Saratoga News

Sports

Dolbec jumps with the best, but settles for third

By Mike Barnhart

Nobody jumped higher than Saratoga high jumper Kierston Dolbec during the girls competition at the 28th Central Coast Top 8 Track and Field Classic last Friday night at Los Gatos High.

But two other athletes, including practice partner Helena Montin of Monta Vista, did jump as high as Dolbec. And, because the opponents needed fewer attempts to negotiate the various heights during the contest, the 5-foot-11 Falcon sophomore had to settle for third place.

After all three girls cleared 5-3, then missed on three tries at 5-5, Janelle Coulter, a junior from Aptos, was declared the winner. The 5-3 mark was a personal best for Montin, who joins Dolbec for regular workouts under the tutelage of Saratoga coach Darrin Garcia.

Dolbec entered the meet with a season best of 5-6, attained early in the season at the K-Bell Track Classic on the same Los Gatos surface. Prospect's Kristin Rimbach, the Central Coast Section leader with a leap of 5-8 at the K-Bell, did not compete at the Top 8 meet.

Nicole Sliva, an Archbishop Mitty junior, placed fourth with a leap of 5-1. Westmont sophomore Christine Ristow was sixth at the same height.

Aptos, behind double winner Stephanie LeFever (both horizontal jumps) and Coulter, won the team title with 46 points. Milpitas, sparked by sprinter Eileen Nguyen's three second-place efforts, was second with 43, two ahead of Los Altos. Mitty, led by Renisha Robinson's win in the 800, scored 33 points, just 1.5 ahead of fifth-place Los Gatos.

Athletes from 36 different schools scored points in the girls competition. Monta Vista and Leland shared sixth place with 27 points. Saratoga scored 14 points, sharing 12th place with Soquel, Pinewood and San Lorenzo Valley.

Westmont's Ristow ran second in the 300 hurdles with a PR of 46.23 and anchored the Warriors' 1,600 relay to 4:21.14, about three seconds faster than its prior best.

Saratoga junior Nicole Sabes, who was fifth in the 800 with 2:19.01, anchored the Falcons' 400 relay team to a season best of 51:11. Rachel Sabes, Sarah Guy, Maddie Block teamed up with N. Sabes to take second in their heat and eighth overall.

The Sabes sisters also helped the 1,600-relay team place third with a season best of 4:03.82.

Sophomore Katie Nast ran 11:31.98 for 14th in the 3,200, after coming back from a 5:21.82 effort and 15th in the 1,600.

Bellarmine, which won both relays and received outstanding performances from thrower Stephen Powell and sprinters Thomas Phillips and Kevin Gonzales, captured first place in the boys team standings with 87 points. Los Gatos was second with 54, five ahead of third-place Evergreen Valley. Led by triple winner Reggie Topps (100, 200, long jump), North Monterey County of Castroville placed fourth with 40 points.

Saratoga senior Bradley Jacobs finished sixth in the 3,200-meter run. Coming off his best 1,600 race of the season (4:30.13) a week earlier at the Hampton-Phillips Invitational at San Jose City College, Jacobs finished the Top 8 eight-lapper in 9:41.36, about 12 seconds behind winner Rigo Vasquez of San Benito. Although he did not hit a PR in the race, Jacobs did hold off Willow Glen's Marcos Corona down the home stretch for sixth place. It was Corona who won the 1,600 event earlier in the meet. He also won the Hampton-Phillips 1,600, helping pull Jacobs and several other runners to PR times.

Westmont hurdler Marko Vatavuk posted his best times of the season in the 110 highs and the 300 intermediates. His 15.72 earned fourth place in the highs, just ahead of Lynbrook junior Eric Suprenant (17.12), who placed seventh. Vatavuk ran 42.56 for ninth in the 300.

Lynbrook senior Sameer Thadani ran 23.06 to place fifth in the 200 meters. Earlier, his 11.36 dash in the 100 claimed second in his heat and sixth overall.

Saratoga's frosh-soph boys team placed fourth at the Top 8 meet with 26 points. Sophomore Alan Menezes led the way with a triumph in the 1,600. Menezes lowered his PR by more than five seconds, clocking 4:34.31. Sophomore teammate Kian Banks (4:34.82) and Lynbrook freshman Luca Signore (4:36.84) also notched PRs, placing third and fifth, respectively.

Menezes came back to take fourth in the 800 in 2:04.63. Sophomore Gene Burinskiy was fifth in 2:06.83 and Banks was eighth in 2:07.30.

Falcon sophomore Nick Olsen placed ninth in the frosh-soph 3,200 with 10:21.45.