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Ricketts, Daniels star at the CCS track finals
By Dick Sparrer
It was quite a day for the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and Anne Ricketts and Alex Daniels were each a big part of it.
Ricketts and Daniels brought home two of the 49 places that athletes from the SCVAL won at the rugged Central Coast Section track and field championships held May 28 at San Jose City College.
Ricketts raced to a third-place finish in the girls 3,200 meters in 10:58.65, and Daniels was fourth in the boys 800 meters in 1:56.52.
Ricketts' effort was good for a spot in the upcoming state meet set for June 4-5 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. But Daniels just missed the cut-off for qualification when he was edged out at the finish line by D.J. Ozan of Del Mar. Only the top three placers in each event at CCS qualify for the prestigious state meet.
Ricketts is one of four girls from the SCVAL advancing to the state meet this weekend. The talented senior distance runner will be joined by Heather Hennessy of Los Gatos (third in the 800 meters in 2:14.96), Katie Brizgys of Palo Alto (second in the 3,200 meters in 10:40.85 and third in the 1,600 in 4:52.15) and Tenia Green of Wilcox (third in the 300 hurdles in 45.20).
Ricketts was one of two Saratoga girls to place at the CCS finals last weekend. Laura Birenbaum finished seventh in the 100 low hurdles in 15.63.
Another local finisher, Kim Gleason of Lynbrook, placed two events at the CCS meet. Gleason placed in both the weight events, finishing sixth in the shot put at 34-0 1/2 and eighth in the discus at 106-0.
Four section champions will top a list of eight boys from the SCVAL making the trip to state. League athletes winning CCS titles were Khari Jones of Gunn (first in the 100 in 10.92), Benyam Mulugeta of Palo Alto (first in the 400 in 49.02), Stephen Nestinger of Santa Clara (first in the 800 in 1:54.86) and Pete Bjorklund of Los Altos (first in both the shot put at 59-0 and the discus at 172-11).
Andrew Hill of Los Altos (second in the 3,200 in 9:16.39), Alex Ware of Los Altos (second in the 110 high hurdles in 14.58), Mischa Goins of Los Altos (third in the discus at 158-0) and Amin Nikfar of Wilcox (third in the shot put at 56-2) will also make the state trip.
The Milpitas 1,600-meter relay team also earned a state berth by finishing first in 3:22.53.
Daniels just missed the trip with his fourth in the 800, and Barrett Bryson of Lynbrook ended up seventh in the triple jump at 43-63Ž4.
T.J. Aimonetti of Westmont also placed at the CCS meet, finishing sixth in the shot put with a heave of 51-4.
CCS Semifinals
Ricketts had finished third in the 3,200 in 11:21.41 and fourth in the 1,600 in 5:06.97 in the CCS semifinals a week earlier to earn her place in the section finals.
Ricketts scratched from the 1,600 at the finals to concentrate her efforts at the longer distance.
Birenbaum covered the 100 hurdles in 15.30 to finish fifth for the Falcons at the semifinals.
Gleason took seventh place in both the shot put at 34-10 and the discus at 110-2 for the Vikings.
In the boys division, Daniels ran second in the 800 in 1:59.00, Aimonetti was fifth in the shot put at 51-8 1/2, and Bryson was seventh in the triple jump at 43-4 1/2.
CCS Sub-section
A week earlier at the CCS Sub-section meet at Los Gatos, Birenbaum and Daniels had each raced to victories for the Falcons.
Birenbaum was first in the girls 110 hurdles in 15.78, and she also qualified for the semi's with a fifth in the 300 hurdles in 48.12. Taylor Teerlink qualified for the semifinals with a sixth in the 100 hurdles in 16.46 and added an eighth in the 300 hurdles in 48.44.
Ricketts, like Birenbaum, qualified in two events with a second in the 1,600 in 5:03.30 and a third in the 3,200 in 11:04.50.
Heather Finnecy also qualified for the semifinals with a seventh in the discus at a distance of 100-2.
Daniels was the lone qualifier for Saratoga in the boys division. He was first in the 800 in 1:56.78 with Alex Shoor ninth in 2:00.19.
Top marks recorded by non-qualifiers included Josh Glasser, 11th in the 200 in 23.14 and 14th in the 100 in 11.51; Jesse Alejandro, 15th in the 400 in 52.65; Jeff Beyers, 19th in the 3,200 in 10:59.7; David Cheng, 12th in the 300 hurdles in 42.5; and Jeff Verson, 17th in the 300 hurdles in 45.2 and 21st in the 110 hurdles in 17.23.
Shoor, Daniels, Alejandro and Joe Carter teamed to run a 3:34.1 in the 4x400 relay, good for 14th.
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Saratoga, California Since 1975
