Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Cats qualify for track trials

By Dick Sparrer

Manny Austin was a great high school football player at Los Gatos.

And he was great in track and field, too--he just didn't know it until this year.

Austin decided to give track a try as a senior at Los Gatos, and he displayed the same exceptional talents on the oval that he had on the football field earlier in the school year.

Austin won the long jump, the 110 high hurdles and the 300 intermediate hurdles at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division finals, and he went on to qualify for the Central Coast Section track and field trials with a solid showing in the 300 intermediate hurdles last weekend.

"He's such a great athlete," Los Gatos track coach Butch Lumby said of Austin. "He just shined."

Austin took the long jump with a personal best 21-1 1/4 effort and he breezed to a win in the 110 hurdles in 15.7. He added a first in the 300 intermediates in 40.1 and he ran a leg on the winning mile relay team at league finals.

Austin, Tom Newman and Beebe Rutledge each ran 50.8 legs in the mile relay and Craig Conley came in with a 51.9 to lead the Wildcats to a league title.

The four finished second at the CCS North Regional qualifying meet held last weekend to earn a berth in the CCS trials May 18 at San Jose City College. The CCS finals will be held May 23 at San Jose City.

Austin, Rutledge, Newman and Peter Carter will all compete as individuals at CCS after solid efforts at the qualifying meet last Saturday.

Newman was first in the 800 meters in 1:55.55 with Rutledge second in 1:56.22. Rutledge was also fourth in the 1,600 meters in 4:23.16 with Newman sixth in 4:23.97 and Carter ninth in 4:33.27.

Austin added a fourth in the 300 intermediates in 39.46, leaving Gatos with four individual qualifiers and one relay team for CCS.

Rutledge had earned his place in the qualifying meet with wins in both the 800 and mile at the league finals. The Gatos senior was first in the 800 in 1:56.1 with Newman second in 1:58.7, and he was also first in the mile in 4:31.2 with Newman second in 4:38.2.

Conley came through with a 10.9 to finish second in the 100 for the Wildcats, and Dan McGilvray was first in the discus with a heave of 152-6.

Los Gatos ended up second as a team at the league finals to Los Altos

The Gatos girls, meanwhile, had to settle for third at the league finals behind St. Francis and Gunn. But the Cats still have six girls and two relay teams heading to the CCS trials after qualifying last weekend.

Sophomore Lina Biber-Ferro and junior Rose Sczawinski were each individual champs at the qualifier.

Sczawinski took the 400 meters in 57.91, and Biber-Ferro was first in the 800 in 2:20.11 with Ally Lombardi fourth in 2:20.45 and Amy LaPine fifth in 2:23.82.

Junior Stephanie Chavez raced to a second in the 100 in 12.1 and was fourth in the 200 in 25.33, and Jeanne Fishback was seventh in both the 1,600 meters in 5:28.47 and the 3,200 meters in 11:58.98.

The Wildcats were also fourth in both the 4x100 relay in 49.78 and the 4x400 relay in 4:01.23.

Sczawinski, Biber-Ferro and Lombardi were all champs at the league finals held a week earlier.

Sczawinski took the 400 in 58.50 and was fourth in the 200. Biber-Ferro was tops in the mile in 5:27.2, and Lombardi was first in the 800 in 2:22.5 with Biber-Ferro second in 2:24.4.

Fishback was second in the 2-mile in 12:18 and Chavez was third in both the 100 and 200.

Sczawinski, Chavez, Kelly Lumby and Lombardi teamed for a second in the 4x100 relay in 49.43.

"It was a really good effort all the way through," Lumby said of the relay performance.

Chavez, Biber-Ferro, Lombardi and Sczawinski later joined forces for a second in the 4x400 relay in 4:01.

McGowans qualify

Leigh's brother-sister team of Guy and Cindy McGowan also qualified for the CCS trials.

Guy McGowan romped to a second in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 40.04 at the CCS South qualifying meet at Soquel on Saturday.

Cindy McGowan tied for third in the 100 meters in 12.75, and she helped the Longhorns to an eighth in the 4x100 relay in 50.89.