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Fremont's Danny Douglas soared 45-11 1/4 to finish second in the triple jump at the CCS track and field finals. Douglas earned a berth in the state meet with his performance.

Douglas off to state meet

Fremont jumper second at CCS

By Dick Sparrer

Danny Douglas made it by six inches.

Brian Auch missed by two.

And a Cupertino relay team advances while a Los Gatos relay team does not ... both of their fates decided by less than a second.

That's how close things were when the finest athletes in the area got together for the Central Coast Section track and field championships last Thursday at San Jose City College.

The top three finishers in each event would advance to the state finals June 6-7 in Sacramento. And often, it was the difference of a few inches or a few seconds that meant a state berth, or the end of the season.

The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League actually qualified an impressive field for the state meet.

The SCVAL will send nine girls and six boys to compete in individual events at state, and the league will also send two boys' relay teams and one girls' team to Sacramento.

Fremont's Douglas is among the six boys set to make the state trip, and he qualified with an outstanding effort at the CCS finals last week.

Douglas soared 45-11 1/4 to finish second in the triple jump in the section championships. He had qualified for the finals by finishing fourth in the CCS semifinals with a leap of 45-2 3/4.

Joining Douglas for the state trip will be CCS placers Brian Carson of Gunn (third in the 400 in 48.64), Aaron Bryant of Wilcox (third in the 100 in 10.7), Jason Rudolph of Palo Alto (second in the 800 in 1:54.11), Darren Marble of Los Altos (first in the high jump at 6-10), and Pete Bjorklund of Los Altos (first in the shot put at 58-6).

Cupertino will send its 400-meter relay team to the state meet after the quartet breezed to a third at the CCS finals. Jeff Hesse, Rhan Urbano, David Jackson and Auch teamed to run a 42.54 to nail the state berth. The four had run 43.01 in the CCS semifinals to clinch a spot in the finals.

The SCVAL will also be represented by the boys' 1600-meter relay team from Gunn (first at CCS in 3:18.65) and the girls' 400 relay team from Gunn (first in 48.67).

Rounding out the list of SCVAL athletes who placed at CCS to earn state spots are Stephanie Chavez of Los Gatos (first in the 800 in 2:12.2), Jeanne Fishback of Los Gatos (third in the 1600 in 5:13.01), Colleen Wrenn of Palo Alto (second in the 800 in 2:14.1), Tenesha Webb of Wilcox (third in the 100 in 12.1), Monica Coleman of Gunn (first in the 400 in 55.75), Evelyn Shih of Gunn (first in the triple jump at 37-5 1/4), Jenn Santos of Los Altos (third in the shot put at 38-6), Holly Demeter of Los Altos (second in the high jump at 5-4), and Christine Chan of Mountain View (first in the long jump at 17-10 1/2).

Cupertino will send only its 400 relay team to the state meet, but the Pioneers still had an impressive showing at the CCS finals last week. Cupertino ended up tying for 12th in the boys' division, and the Pioneers had five individuals place among the CCS leaders.

Auch topped the high-jump bar at 6-2 to finish fourth in the CCS field.

Hesse was fifth in a rugged field in the 100, running 10.7 for the Pioneers. He was also sixth in the 200 in 22.25.

Dan McDonough, Nuru Abdella and Celeste Dunlap each placed in the distance events for the Pioneers.

McDonough was sixth in the boys' 3200 meters in 9:36.73, Abdella ended up sixth in the 1600 in 4:23.73, and Dunlap was fifth in the 3200 meters in 11:20.4.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 4, 1997.
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