Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by R.W. Bradford

Los Gatos track star Stephanie Chavez races to a win in the 800 meters at the league finals. Sophomore Amy LaPine (right) comes on strong to finish third.

Chavez a double winner

Top placers move on to sub-section

By Dick Sparrer

Stephanie Chavez doesn't run the mile.

The Los Gatos senior is a record-breaking half-miler. She holds the best time in the Central Coast Section in the event, and she ranks among the leaders in the state.

So Chavez doesn't run the mile. At least, she didn't until last week. And now Stephanie Chavez is a record-breaking miler.

Chavez won both the mile and 800 meters at the league finals for the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and she doubled without even training as a miler.

"We're just getting her strong for the state meet by running her in the mile," said Los Gatos coach Willie Harmatz.

She certainly was strong last week.

Chavez won the mile in the meet-record time of 5:14.1 in just her second attempt at that distance.

Chavez also won the 800 in 2:23.5, running well enough to win but well off of her season best of 2:11.15, which ranks No. 1 in the CCS.

Chavez also teamed with Amy LaPine, Karisse Leis and Lina Biber-Ferro to finish third in the mile relay in 4:11.6.

LaPine, Biber-Ferro and Jeanne Fishback were other top placers for the Wildcats, who finished fifth in the team standings at the league meet.

Fishback was second in the two-mile in 11:50.8 and ended up third in the mile in 5:17.1. Biber-Ferro was fourth in the mile in the same time.

LaPine ran third in the 800 in 2:25.0, with Biber-Ferro sixth in 2:26.9.

Sarah High was fifth in the two-mile in 12:17.1, Ann Farnady was fifth in both the discus at 101-912 and shot put at 27-112 (both personal bests), and Kathy Falkenhagen was fifth in the 100 in 12.70 and seventh in the 200 in 27.72.

The top six placers in each event advance to the CCS North sub-section meet on May 17, 1 p.m., at De Anza Community College. Top placers there go to the CCS semifinals May 24 at San Jose City College. CCS finals are May 29 at San Jose City and the state meet is June 6-7 in Sacramento.

Seven Gatos girls have qualified for individual events at the sub-section, and they'll be joined by three Los Gatos boys.

The Wildcats finished a dismal last in the team standings at the De Anza Division finals, but Mike Pugh, Joseph Carter and Peter Carter each finished high enough to advance to the next level.

Pugh was second in the discus with a toss of 145-412. J. Carter, just a sophomore, was third in the 800 meters in a personal best 1:59.8, and P. Carter, still recovering from a hip injury, was fourth in the mile in 4:33.8.

Chris Lipp came through with a seventh in the 400 in 52.3, and Ben Martin was seventh in the two-mile in 10:28.5.

One of the reasons Gatos finished so low in the varsity team standings is that most of the top freshmen and sophomores stayed down to compete at the frosh-soph level. And it turned out to excellent strategy by Gatos head coach Steve Barth.

Los Gatos won the team title in the boys' frosh-soph division with freshmen Erick Sturm, Zack Regner and Ben Emmons and sophomore Pat Sullivan leading the way.

Sturm soared to a first-place finish in the long jump, setting a new meet record at 20-5. He was also first in the triple jump at 39-1012 and finished second in the 100 in 11.85.

Sturm joined forces with Kevin Carney, Zack Knipe and Stone Hsu to finish second in the 400 relay in 46.4.

Regner was another double winner for the Wildcats, taking the mile in 4:44.6 and the two-mile in 10:27.8.

Emmons was first in the discus with a toss of 122-9, and he added a second in the shot put with a 42-3 effort.

Sullivan joined the list of Gatos winners with a victory in the 800 meters in 2:07.9, a personal best by seven sec1onds. He added a third in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 45.9.

Jedd Martin supported with a second in the mile in 4:47.1 and a second in the two-mile in 10:31.2. He also teamed with Carney, Hsu and Morgan Bennett for a fifth in the 4x400 relay in 3:53.1.

Carney added a fourth in the 400 in 55.87, Knipe was fifth in the 200 in 24.71, Don Hilliker was fifth in the discus at 114-11, and Ryan Smith was fifth in the high jump at 5-4, fifth in the mile in 4:52.2 and sixth in the 2-mile in 11:10.1.

The Los Gatos girls were fifth in the junior varsity team standings at the league meet.

Carol Chen was third in the 800 in a personal best 2:37.3, and Laura Sund was fourth in the mile in 5:50.8 and fifth in the 800 in 2:44.5.

Miki Clark came through with a personal best 13:48.5 for fifth in the two-mile, and Mia Stevens was fifth in the high jump at 4-8. Rebecca Fong ran 65.98 in the 400.

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