Fontes runs in division's top 10

Young Firebirds finish third place in boys team standings

By Dick Sparrer

No one could keep up with Los Gatos at the cross country finals in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League on Halloween Day.

But while the Wildcats were completing the trick of winning three of five league championships and finishing second in the other two divisions, there were plenty of treats to go around for the other teams in the De Anza Division field.

Saratoga finished second to Los Gatos in two races and added an impressive third in the girls varsity division behind the Wildcats and St. Francis, and Lynbrook managed to win a team title in the boys junior varsity race.

What's more, Lynbrook, Saratoga, Fremont, Monta Vista and Cupertino all had runners place among the top 10 in varsity competition.

Senior Jacob Christopherson and junior David La of Saratoga, junior Jeff Whitsett of Lynbrook and senior Eric Fontes of Fremont each won all-league honors by placing in the top 10 in the boys varsity race.

Christopherson covered the 2.95-mile course at Crystal Springs in Belmont in 16:37 to finish fifth overall and lead the Falcons to a team second behind the Wildcats.

Gatos ran up a low 17 points to win the team title, but Saratoga was a solid second with 61 points. Fremont was third at 89 with Cupertino fourth (104), Monta Vista fifth (119), Lynbrook sixth (122) and Homestead second (209).

Fontes led Fremont to a team third at the finals by clinching all-league honors with a ninth-place finish. Fontes ran 16:57 for the Firebirds.

Freshman Randal Polgar ran a solid 17:45 to claim 14th place for the Firebirds with sophomore Casey McCleary 17th in 18:06, freshman Austin Sardella 21st in 18:20 and junior Vince Klumper 28th in 18:54. The strong showing by the underclassmen bodes well for the future of cross country at Fremont.

Junior Joseph Fezzideh was the top Homestead finisher, claiming 31st overall in 19:00. Teammates Keith McLaughlin (42nd) and Alan Lee (43rd) were close behind.

Los Gatos and St. Francis dominated the girls varsity race, combining for eight finishers in the top 10.

But Monta Vista's Megumi Takahashi and Cupertino's Amy Wong kept the Cats and Lancers from sweeping all-league honors.

Takahashi, a junior, was seventh in 20:09 for the Matadors and Wong, also a junior, was ninth in 20:44.

Freshman Rebecca Boyle was the top Homestead finisher, nailing 29th in 22:57. Frosh Stephanie Skidmore was 44th for the Mustangs with Amy Stoddard 45th and Angel Huang 46th.

Senior Thuyen Kim led the Fremont effort, finishing 30th in 23:11. Kassy Korobkova was 39th, Amentha Hordogoda 40th, Andrea Ancona 41st and Christine Su 43rd for the Firebirds.

Saratoga was second to Gatos in the boys junior varsity race. Ian Kolb was fourth in 18:58 to lead the Falcons.

Robert Cooper of Fremont finished 10th in 19:42 with Edward Alabanza 19th, Mike Parenteal 27th, David Nguyen 38th and Joel Roman 58th.

Freshman Chris Deal was first in 18:00 to lead the Lynbrook boys frosh-soph team to a league championship.

Fremont's Chris Miguel was 12th in the boys f-s division in 19:39. Dennis Campos was 13th overall with Roberto Ito 21st, Joseph Seo 30th and Inagaki Masataka 31st.

Danny Gamboa led Homestead, finishing 38th in 22:24.

In the girls JV division, Los Gatos and St. Francis dominated the top 10, but Andrea Bishop of Monta Vista finished 13th to lead the Matadors to a team third.

Junior Shruti Pathak was 55th in the race for Fremont in 27:10.

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