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Running hard around the curve on her way to a win in the 1,600 meters is Heather Hennessy of Los Gatos, with Michelle Beritzhoff just over her right shoulder. Beritzhoff came on to nail second in the event.
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Los Gatos runs to track titles
Hennessy, Bates, Edwards are big winners for Cats
By Dick Sparrer
When the Los Gatos girls lost a dual meet to Gunn a few weeks back, Willie Harmatz could have made excuses.
Sure, there were a few Gatos girls out with illness. Sure, there were others missing because of a choir performance.
But Harmatz wasn't about to make excuses. He just made a promise.
"We'll get them at league finals," he said.
And get them they did!
The Gatos girls got a little revenge for their dual meet loss to Gunn by running over the Titans at the De Anza Division finals held May 4 on the track at De Anza Community College.
Los Gatos ran up 163 team points to finish well ahead of runner-up Gunn and third-place St. Francis. In fact, the Gatos girls won by the widest margin (72 points) in LG history. The Titans ended up second with 91 points and the Lancers finished a distant third at 69.
But when all was said and done, Harmatz and his Wildcats weren't just celebrating another girls championship. Because the boys won, too!
Los Gatos swept the varsity championships at the league finals. The Gatos boys ran up 127 points for co-head coaches Harmatz and Dave Hay. Gunn was second with 85 points and Saratoga finished third at 66.
It marked the first time since 1979 that Los Gatos had won both the girls and boys championships at the league meet, and they did it by sweeping to a dozen individual titles and two relay wins.
Double winners Heather Hennessy, Matt Bates and Brian Edwards sparked the Wildcats to the team wins.
Hennessy leads girls
Hennessy was a twin-winner in the 1,600 meters in 5:11.3 and the 800 meters in 2:18.1 to lead the Los Gatos girls to the team championship.
Senior weight sensation Annie Farnady heaved the discus 128-11 for a first-place finish. She added a fifth in the shot put at 30-1 1/2.
Sophomore Kim Christiansen soared to a win in the triple jump at 35-2, and Emily King flew to a first in the long jump at 17-5 1/2 with Christiansen second at 16-7.
Emily Obermeier topped the high-jump bar at 5-0 to round out the list of Gatos individual winners.
Aly Chavez, Simone Drucker, Kristin Fumia and Meghan Kirby McFarland teamed to run 49.32 for a first in the 4x100 relay. But each member of the quartet contributed more than just the relay win.
Chavez was second in the 200 in 25.71 and second in the 100 at 12.2, good for the No. 5 spot on the LG all-time list.
Drucker came through with a third in the 200 in 25.81 and a fifth in the 400 in 60.3, McFarland was fifth in the 100 in 12.67 and Fumia was sixth in the 100 in 12.49 and sixth in the 200 in 26.7.
Freshman Carolyn Penner, who ran legs on the first-place 4x400 and second-place 4x100 relay teams, finished second in the 400 meters at the league meet.
Michelle Beritzhoff, Racine Lewin and Lynsey Erickson also placed in multiple events to gain valuable team points for the Wildcats, and freshman Carolyn Penner was a sensation in the 400 meters.
Beritzhoff finished second to Hennessy in the 1,600 in 5:13.3, and she added a third in the 800 in 2:24.
Lewin raced to a second in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 47.88 (No. 6 on the all-time list) and she was third in the 100 high hurdles in 16.08 (No. 3 on the all-time list).
Erickson soared to a third in the long jump at 16-5 and a fifth in the triple jump at 32-11 3/4.
Penner raced to a second in the 400 meters in 58.60. Her time ranks No. 7 on the all-time list at Los Gatos and is the fastest freshman time in school history.
Lynsey Harris was fourth in the 800 in 2:26.9, Mallory Thornton was fourth in the 3,200 in 11:59.2 and Heather Davis was fifth in the discus at 96-0.
Bates, Edwards star
Bates and Edwards each won a pair of individual events, but they were actually both triple winners for the Gatos boys.
Bates took the 800 in 2:01.6 and the 1,600 in 4:30.4, and Edwards won the 200 in 22.71 and the 400 in 50.8.
But they didn't stop there. The two combined with Matt Hintz and Jeff Hoeft for a win in the 4x400 relay in 3:35.6.
Edwards was also second in the triple jump at 41-9.
Russ Martin rambled to a win in the 3,200 meters in 9:55.1 and he was second in the 1,600 in 4:30.9, and Seung Lee took the 110 high hurdles in 15.11. Lee added a fourth in the 100 in 11.11 and a sixth in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 43.66.
Hoeft supported with a second in the 800 in 2:03.4, and Hintz was sixth in the 200 in 23.84.
Nick Skrabe had a big day for the Wildcats. The powerful weightman finished third in the shot put at 45-4 and third in the discus at 137-9.
Tomas Viramontes was a double placer for the Cats, finishing third in the 3,200 in 10:08 and fourth in the 1,600 in 4:32.7.
Eric Sturm was third in the long jump at 19-7 1/4, Stone Hsu was third in the triple jump at 39-3, Payam Mokhtari was fourth in the 300 hurdles in 43.66, Eric Medeffessor was fifth in the high jump at 5-8, Nick McAlpine was fifth in the shot put at 43-5 1/2 and Peter Baunach tied for sixth in the high jump at 5-8.
F-s boys, JV girls second
The boys frosh-soph and girls junior varsity were each second at the league meet.
Clay McKell was first in the 800 in 2:10.5 and second in the 1,600, and Danny Leis was first in the long jump at 18-1 1/2 and fourth in the triple jump to lead the Gatos boys to a frosh-soph second.
Ivan Venter ended up second in the high jump at 5-6 and fifth in the 300 hurdles, Abel Cornwell was third in the triple jump, Nick Crafford was third in the shot put at 44-4, Jamal Modir was fifth in the 400, Jason Yuki was sixth in the 3,200 and James Furlo was sixth in the 100 in 11.9.
Freshman Merin Clark was a double winner, taking the 3,200 in 12:34.1 and the 1,600 in 5:40.1, to lead the girls to a JV second. Clark was also fifth in the 800 in 2:37.
Erica Williams tied for first in the 3,200 in 12:34.1 and added a third in the 1,600, and Mel Lopes was first in the 300 hurdles in 51.40 and second in the 100 hurdles.
Marissa Teel took the 800 in 2:31.4, and Karen Rossmasler flew to a first in the high jump at 4-8.
Rebecca Fong added a third in the 300 hurdles and Jenny Rubnitz was fourth in the 800 to round out the list of Gatos placers.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
