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Saratoga runs to third and sixth place finishes
By Dick Sparrer
Girmay Guangul and Dawit Gezahgn have been battling it out on the cross country trails of the area all season long.
And it was no different last Saturday when the two runners went head-to-head in the Central Coast Section Division II finals.
The results weren't much different either.
Santa Clara's Guangul has held the edge over Del Mar's Gezahgn most of the year, and it was more of the same at the finals.
Guangul won the division title in 15:21 on the 2.95-mile course at Crystal Springs in Belmont, with Gezahgn a close second in 15:24.
But Gezahgn and his Dons were able to finish ahead of Guangul and the Bruins in the team standings. Del Mar nailed fourth in the division with 124 points behind St. Ignatius, Leland and Wilcox.
Dennis Bekele was seventh in 16:07, with Carlos Melchor 24th in 17:10, Chris O'Neal 28th in 17:20 and Richard Martinez 78th in 19:17 to round out the top five for the Dons.
Fremont's Mike Pullano and Eric Fontes each finished in the top 20 in the division. Pullano was 12th in 16:43 for the Firebirds, with Fontes 18th in 16:56.
Jeff Whitsett of Lynbrook was 39th in 17:39 in Division II, with teammate Kai Yu 55th in 18:07.
Saratoga finished third in the team standings in boys Division IV competition.
Junior Jacob Christopherson was eighth overall in 16:54 to lead the Saratoga effort in the division.
Nobuaki Tomine was 12th in 17:11, with Jeff Beyers 13th in 17:18, David La 15th in 17:23 and Richard La 28th in 17:56.
The Falcons ran up a low 75 points to finish third behind Half Moon Bay and Carmel in the team standings.
The Saratoga girls were sixth in the Division IV poll, running to 147 points to end up behind Sacred Heart Cathedral, Half Moon Bay, Notre Dame San Jose, Carmel and Monte Vista Christian.
Paula McNally romped to a seventh-place finish in 20:19 to lead the Saratoga effort at the CCS finals.
Joanna Choi was 28th in 22:21, with Dernie Wang 33rd in 22:24, Laura Lin 40th in 22:41 and Miranda Sun 44th in 22:55.
In boys Division III competition, Prospect junior Josh Minor finished 49th overall in 17:52, with Westmont freshman Francisco Espinoza 66th in 18:37.
Celeste Dunlap of Cupertino finished third overall and third in the girls Division III race at the CCS finals.
The Cupertino senior stopped the clock at 18:53 to finish third in the fastest girls division in the section meet.
Cupertino sophomore Amy Wong was 15th in 20:04.
In girls Division II, Laura Kniskern of Prospect and Racheal Fredrickson of Homestead landed spots in the top 20.
Kniskern was 12th in 20:21 for the Panthers, and Fredrickson was 17th in 20:58 for the Mustangs.
Del Mar's Beverly Havner finished 28th in the division in 21:34, and Lynbrook freshman Jessica Ignaitis was 37th in 21:58.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
