Saratoga News

Falcons run their 'best' at CCS x-country meet

By Dick Sparrer

Marshall Clark has reason to be happy.

His Saratoga cross-country team didn't qualify for a berth in the upcoming state meet in Fresno. And none of his Falcons qualified as individuals.

But the Falcons had a big day nonethe-less at the Central Coast Section Division IV meet at Crystal Springs in Belmont--a very big day, indeed.

It was a day of personal bests for the Falcons, with Drew Copeland leading the way.

Copeland finished 11th overall in the CCS field, covering the 2.95-mile course in a personal best 16:45. He was one of eight Saratoga boys and girls to post a lifetime best on the course that day.

"This is big in a championship [meet]," Clark said of the outstanding efforts of the Falcons.

It wasn't enough, however, to get the Falcons to state. Copeland missed qualifying as an individual by just one place, and the Saratoga boys missed a team state berth by just a few points.

The Falcons ran up 83 points but finished third behind Half Moon Bay (33) and Gunderson (74) in the race for the two state qualifying spots.

"It was great competition," Clark said. "The Falcons fell short, but the effort was the best of the season."

Copeland was 11th overall, with Alex Shoor 13th in 16:51; Brett Pahler was 19th in 16:58; Alex Daniels was 23rd in 17:20; and Jeff Beyers was 26th in 17:23.

"The top five Falcons all recorded their best times ever at Crystal," Clark added.

Nobuaki Tomine came home in 29th in 17:31, and Andrew Sun was 47th in 18:16 for the Falcons.

Whittney Dotzler, Laura Lin and Laura Prolo each nailed personal bests to lead the Saratoga girls to a team fourth at CCS.

San Lorenzo Valley finished first with 77 points, and Robert Louis Stevenson was second at 86 to gain state berths. Terra Nova was third at 94, with Saratoga fourth at 111 and Sacred Heart Cathedral fifth at 113.

Dotzler was 17th in the girls' race in 21:20, with Lin 23rd in 21:45 and Prolo 32nd in 22:16.

Jenny Yoo was 39th in 22:37, with Justine Lam 41st in 22:38, Joan Cheng 50th in 23:02 and Catherine Smith 55th in 23:28.

In girls' CCS Division I competition, Laura Kniskern of Prospect earned a state berth by running 19:54 to finish ninth in the 84-runner field. Kniskern will now advance to the state meet Nov. 29 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Kniskern, just a sophomore, helped the Panthers to a fifth-place team finish at CCS. St. Ignatius (50) won the team title with Leland (68) second, Gunn (77) third, Milpitas (92) fourth and Prospect (143) fifth.

Royals top Panthers

Justin Williams tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Mike Suarez, but Prospect lost a tough 25-14 decision to Overfelt in the first round of the CCS Division II football playoffs.

The Royals scored first in the game, but Williams hit Suarez for 16 yards and a TD early in the second period. Brandon Delgado's kick tied the game 7-7, but not for long.

Overfelt scored twice in the second quarter to go up 19-7, but once more Prospect answered back.

Williams hit Suarez on a 47-yard touchdown pass, and Delgado converted to trim the Overfelt lead to 19-14 at the half.

But the Royals scored an insurance touchdown in the third quarter and blanked the Panthers in the second half to clinch the victory.

The loss was Prospect's first of the season. The Panthers tied Pioneer 21-21 in the preseason but went on to win six league games to win the title in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Prospect ended up 9-1-1 for the year.

It marked the final high school football for talented Prospect seniors Matt Heling, Tim Haney, Jason Burton, Craig Malloy and Jason Burton, along with Williams and Suarez.

Vikings win CCS

A first-half goal by Pooja Mehta sparked the Lynbrook girls' field hockey team to the CCS championship last weekend.

Mehta scored the lone goal in Lynbrook's 1-0 win over Los Gatos in the CCS finals on Saturday at Stanford. The Vikings wrapped up an outstanding year with a 17-2 record.

The Vikings entered the playoffs seeded No. 2 in the tournament behind Los Gatos. They pulled out thrilling one goal victories over Live Oak (3-2) and Prospect (2-1) to advance to the finals.

It was another one-goal victory in the title match that helped the Vikings clinch the championship.

Senior Bonnie Chang scored off assists from Danielle Chain and Sara Hohenshelt to help the Vikings battle Live Oak to a 1-1 tie in the first half in their CCS opener.

But Valarie Hahn scored unassisted and Hohenshelt scored off a Chain assist in the second half to help the Vikes pull out an exciting 3-2 victory.

It was more of the same against Prospect. Chain's goal off a Chang assist lifted the Vikes to a 1-1 halftime tie with the Panthers, but junior Chrissy Bailey scored in the second half to snap the tie and give Lynbrook the win.

That win sent the Vikings into the championship match with Gatos, and Mehta's gave Lynbrook the important win in that one.

Lynbrook had finished second to Los Gatos in league play. The Cats were 9-1, their only loss coming against the Vikings. Lynbrook ended up 8-2 to finish second, securing the playoff berth with wins over Mitty and Leland in the final week of the regular season.

Goals by Chain, Hahn and Angie Wong helped the Vikes to a 3-2 win over Mitty, and Mehta, Divya Chowdary, Hohenshelt and Chang each scored goals and Chain and Rona Kupec added assists in a 4-0 win over Leland.

Vivian Chou, Heather Lamb, Jean Lee, Rebecca Lee, Jessica Mark, Jamie Owen, Kristen Quinn and Mona Tahsini were other members of Lynbrook's CCS championship team.

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