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Melissa Grelli of Presentation got a dose of déjà vu when she crossed the finish line at San Jose City College last Friday night. For the second straight year, Grelli finished second in 3,200-meter run in the Central Coast Section championships and qualified for the state meet in Norwalk next week. Ruth Graham of Gunn won this year's CCS title.
Though Grelli's time of 10:49.74 pales in comparison to the personal-best of 10:36.68 she ran last year, she still found reason to be optimistic.
"Last year I had tapered off more before CCS," said Grelli. "But I peaked in CCS and then crashed in the state meet. We aren't fully done with our tapering, so hopefully I'll get a personal-best time at state."
As for Friday, Grelli was satisfied with her time because she had been under a lot of stress due to her school finals this week. She had actually completed her last day of school before running in the 3,200 that night.
Grelli said she was tired from finals. Nevertheless, she approached the race with a competitive attitude.
"I thought we were going to go out faster than we did," said Grelli. "We ran a slow mile (5:29) so we had to pick up the pace. Then I lost my concentration and let Ruth get away from me."
Willow Glen's Cristina Diaz said the 3,200 was a very physical race. About halfway through the race, Diaz said she hurt her groin after being kicked from behind by another runner. She finished 12th in 11:44.29.
Other local standouts last Friday included Presentation's Krisha De La Fuente, who placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 117-8, and Mandy Williams, who raced to fourth in the 800 in 2:15.53.
Del Mar
Stevie Odle earned her school its only team points by finishing fourth in the pole vault after clearing 11-0.
Though Odle placed fourth in the CCS finals for the second-straight year (one spot shy of qualifying for the state meet), she was satisfied with her performance because she had not been clearing 11-0 most of the season.
Her teammate Reka Lassu vaulted 10-0 to finish eighth.
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File photograph