Photograph by Robert Scheer
Saratoga's Devin Joplin races to the finish for a third in the 100 in De Anza Division action against Palo Alto. The Saratoga girls lost to Paly, but the boys pulled out an impressive victory.
By Dick Sparrer
Moving up a division can be intimidating.
And the Saratoga track and field team proved that last week when the Falcons jumped divisions from El Camino to De Anza competition in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Falcons went up against Palo Alto in the De Anza Division season opener, and it was an intimidating day--for the Vikings!
Saratoga outran Paly 85-62 to start the division season out in grand fashion.
Brian Carroll and Alex Lux led the Falcons to the victory with stellar performances.
Carroll ran to a win in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 41.6 and added seconds in the 100 meters in 11.2 and the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.6. Carroll also teamed with Sean Hanley, Chad Allen and Dan Miner for a win in the 400-meter relay.
Lux cruised to a win in the 400 meters in 51.6, and he also took the long jump at 19-0 and was second in the triple jump at 35-7.
Allen came through with a win in the 110 highs in 15.3. He was also second to Carroll in the 300 intermediates in 41.9 and second to Lux in the long jump at 18-434. Miner was second in the 200 meters in 24.0.
Alex Shoor romped into the winner's circle with a first in the 1600 meters in 4:49.3, with Drew Copeland second in 5:00.9, and Hank Nothhaft took the 3200 meters in 10:44.3, with Copeland second in 10:51.3.
Saratoga dominated the weights. Alex Fields led a sweep in the shot put, finishing first at 40-11 with Daryl DeKeczer second at 36-912 and Jack Huang third at 35-812, and Mark Marshall led a one-two finish in the discus, finishing first at 119-2 with Erik Johnstone second at 100-2.
Tony Hsu came through with a first in the triple jump at 39-8, and Todd Anderson was third in the high jump at 5-4.
Nima Nafei supported with a second in the 800 meters in 2:08.5, with Alex Daniels third in 2:12.2.
The Saratoga girls, however, didn't fare quite as well against the Vikings. The Falcons dropped a 75-46 decision to Paly.
Taylor Teerlink led a couple of Saratoga sweeps in the hurdle events, winning the 100 highs in 15.7, with Laura Prolo second in 17.8 and Jill Moon third in 18.6, and taking the 300 lows in 49.4, with Prolo second in 50.4 and Moon third in 51.2.
Teerlink also led a sweep in the field, winning the long at 14-11, with Andrea Lo second at 14-914 and Moon third at 14-9.
Moon picked up a win in the triple jump at 33-4, with Prolo third at 29-1012, and Prolo was second in the high jump at 4-10.
Jennifer Chan was second in the 400 in 66.7, and Ashley Ferreria was second in the 800 in 2:40.1.
Devin Joplin was third in both the 100 in 13.9 and the 200 in 28.9, and Jenny Yoo was third in the 1600 meters in 6:13.4.
Janny Huang picked up a third in the shot put at 26-2.
Jeff Verson won both hurdle events and Eric Bickenbach won the high jump at triple jump, but the Saratoga boys' frosh-soph lost 66-60 to Paly.
Laura Birenbaum won the sprints, and Kari Johnstrong took the long jump and tripled jump to help the 'Toga girls to a 58-58 tie with Palo Alto in junior varsity action.
K-Bell Placers
Prolo and Moon each placed in the K-Bell Classic at Los Gatos last weekend. Prolo was fifth in the 300 low hurdles in 50.54, and Moon was fifth in the long jump at 15-11.
Westmont's Serina Delaplace raced to a sixth in the mile in 5:27.34.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 19, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.