Christopherson, Zelinski run strong
By Dick Sparrer
Jacob Christopherson has been following the familiar Crystal Springs trails in Belmont for a number of years as a top cross country runner at Saratoga.
But Christopherson ran the course for the final time last weekend at the Central Coast Section finals, and he did it in style.
The Saratoga senior covered the 2.95-mile course in 16:16 to finish 11th overall and lead the Falcons to a respectable seventh-place finish in the CCS Division II standings.
Christopherson just missed a trip to the state meet, finishing only four seconds behind the final qualifier.
Junior David La was 37th in 17:04 for the Falcons with three other juniors close behind: Brett Stanger 49th in 17:18, Donald Prolo 54th in 17:29 and Richard La 56th in 17:35. Junior Justin Gardner was 88th with Trevor Adams 91st for the Falcons.
Jeff Whitsett was the top Lynbrook finisher in the division. The junior ran 16:47 to nail 28th overall.
Junior Kevin Willis led all Westmont finishers, running 17:36 to claim 57th overall.
Prospect's Danielle Zelinski won a state trip by finishing in the top 10 in the girls Division III finals.
The Prospect junior covered the course in 19:21 to finish eighth in the division and claim a berth in the state meet set for Nov. 25 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Zelinski's effort sparked Prospect to an 11th-place team finish at CCS. Junior Michelle Holleran was 71st in 23:46 with Nicole Sterns 77th, Edina Hamulic 78th and Natasha Flowers 79th.
Prospect senior Josh Miner finished 67th overall in 18:21 in the boys Division III finals.
In girls Division II competition, Lynbrook freshman Sasoon Kim was 39th in 20:46 with teammate Francine Lee 58th in 21:38.
Saratoga finished 11th in the team standings. Junior Joanna Burgess was 48th in 21:12 to lead the Falcons with Paula McNally 51st in 21:19. Carol Liu was 75th with Laura Lin 77th, Dernie Wang 80th, Priya Talreja 103rd and Joanna Chan 104th.
Westmont freshman Jessie Heusser was 96th in 23:20.
Girls Tennis
Doubles teams from Saratoga, Westmont and Lynbrook will be serving it up when the Central Coast Section individual tennis tournament gets under way on Nov. 20 at the Courtside Tennis Club in Los Gatos.
The Saratoga pair of Connie Chang and Serena Lin will be seeded fourth in the doubles field. Lynbrook's Liz Nelson and Angie Lin and Westmont's Anna Vugdalic and Megan Clapp have also earned berths in the CCS tournament. The Westmont duo of Katherine Bamford and Dana Nguyen are alternates for doubles play.
Singles and doubles play begins at noon on Monday with the quarter-final round to be played later the same day. Winners return to the courts on Nov. 21 for the semifinals at noon, with the first- and third-place matches to follow the same day at Courtside.
Lena Sherbakov of Los Altos is seeded No. 1 in singles play with Amy Walgembach of Santa Catalina second, Liora Gelblum of Monta Vista third, Lejla Hodzic of Pinewood fourth, Mio Fukushima of Stevenson fifth, Ashley Lipton of Menlo sixth, Nancy Mok of Menlo seventh and Colette Chau of Piedmont Hills eighth.
In doubles play, the top seeded teams are: No. 1-- Jenny Renfer-Amanda Nicks, Santa Catalina; No. 2-- Andrea Carloni-Nyra Davoudi, Leland; No. 3-- Claire Najour-Megan Kawakami, St. Francis; No. 4-- Chang-Lin; No. 5-- Lia Gilles-Ade Omedele-Lucien, Stevenson; No. 6-- Ginny Brito-Jennifer Gephart, Monterey; and No. 7-- Megan Martin-Krissy Justice, Palo Alto.
In the CCS team tournament, Monta Vista and Saratoga have played their way into the semifinals.
The Matadors beat Homestead 5-2 and edged St. Francis 4-3 to advance to the semi's against Santa Catalina played Monday at Courtside. Saratoga pulled out tight 4-3 wins over both Pinewood and Leland to advance to the semifinals against Menlo.
The semi-final winners will play in the CCS championship match on Nov. 15, 2:30 p.m. at Courtside.
Amanda Wise topped a list of three singles winners in Saratoga's quarter-final win over Leland last week. The Falcons, 19-2 for the year, won three of four singles matches, then picked up a doubles victory to clinch the team win.
Wise was a 6-2, 6-3 winner at No. 1 singles and Lin won 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
The No. 3 doubles team of Jennifer King and Diane Esser pulled out a tight 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 win to help the Falcons secure the victory.
The loss was the first of the year for the Chargers, who finished the season at 20-1.
Lynbrook lost its first match at CCS 6-1 to Burlingame to finish the season 15-5, and Prospect lost its CCS opener 7-0 to Gunn to wrap up the year at 15-3.
Chang and Lin earned their place in the CCS doubles tournament with second-place finish in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Saratoga pair opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-1 over a Los Gatos twosome, then beat a Monta Vista duo 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals.
Chang and Lin beat a team from St. Francis 6-4, 6-2 in the semi's, but lost a 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3) heartbreaker to Najour and Kawakami of St. Francis in the finals.
Wise finished fourth in singles play at the league tournament. She opened with a win over a Monta Vista foe 6-0, 6-1 and beat a Palo Alto opponent 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. But Wise lost to the eventual champion, Sherbakov of Los Altos, 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals and to a St. Francis opponent in the third-place mathc 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).
Girls Volleyball
Prospect ended the season with a loss to Mountain View at the CCS Division III girls volleyball tournament.
The Panthers, 11-16 for the year, lost 15-13, 15-10, 15-13 to the Spartans in the first round of the playoffs. Gillespie hammed 11 kills, but it wasn't enough for the Panthers.
Gillespie and Cassie Gilford were the kill leaders a week earlier, but the Panthers lost back-to-back league decisions to Presentation and Independence to finish 5-9 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Lynbrook (20-20) lost in the first round of the CCS Division II tourney, losing a 15-10, 10-15, 15-11, 10-15, 15-7 heartbreaker to Santa Clara.
Field Hockey
Lynbrook needed a win over Leland in a special wild card game to win a place in the CCS field hockey tournament.
And thanks to a second-half goal by Julie Stevens, the Vikings have not only earned a place in the CCS tourney, they're in the CCS semifinals.
Lynbrook backed up that win over Leland with matching 3-0 wins over Los Altos and North Salinas to advance to the semi's this week against Mitty. The Vikings, now 11-6-2 for the year, will challenge Mitty (11-1-3) on Nov. 14, 2:45 p.m., at Los Gatos. The winner will face the Los Gatos (12-3-2)-St. Francis (9-1-6) winner for the CCS championship on Nov. 18, 11 a.m., at Los Gatos.
Stevens drilled a goal in the second half to lift the Vikings to the important 1-0 win over Leland in the wild card game.
Lynbrook turnback back Los Altos and North Salinas in much the same fashion in the next two games. The Vikes led 1-0 at intermission in each of the games, then iced victories with two goals in the second half.
Saratoga won a place in the CCS tournament, but lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Los Gatos in its opener.
The Falcons, 10-4-3 for the year, had beaten St. Ignatius and tied Leigh in the last week of the regular season to secure the CCS berth.
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