Aimonetti comes up a foot short in the shot
By Dick Sparrer
It doesn't take much to separate first from second place in a track and field meet.
And Westmont's Chris Aimonetti found out just how little it can be when he competed at the Hampton-Phillips Invitational on April 20 at Silver Creek High School in East San Jose.
Aimonetti heaved the shot put an impressive 49-0.5, only to come up a foot short in his bid for a gold medal.
Jeff Brongiel of Piedmont Hills won the event by a single foot with a 50-0.5 effort. It made Brongiel a double winner since he whirled the discus 173-09 for another victory.
But it was also a good day for Westmont in the weight events. Aimonetti came through with a second and fourth in the weights, and Robert Jennings finished with a second and 10th. Teammate Garreth Gorman also finished among the leaders with a seventh in the shot.
Aimonetti backed up his second-place shot put effort with a 150-1 showing to nail fourth place in the discus.
Jennings was second in the discus for the Warriors with a toss of 155-9. He was also 10th in the shot put at 41-4.
Gorman put the shot 42-10 to finish seventh, and Prospect's Tony Barba was close behind at 42-5 to tie for eighth. Evan Prowten of Prospect was 10th in the discus at 125-10.
Del Mar's Nick Clinton raced to a second in the 800 meters in 2:01.15, and Alan Potter soared to a third in the pole vault at 13-0 to lead the effort for the Dons in the meet.
Ferman Smith of Prospect flew to a second in the high jump at 6-0 and Austin Day was fourth in the 200 meters in 22.92 for the Panthers.
In girls varsity action, Del Mar had a big day with a second place and two thirds.
Evi Odle flew to a second in the girls pole vault at 9-0, with teammate Reka Lassu third at 9-0, and Lassu added a third in the 400 in 1:11.02 for the Dons. Heather Gornitzka added an eighth in the 400 in 1:01.70.
Prospect's Lacey Johnson romped to a third-place finish in the 1,600 in 5:26.64. Edna Hamulic was fifth in the 400 in 1:12.15 for the Panthers, with teammate Christie O'Hara seventh in 1:17.52. Becky Palm ran 13th in the 1,600 in 5:42.32.
Tom Morrissey won the discus and Chris Little placed in a pair of events to lead the Del Mar showing in the boys frosh-soph division.
Morrissey whirled the platter 131-7 for a victory, and Little was third in the 110-meter high hurdles in 18.54 and fourth in the pole vault at 10-6.
In dual meet action later in the week, Westmont lost in boys and girls action to Oak Grove.
The boys dropped a 72-54 nod to the Eagles, despite getting two wins apiece from Kevin Willis and Robert Jennings, and the girls lost 75-52 to Oak Grove, even though Ashley Mamola ran to a pair of firsts.
Willis romped to a win in the 800 meters in 2:15.18 and won the 1,600 in 4:56 for the Warriors, and Jennings took the high jump at 5-4 and the discus at 139-1.
Burt Codera added a first in the long jump at 20-1, and Aimonetti took the shot put at 46-9.
Mamola raced to wins in both hurdle events for the girls, winning the 100 hurdles in 16.06 and the 300 hurdles in 49.25.
Also winning events for the Warriors were Sandy Luong, first in the 1,600 meters in 5:50; Amanda Horowitz, first in the shot put at 32-9; and Rebecca Sul, first in the discus at 90-5.
Campbell, California
