Photograph by Aaron Suozzi
Distance star Michael Wolman of Homestead, accepting a medal in an early season meet, ended up fourth in the individual standings at the SCVAL cross-country finals last week.
By DICK SPARRER
Everyone knew that Los Gatos was the favorite heading into the De Anza Athletic League cross- country finals.
But that didn't keep Saratoga and Cupertino from winning titles!
Oh, the Wildcats dominated in the team competition, sweeping all five team championships in the competition. But the Falcons and Pioneers were able to run off with titles--individual titles in the two varsity divisions.
Anne Ricketts of Saratoga and Dan McDonough of Cupertino raced to individual championships on the 2.95-mile course at Crystal Springs in Belmore.
By winning the titles, the two De Anza runners figure among the individual favorites at the upcoming Central Coast Section championships. The CCS finals will be held Nov. 16 on the same Crystal Springs course.
McDonough covered the distance in 15:48 to finish nine seconds ahead of Joseph Carter of Los Gatos in last week's boys' final, and Ricketts finished in 19:05 to nose out Sarah McAleer of Los Gatos at the finish gate.
Ricketts and McAleer actually stopped the watch at the same seconds, but the Saratoga sophomore managed to win by just a foot. She opened up with a 6:08 first mile and led all the way, holding off McAleer in the final stretch to clinch the win. Ricketts ran a personal best to get the victory.
Ricketts gave the Falcons the No. 1 spot in the girls' race, but Los Gatos finished two-three-four-five on the road to the team title.
Cupertino's Stacey Dunlap covered the distance in 20:08 to finish sixth overall, just four seconds behind Sarah High of Los Gatos.
A second behind Dunlap was sophomore Mary Lucido of Homestead, seventh in 20:09.
Jennifer Nguyen of Monta Vista was 10th in 20:55 with Jenny Koslov of Cupertino 12th in 21:03.
Los Gatos ran up a low 22 points to take the league title with St. Francis second at 65, Monta Vista third at 89 and Saratoga fourth at 102. Cupertino was a close fifth at 103.
McDonough starred in the boys' division, winning the event in 15:48. The Cupertino standout held off the Los Gatos onslaught led by Carter, who finished second in 15:57.
Senior Michael Wolman of Homestead ran strong, finishing fourth in 16:22. He finished in the middle of a pack of four Los Gatos runners.
J.J. Sclar of Cupertino was seventh in 16:43 with Paul Neves of Lynbrook close behind in eighth in 16:45. Matt Hovik of Homestead was 10th overall in 16:55.
Los Gatos won the title with 37 points with Homestead second at 57, Monta Vista third at 82 and Cupertino fourth at 84.
All top 10 finishers in the varsity division earn berths in the upcoming CCS finals.
In other divisions at the finals, Los Gatos won the boys' frosh-soph crown with 31 points. Saratoga was second at 54 with Monta Vista third at 59, and Fremont fourth fourth at 85. The Gatos boys also won the JV title with Monta Vista second and Saratoga third.
In the girls' JV division, Los Gatos was first at 30 points with St. Francis second at 32, Saratoga third at 97 and Monta Vista fourth at 179.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 13, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.