Saratoga News

Photograph by Aaron Suozzi

Saratoga's Anne Ricketts claims her second-place medal at the Firebird Invitational.

Wu, Ricketts renew rivalry

By Dick Sparrer

Aimee Wu and Anne Ricketts will renew a rivalry this fall.

Check that--they already have.

The two cross-country runners battled it out on trails throughout the area a year ago, and they're at it again this season.

Wu, a star for Lynbrook, and Ricketts, a standout at Saratoga, were running together again at Fremont's Firebird Invitational last week, and it was Wu pulling out the win in this one.

Wu stopped the clock at 12:57 to finish first overall on the 2.1-mile course, with Ricketts just four seconds behind in 13:01.

The two led a pack to the finish line in the girls' race. Only 11 seconds separated the top seven finishers in a rapid-fire finish on the Fremont track.

Wu and Ricketts finished one-two, but Jill Bodily of Gunn was third in 13:02, with Serena DeLaPlace of Westmont fourth in 13:03, Jenny Nadour of Gunn fifth in 13:05, Lauren Miller of Los Altos sixth in 13:07 and Katva Kazakova of Gunn seventh in 13:08.

It was Gunn running away with the team title with a low 49 points. Monta Vista was second with 79 points, Saratoga (85) was third, Los Altos (121) was fourth, Milpitas (163) was fifth and Lynbrook (176) was sixth.

Jennifer Nguyen led Monta Vista to the team second by finishing ninth overall in 13:24. Lauren Adams was 12th in 13:35, with Carolyn Hendrickson 13th in 13:35 and Lisa Low 15th in 13:39 for the Matadors.

Ricketts was second for the third-place Falcons with teammate Susan Song 11th in 13:32. Jenny Yoo was 20th in 13:47, Stephanie Sun 25th in 14:02 and Bonnie Nguyen 27th in 14:05.

Prospect failed to finish among the team leaders, but Beverly Penn still managed to finish among the individual leaders. Penn clocked in at 13:36 to finish 14th for the Panthers.

Like Wu and Ricketts, Homestead's Mike Wolman and Saratoga's Hank Nothhaft return this fall to renew their rivalry on the trails, and it appears they'll be joined by Mirek Marcinskowski of Monta Vista and Paul Neves of Lynbrook.

Marcinskowski finished fifth overall in 10:43, with Wolman sixth in 10:43, Nothhaft eighth in 10:52 and Neves 11th in 10:59 in the Firebird Invitational.

Andrew Hill was first overall in 10:10 to lead Los Altos to the team title at the Fremont meet. Gunn was second with Del Mar third, Saratoga fourth, Monta Vista fifth and Homestead sixth.

Nothhaft led the 'Toga effort, with Drew Copeland 19th in 11:14, Nina Nafei 28th in 11:21, Alex Daniels 29th in 11:22 and Alex Shoor 30th in 11:24.

Westmont didn't place as a team, but Trevor Guina found an individual place in the top 15, placing 12th for the Warriors in 11:05.

Nicholas Lin stopped the watch at 12:26 to lead Saratoga to a team fifth in the boys' frosh-soph division, and Brett Pahler was ninth in 12:17 and Eric Cherng was 13th in 12:26 to pace the Falcons to a team fourth in the boys' junior varsity class. David Wilson was 16th in 12:32, with Tristan Hoare 18th in 12:39 for the Saratoga jv's.