Photograph by Robert Scheer
Los Gatos senior Beebe Rutledge ran to a victory in the 1,600 meters at the CCS Top 8 Classic. A week earlier, Rutledge smashed the school record in the 800 meters at the Arcadia Invitational.
By Dick Sparrer
Only the best were there... the cream of the crop.
It was the Central Coast Section Top 8 Track and Field Classic, and only the athletes with the best marks in the CCS this spring were invited to compete in the meet on the Los Gatos track.
How tough was the Friday-night field? Well, the meet produced a national best, five meet records and seven CCS top marks.
St. Francis junior Damesha Craig had the top mark of the night. Craig, the daughter of former San Francisco 49ers superstar Roger Criag, covered the 100 in 11.3, a national best this season.
But Craig was just one of the many stars in the prestigious CCS Top 8 field.
Los Gatos had a big night running on its home track. Beebe Rutledge and Lina Biber-Ferro each ran to victories to lead a long list of Gatos placers in the Top 8 event.
Rutledge, a senior star for the Wildcats, won the 1,600 meters in 4:19.7, just a week after setting a new school record in the 800 at the Arcadia Invitational.
Rutledge had crushed the school's 800-meter record the week before. His 1:51.6 at Arcadia broke the record of 1:53.6 set by Scott Oliver in 1980.
"It was an amazing race," Gatos distance coach Willie Harmatz said of Rutledge's Arcadia effort. "We had been talking about the race for months, planning for a major breakthrough effort."
"His confidence was really high and he was set to run the race of his life," Harmatz added. "He kept himself in great position for the first 600, and came off the curve looking like he was sprinting the last straight of a 400."
Rutledge's Arcadia time ranks fourth in the state and sixth in the nation. And his time in the 1,600 at the Top 8 ranks fifth on the all-time list at Los Gatos.
Rutledge led a solid Los Gatos finish in the 1,600 at the Top 8. Tom Newman was second in 4:23.6 and Peter Carter was fifth in 4:30.3 to give the Cats three finishers in the top five.
Newman added a fourth in the 800 meters in 1:55.1 for the Cats, and he joined with Rutledge, Manny Austin and Craig Conley for a second in the 1,600-meter relay in 3:21.7.
Austin was also third in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 39.92, a personal best for the Gatos speedster. The time was good for third on the all-time LG list.
The Los Gatos girls were equally as impressive in the Top 8 meet, with Biber-Ferro leading the way.
Biber-Ferro, a sophomore, was a winner in the 800 meters in 2:17.8 with teammate Ally Lombardi a very close second in 2:17.9. The two later joined with Stephanie Chavez and Kelly Lumby for a second in the 1,600-meter relay in 4:04.3.
Biber-Ferro bettered her own season best in the 800. She had run 2:20.6 in Arcadia to edge out Lombardi, who ran a 2:20.7. Both trimmed seconds off their times last weekend.
Chavez had quite a night at the Top 8, too. The Gatos sophomore was third in the 200 in 25.74 and fourth in the 100 in 12.2. She also teamed with Lumby, Lombardi and Rose Sczawinski for a first in the 400 relay in 49.4.
Leigh's Cinty McGowan of Leigh place in two events at the Top 8. She tied for fifth in the 100 in 12.4 and finished eighth in the 200 in 26.45.
In the frosh-soph division, Leigh's Guy McGowan breezed to a pair of CCS Top 8 victories. McGowan took the 65-meter high hurdles in 9.04 and added a win in the 300 intermediates in 40.46.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, May 1, 1996.
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