Saratoga News

Saratoga girls run for first in division

By Dick Sparrer

It may not be the state meet or the Central Coast Section championships.

It may not even be the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League finals.

But it's a big meet that faces the Saratoga girls' track and field team this Thursday. Because it could mean the championship in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.

The Falcons will take their 4-1 league record up against unbeaten Monta Vista on April 4 at the Saratoga track. And the Falcons need a win in the 3:15 p.m. meet to even the field heading into the league trials and finals later this month.

Saratoga moved into position to run for first place in the division by romping past Cupertino 98-24 last week.

Jill Moon soared to wins in the long jump at 14-9 and the triple jump at 32-8, and she raced to wins in the 300 low hurdles in 53.9 and the 100 hurdles in 18.3 to lead the Falcons to the victory.

Maggie Ricketts was tops in the 400 meters in 1:10, Stephanie Sun won the 800 in 2:47, Anne Ricketts took the 1,600 in 5:31 and Dora Cheng was first in the 3,200 in 15:08 as Saratoga dominated the track events.

Nicole Coghlan was the high jump winner at 4-2 and Sue Pan took the discus at 71-2 to give the Falcons a pair of wins in the field.

Sun, A. Ricketts, Susan Song and Sarah Ku teamed for a first in the 1,600 relay and Leah Blackwell, Kieli Joplin, Devin Joplin and Ann Birenbaum joined forces for a win in the 400 relay in 55.9.

While the girls were running to a win, though, the Saratoga boys were dropping a 77-50 decision to Cupertino.

Alex Lux raced to a win in the 400 in 54.6 and the foursome of Hank Nothhaft, Lux, Alex Ling and Eric Wang took the 1,600 relay in 3:43 for Saratoga's only wins on the track.

Alex Fields heaved the shot put 38-0 for a first and Mark Marshall won the discus with a toss of 105-2. Gabe Calebotta was tops in the high jump at 6-0.

The Falcons slipped to 2-3 in the division with the loss.

Elsewhere in the division, Lynbrook beat the Mountain View boys 71-48 but lost to the Spartan girls 84-43.

Two Vikings put together first- and second-place efforts to lead the Lynbrook boys to the win over Mountain View.

Josh Moore took the 400 meters in 55.0 and was second in the long jump at 19-5, and James Baer was tops in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 41.52 and second in the 110 highs in 16.7.

David Chen won the triple jump at 40-2 and N. Jue took the 800 meters in 2:18 to round out the list of Lynbrook winners.

Joanna McCloskey and Pooja Mehta were each double winners, but the Lynbrook girls couldn't stay with powerful Mountain View last week.

McCloskey romped to a win in the 400 meters in 66.9 and she took the triple jump in 31-0 3/4. She was also second in the 800 in 2:36.

Mehta was first in the 100 in 14.11 and she was tops in the 200 in 30.5.

Amie Wu came through with a first in the 1,600 meters in 6:10.6 and she added a third in the 800 meters in 2:47.

Farah Hussain picked up seconds in the high jump at 4-8 and the triple jump at 30-5.

Warriors win

The Westmont track team two-timed Valley Christian in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, winning both the boys' and girls' varsity divisions.

The Westmont girls improved to 4-0 in the division with an 87-41 win over Valley.

Senior standout Lisa Renteria rambled to a pair of wins for the Warriors, taking the mile in 6:12 and the 880 in 2:35.3.

Stephanie Herrera won the sprints, taking the 100 in 13.5 and the 220 in 28.6, and Melisa Taylor and Loan Hinh were also double winners for Westmont. Taylor was first in the 330 low hurdles in 60.4 and the high jump at 4-6, and Hinh was tops in the 100 low hurdles in 18.4 and the long jump at 14-5.

Steysi Erskine raced to a first in the 440 in 69.0, Lisako Bridgewater soared to a win in the triple jump at 35-10 and Serena Delaplace romped to a win in the 2-mile in 12:43.4.

The Westmont boys, meanwhile, pulled out an 84-46 win over Valley Christian to move to 3-1 in the division.

Jonathan Cordero roared to wins in the mile in 4:47.7 and the 2-mile in 10:42.2, Eric Weathers nailed firsts in the 330 intermediate hurdles in 47.1 and the long jump at 18-10 1/2, and Vu Tran breezed to wins in the 100 in 11.5 and the 220 in 23.8.

Tom Hofman was first in the 100 high hurdles in 19.5, Trevor Guina took the 440 in 52.7, Ian Hogg won the 880 in 2.22.2 and Sean Page was a winner in the triple jump at 38-1.

West Valley Relays

Renteria and Jonathan Cordero starred for Westmont last weekend at the West Valley Relays held at West Valley College.

Renteria raced to a second in the 1,500 meters in 4:53.30 with Delaplace of Westmont fourth in 4:56.53. Saratoga's A. Ricketts was fifth in the race in 4:57.09.

In the boys' division, Cordero romped to a third in the 1,600-meter steeplechase in 5:35.89. Paul Neves of Lynbrook was fourth in 5:41.59.