 |
|
|
|
|
Wildcat runners place in top five in area meets
By Dick Sparrer
The Los Gatos cross country runners were all over the place last week, running separately in events in Saratoga and at the Crystal Springs course in Belmont.
But there was one place where they remained together... in invitational top fives.
Heather Hennessy and Zack Regner each finished in the top five at the Saratoga Invitational on Thursday, and Russ Martin and Michelle Beritzhoff were each in the top five at the Serra Invitational at Crystal Springs on Saturday.
Hennessy a winner
Hennessy finished first overall in 12:18 on the two-mile course at Saratoga High School last week in the Saratoga Invitational.
"She ran the No. 2 best time ever on the Saratoga course," said Los Gatos coach Willie Harmatz of the talented junior runner. Her time was second only to the 11:58 recorded a year ago by Saratoga great Ann Ricketts.
Hennessy topped a list of three Los Gatos runners to finish in the top 10 at Saratoga. Junior Simone Drucker was sixth in 13:05 with senior Theresa Reader ninth in 13:36.
Angela McBeath was 32nd in 14:30 with Jenny Rubnitz 33rd in 14:33 and Andie Knudsen 34th in 14:41 to lead Gatos to a team second behind Monta Vista.
Regner second
Santa Clara's Girmay Guangul seems to be rewriting the record books this fall... or at least he has for the past couple of weeks.
The talented cross country runner set a new course record on his way to a victory in the Central Park Invitational in Santa Clara a couple of weeks ago, and he backed that up with a win in record time on the two-mile course at the Saratoga Invitational.
Guangul covered the two miles in 9:51.8 to set the new course mark and outrun Regner to the finish line. Guangul broke his own course mark of 10:01.9 set last year.
Regner nailed second in 10:25, just beating John Fong (10:27) of Los Altos and Lenin Zapata (10:28) of Santa Clara to the finish chute. Billy Stanton finished 30th in 11:25 for the Wildcats at Saratoga.
Los Gatos sophomore Jason Yuki led the frosh-sophers to a third-place finish at Saratoga. Yuki was fourth overall in 11:39.
Clay McKell was 15th in 12:15 for the Cats with Nelson Bradley 17th in 12:17, Will Lampe 18th in 12:27 and Webb Knudsen 21st in 12:33.
In the boys junior varsity race, Leif Linden was 23rd in 12:45 for the Wildcats.
Martin stars
Martin raced to an individual fourth to lead the Los Gatos effort at the rugged Serra Invitational on Saturday.
The junior covered the three miles in 15:42 to finish in the top five at Crystal Springs.
"He went out faster," said Harmatz, "and he ran the ninth-best time in Los Gatos history. He raced mentally tough."
Tomas Viramontes ended up 10th in 16:08.
"He's having his best season," said Harmatz of Viramontes. "He ran a big PR here by over 40 seconds."
Jeff Hoeft was 26th in 16:44 with Greg Tolan 40th in 17:09, Darren Key 47th in 17:17 and Matt Bates 54th in 17:38.
Regner was taking the SAT test on Saturday, so he missed the Serra meet.
Beritzhoff second
Beritzhoff finished second in 19:50 to lead the Los Gatos girls to a team second in the frosh-soph division at the Serra Invitational.
"That was a big breakthrough race for her," said Harmatz of the sophomore. "In only her first year of cross country, Michelle keeps making giant strides of improvement. She has become one of the best runners in CCS."
Carolyn Penner, a freshman, was sixth overall in 20:29 with freshman Merin Clark 13th in 21:32, soph Lynsey Harris 20th in 22:16 and frosh Erica Williams 28th in 23:00.
|
|
|
|
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
