Saratoga News
Sports
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Senior Brad Jacobs (center) will travel to Fresno along with the Saratoga girls team for the state cross country finals on Nov. 25. Jacobs qualified as an individual and the girls finished second in CCS to qualify as a team. State qualifiers are (from left) Molly Jordan, Amanda Speedy, Katrin Cooper, Sophia Cooper, Christine La, Jacobs, Karen Wai, Katie Nast and Kelly Lamble.
Jacobs, Saratoga girls advance to state
By Kevin Sparrer
The Falcons have a new fastest flier. Brad Jacobs has arguably become the third fastest cross country runner in the history of Saratoga High School.
Jacobs' best time on the Crystal Springs course is third to only the 2001 state champion, Will Kraemer, and the fastest Falcon ever, Mike Dyer, whose record has held since 1975.
Jacobs will now join the Saratoga girls team at the state championship meet set for Nov. 25 on the 3.1-mile course at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Jacobs earned a state berth after finishing 12th in the Central Coast Sections Division III finals held Nov. 11 at Toro Park's 3.0-mile course in Salinas. It will mark his second trip to the state meet.
The Saratoga senior will be joined on the state trip by the Falcon girls. Led by Katie Nast, the lady Falcons clinched a place in the prestigious event by finishing second as a team in the CCS Division III finals.
Nast, who just missed qualifying for state last year as a freshman, will be leading the effort in Saratoga's second attempt at the state meet in the history of the school for girls. The first time was in 1994.
Nast also holds the second fastest time for girls on the Crystal Springs course for Saratoga, second only to state champion Alicia Follmar.
Behind Nast will be sophomore Amanda Speedy, who according to coach Peter Jordan has recently come into her own and routinely places in the top three runners for Saratoga.
Then there is Kelly Lamble, another sophomore. "Lamble was actually a tennis player who came out for cross country after suffering a wrist injury. She decided to give running a try part way through the season," said Jordan. "Though she continued to play tennis left-handed, she showed natural talent for running and a quick response to training. At the CCS meet, Lamble came in right behind the team leader, Nast, and there's no telling how far she can go as she develops."
Team captain Katrin Cooper, a junior who is the veteran on the team, will be another runner leading the way into state. "Her organization, maturity, leadership and inspiration have helped to forge a special bond among the members of the team," said Jordan.
The last three runners for Saratoga are all freshmen who have come up to show their talents on the varsity. Karen Wai manages to balance both cross country and marching band and Sophia Cooper joins her older sister, Katrin, on the squad.
Christine La has running in her blood. Her two older twin brothers were star 800 meter runners and part of the last Saratoga cross country team to manage a second-place finish at CCS to win a state spot. That was in 2001.
The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League finals were held at Crystal Springs, where all seven girls ran personal records and placed in the top 12 all-time Saratoga runners for the course. They now share those records with runners like Follmar and Ann and Maggie Ricketts.
The CCS finals were held at Toro Park where again the girls all ran personal bests. Possibly the most exciting thing about this team, from Jordan's point of view, is that none of the girls are graduating.
