in both the girls' and boys' varsity divisions.
Chavez, Leis and Jeanne Fishback were each double winners, but the Gatos girls lost 67-50 to Paly.
Chavez won the 400 in 64.6 and the 220 in 26.6, Leis took the 100 hurdles in 17.7 and the 330 hurdles in 54.6, and Fishback was first in the mile in 5:34.6 and the two-mile in 12:20.6.
Ben Martin was a twin winner in the 880 and 3200, but the Los Gatos boys lost 88-39 to Palo Alto.
Martin won the 880 in 2:14.6 and the 3200 in 10:49.7. Pugh took the discus at 143-0 with Tim Lee first in the triple jump at 34-11 and Justin Lehnert a winner in the 100 in 11.3.
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This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, April 30, 1997.
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