Saratoga News

Falcons preparing for the CCS Top 8 Meet

By Dick Sparrer

It promises to be a blockbuster ... two thumbs up! And it's coming soon to a track near you.

It's the annual CCS Top 8 Meet, featuring the best high school track and field performers in the Central Coast Section. And the meet should provide track fans with a special sneak preview of the CCS championships coming up in May at San Jose City College.

"It's like a CCS finals preview meet," said Los Gatos coach Willie Harmatz of the April 24 event on the Gatos track. "All of the top kids from CCS will be there, as usual."

Field events will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday with running events beginning at 5:15 p.m. The admission cost is $5 for adults and $2 for students.

Competition will be in the varsity boys' and girls' divisions and in the boys' frosh-soph class. Only those athletes who are among the top eight in an event in the CCS rankings are eligible for the meet.

That means that Saratoga's Chad Allen and Mike Black could be in the field.

Allen breezed to a 51.08 in the 400 meters to finish second at the St. Francis Invitational earlier this month, and Black topped the high jump bar at six-feet last weekend to finish second in the event at the rugged Hampton-Phillips Classic at San Jose City College. Both marks are among the best this season in CCS.

Black was coming off of a solid finish at the St. Francis Invitational. The senior, better known for his talents on the football field and basketball court at Saratoga, finished third in the high jump at 5-10 and fourth in the long jump at 20-2 1/2.

Saratoga also had a pair of placers in the girls' division at St. Francis. Laura Birenbaum was second in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.81 and Anne Ricketts was fifth in the 1,500 meters in 5:03.8.

But Saratoga enjoyed most of its success in the boys' frosh-soph division at the SF meet.

Ian Jang, who figures to join Allen and Black in the CCS Top 8 meet this week, placed in two events and helped a Saratoga relay team place in the top five at St. Francis.

Jang won the triple jump with a 39-10 3/4 effort, and he was third in the long jump at 19-4 1/2. He also teamed with Justin Quon, Jesse Alejandro and Robert Kim for a fifth in the 400-meter relay in 47.50.

Alejandro supported with a fourth in the 100 in 12.17 and a fifth in the triple jump at 37-3. Eric Giannella was fourth in the shot put at 43-2, and Jeff Beyers was fifth in the 800 in 2:07.64.

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