Saratoga News

Best of the best place at CCS track semis

By Dick Sparrer

Only the best track and field athletes qualify for Central Coast Section competition.

But only the best of the best advance to the CCS finals.

Both Saratoga and Prospect have athletes who fall into that category, and they'll be in the field when the best of the best compete in the CCS finals on May 29, 6 p.m., at San Jose City College.

Chad Allen and Anne Ricketts of Saratoga and Alison Prehn of Prospect each placed high enough at the CCS semifinals last weekend at San Jose City College to earn berths in the section finals.

Allen romped to an eighth in the 200 meters in 22.6 and Ricketts ran 11th in the 3,200 meters in 11:53.2 to advance to the CCS championship meet. Prehn soared to an eighth in the long jump at 16-8 1/4 to qualify.

Allen and Ricketts had joined with Lauren Birenbaum and Taylor Teerlink as Saratoga placers a week earlier at the CCS North Subsection meet.

Birenbaum topped the list of Falcon placers as she ran a personal best 16.55 to finish fifth in the 100-meter hurdles. Teerlink was seventh in the event in 17.15, and she added an eighth in the 300 hurdles in 49.14.

Ricketts rambled to an 11:39.18 to nail fifth in the 3,200 meters.

Allen ran 22.99 to claim fifth in the boys' 200 meters. The Saratoga speedster qualified for the CCS semifinals despite a hamstring injury that had kept him out of the De Anza Division finals.

Prospect's Prehn and Anna Marie Owens and Westmont's Melissa Taylor and T.J. Aimonetti also placed high enough in subsection competition to qualify for the CCS semis.

Taylor was second in the girls' shot put with a heave of 34-5 1/2 at the CCS South Subsection meet. Aimonetti was seventh in the boys' shot put with a 45-5 3/4 effort.

Prehn was eighth in the triple jump at 34-4 3/4 for the Panthers and Owens was eighth in the girls' shot at 32-10 1/4.

Saratoga's Michael Black and Alex Daniels turned in solid efforts in the CCS North Subsection but failed to advance to the semifinals.

Black tied for eighth in the high jump at 5-10 and finished 14th in the long jump at 20-1. Daniels was ninth in the 800 meters in 2:00.97 with teammate David Wilson 19th in a personal best 2:06.29.

Daniels later turned in a blistering 51.7 split when he teamed with Wilson, Brett Pahler and Tristan Hoare to finish 18th in the 1,600-meter relay in 3:41.01. Hoare had run 56.3 earlier in the meet in the 400 meters.

Alex Shoor was 12th in the 1,600 meters in a personal best 4:35.78, and Josh Glasser was 12th in the 100 in 11.67.

In girls' action, Birenbaum and Teerlink joined with Carla Graziosi and Laura Prolo to nail ninth in the 1,600 relay in a season best 4:14.81. Earlier, the two had combined with Brie Wilson and Jennifer Chan for a 14th in the 400 relay in a season-best 52.9.

Karin Bencala was 11th in the shot put at 31-10 1/2 and Heather Finnecy was 11th in the discus at 100-1.

Chan ended up 15th in the triple jump in a personal-best 31-7 1/2, and Prolo was 16th in the high jump at 4-6.

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