Los Gatos Weekly-Times


Senior Sarah High	Junior Joseph Carter

Martin runs past two Cats on his way to finish line

By Dick Sparrer

Russ Martin sprinted past two Los Gatos runners in the final stretch in the Crystal Springs Invitational last weekend.

He passed teammate Joseph Carter on his way to the finish line, and he passed Ben Abeln in the Los Gatos record books.

The Gatos freshman ran past Carter to nail 12th in the rugged field at Crystal Springs on Saturday. And his time of 16:00 was the best recorded by a Los Gatos freshman on that course since Abeln in 1992.

"He just passed Joseph in the end to break the freshman record," said Los Gatos cross country coach Willie Harmatz.

Martin and Carter, a junior, recorded matching 16:00 times in the race, good for 12th and 13th in the tough field.

Junior Jedd Martin was 16th in 16:05 with junior Cody Darwin 36th in 16:49, sophomore Zach Regner 38th in 16:51, and freshman Jeff Hoeft 41st in 16:59.

"That was a big breakthough race (for Darwin)," said Harmatz. "He improved by 1:30. It was a big PR."

Regner also nailed a personal best in the race, cutting his best time by 1:13.

"We had eight guys under 18, which is great," said Harmatz. "It was a great team race--probably the best of the season."

He'd get no argument on that score from his colleague, Gatos coach Steve Barth.

"That was probably our best meet of the season," said Barth. "They were so focused on their goals. They all ran aggressively, confident and composed. They ran off each other for help and hung tough in the last 800."

Gatos ended up third in the team standings in the championship division behind Bellarmine and Mt. Pleasant. The Bells were first with 60 points, followed by the Cardinals (91) and the Wildcats (105).

Matt Bates starred in the frosh division, running 16:55 for the Wildcats.

Earlier in the year, Los Gatos ran third as a team at the Blossom Valley Invitational. Carter was third in 14:50, with Regner ninth in 15:35, Darwin 14th in 16:01, Pat Sullivan 15th in 16:04, Ryan Smith 38th in 16:55 and David Landers 40th in 17:05.

Brian Parker finished first in the boys' junior varsity race at Blossom Hill, covering the 2.7 miles in 16:11.

The Los Gatos girls also ran well at Crystal Springs, finishing sixth in the 35-team field.

Senior Sarah High was the leader for the Wildcats, finishing 13th in 19:42.

Lina Biber-Ferro ended up 17th in 19:59, with Marcia Wallis 32nd in 29:28, Laura Sund 76th in 21:38 and Sarah McAleer 97th in 21:59.

Mika Clark led the junior varsity effort with a 19th in 22:18. Theresa Rehder was 22nd in 22:22 with Liz Pellegrin 28th in 22:32 and Megan Cooke 35th in 22:42.

The girls were coming off of an outstanding showing at the Saratoga Invitational.

Amy LaPine raced to an individual title at the meet, covering the 2.0-mile course in 12:47, just three seconds off the course record.

Andy Knudsen finished sixth in 13:36, with Clark 12th in 14:10, Cooke 17th in 14:37 and Pellegrin 18th in 14:40.

At Blossom Hill earlier in the year, McAleer was second in 18:12 to lead the Cats to the team title. High ran fifth in 18:35, with Biber-Ferro sixth in 18:43, Wallis 12th in 19:27 and Sund 15th in 19:39.

Los Gatos ran up a low 39 points to finish well ahead of second-place Leland (93).

Clark was first, with Pellegrin second, Cooke fourth, Rehder fifth and Morgan Womack ninth in the junior varsity division.

The Wildcats are gunning for a second-straight league championship this fall, and Harmatz likes his squad's chances.

"We should do well this season," said the Gatos girls' coach. "We only lost one runner off of last year's team."

That was a team that won titles in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and the Central Coast Section. Gatos has won league championships in 14 of the last 15 years.

The Los Gatos squads will head to Garin Park in Hayward on Oct. 18 for the Mariner Invitational. The Foothill Invitational is the following week in Los Altos, with the league finals set for Nov. 4 at Crystal Springs.

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