Los Gatos Weekly-Times Matt Bates Bates, Gatos boys are league champions Matt Bates is out of shadow By Dick Sparrer Matt Bates has run in the shadows of teammates Russ Martin and Zack Regner for most of this season. But there were no shadows over Bates when he ran in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's De Anza Division cross-country finals at Crystal Springs in Belmont last week. The Los Gatos sophomore romped to the league title. There was a light rain falling on that cloudy Tuesday, so there were actually no shadows at all. But if there had been, it would have been Bates and Saratoga's Anne Ricketts throwing theirs back on the rest of the field as they led the way to the finish line. Bates leads boys Bates covered the hilly 2.95-mile course in 15:59 to finish first overall and lead Los Gatos to the team championship. It marks the seventh straight league title for the Wildcats. Gatos ran up a low 30 points to finish first in the team standings, with Saratoga second at 52, Homestead third at 86, Monta Vista fourth at 93, and Fremont fifth at 107. All five teams have qualified for the Central Coast Section meet. Bates edged Homestead's Matt Hovik in the race for the league title. Hovik was a close second in 16:02. Martin, another Gatos sophomore, was right behind Hovik, running 16:03 to finish third. Jedd Martin was seventh in 16:35 for the Wildcats, with Billy Stanton ninth in 16:49, Pat Sullivan 10th in 16:49, Regner 16th in 17:05, and Ryan Smith 24th in 18:00. Bates bettered his season best by 16 seconds on his way to the league title. His time is good for a place on the Los Gatos all-time list. Ricketts wins again Anne Ricketts has been running to invitational victories all season, and it was no different for the Saratoga senior at the league meet last week. Ricketts ran away from the field to win her second straight league title. She covered the 2.95-mile distance in 19:06 to finish 35 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, Sarah McAleer of Los Gatos. Ricketts led Saratoga to a team third behind St. Francis and Los Gatos, the "best team performance of the season," according to coach Marshall Clark. While Ricketts was running to a victory, McAleer was running a strong second to lead the Los Gatos effort. McAleer was second in 19:42, an outstanding effort considering that she has been battling injuries all season. Still, her effort wasn't enough for the Wildcats to overcome powerful St. Francis. The Lancers put four runners in the top six and five in the top 10 to win the event with 28 points. Los Gatos was second at 41, Saratoga third at 84 and Monta Vista fourth at 100. All four teams advance to the CCS. Marcia Wallis supported McAleer's effort by finishing seventh in 20:19 for Los Gatos. Freshman Lynsey Harris was ninth in 20:29, with Amy LaPine 11th in 20:33, Kate Leary 12th in 20:45, Aly Chavez 13th in 20:46 and Ashley Weger 37th in 24:21. On to CCS Team and individual qualifiers will now advance to the Central Coast Section meet set for Nov. 14 at Crystal Springs. Los Gatos, Homestead, Monta Vista and Lynbrook each compete at the CCS Division II level. St. Francis and Fremont are in Division III, and Saratoga competes in Division IV. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 11, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.