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Photography by Candi Wozniak
Los Gatos freshman diver Sara Clark, shown here flying to a 10th-place finish on the three-meter board at the Western Junior Olympic U.S. Diving National Championships in St. Louis, finished second in the one-meter diving event at CCS.
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Swimmers, divers star at CCS
Crowder tops the list of Los Gatos placers
By Dick Sparrer
Many athletes are pleased just to get there when it comes to competition at the Central Coast Section level. But Los Gatos swimmers and divers weren't satisfied with "just getting there" when it came time for the CCS swimming and diving championships last week at the Santa Clara International Swim Center--they had loftier goals.
And swimmers Bobby Crowder and Alix Eastman and divers Sara Clark and Nathan Sheffer realized those goals by placing high in the CCS field at the finals. Crowder, just a sophomore, brought home a first and a third to lead the Gatos boys to a team ninth, and Eastman, a junior, claimed a second and a third to lead the Gatos girls to a 12th. Clark, just a freshman, was second in girls diving and Sheffer, another sophomore, was fourth in boys diving.
Crowder wins
Crowder came through with an impressive showing at CCS. The Gatos soph was first in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 200 individual medley to lead the Wildcats to a team ninth.
Los Gatos ran up 103 team points to gain a place in the CCS top 10. St. Ignatius had 106 points to edge the Cats for eighth overall.
Crowder was the clear winner in the 100 back, clocking at 52.13 to finish ahead of runner-up Bret Stewart of Leland (52.57). Crowder also pulled out a third in the 200 IM. He finished the event that includes all four swimming strokes (back, breast, fly, free) in 1:55.68 for a solid third. Crowder's back and IM times were both good for All-American consideration.
Crowder also teamed with Rich Comeau, Chris Lee and Brett Bannon for a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay in 1:40.13, and he joined with Bannon, Comeau and Adam Mayer for a seventh in the 200 free relay in 1:29.86. Both relay times were good for All-American consideration.
Eastman second
Eastman tied for second in the 200 free in 1:53.76, hitting the wall at the same time as Kiana Taheri of Presentation. The two finished behind Homestead All-American Aphrodite Daphnis, first in 1:50.30.
Eastman came back to claim a third in the 500 free in 4:58.69. All-American Artemis Daphnis of Homestead was the winner in the event in 4:51.41. Both of Eastman's times were good for All-American consideration.
Senior Lisa Cristol was 16th in the 500 free consolation race in 5:24.78. Eastman and Cristol teamed with freshman Marian Roan and soph Kasey Ballard for a 14th in the 400 free relay consolation race in 3:50.85.
Divers star
Freshman Sara Clark and sophomore Nathan Sheffer starred for the Cats in the diving competition held earlier in the week at the Santa Clara International Swim Center.
Clark, the CCS leader after the preliminaries, ended up second in the section in her first season of high school competition.
Clark ran up 209.35 points in the prelims to take the early lead, but was outscored by Valley Christian Jessi Newman in the finals. Newman ran up 311.75 points to finish with 446.65 points overall to claim the CCS title. Clark finished the finals with 304.55 points to end up second with a combined total of 426.35 points. Earlier in the spring, Clark won a medal at the 1999 Western Junior Olympic U.S. Diving National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. Clark finished 10th diving from the three-meter board. She was the only girl from Northern California to medal in her event.
Los Gatos sophomore Jessica Alvarado was 42nd in the CCS diving meet with 67.35 points in the prelims.
Sheffer finished fourth in the boys one-meter diving event. The Gatos soph ran up 426.65 points to nail fourth behind sophomore Adam Peterson of St. Francis (478.95), sophomore Gordon Blukis of Homestead (458.90) and junior Gary Banks of Valley Christian (447.15).
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
