Photograph by Lea Tauriello
Los Gatos speedster Stephanie Chavez takes the baton to run her leg of the 4x100 relay at the CCS finals. Chavez competed for both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams for Gatos at the state meet. The Wildcats finished ninth and set a new school record in the 4x400 relay.
By Dick Sparrer
Tom Newman has been shooting for 1:54 in the half mile all year.
So once the Los Gatos middle distance got there, he wasn't about to slide back.
Newman reached his goal when he ran 1:54.4 at the Central Coast Section finals. The time was a lifetime best and good for third in the CCS. That meant a trip to the state meet.
And Newman made the most of his trip to state by running 1:54 again--not once, but twice.
Newman cruised to a lifetime-best 1:54.17 in the trials, then backed that up with a 1:54.35 in the finals to claim an impressive sixth-place finish for the Wildcats.
Newman capped an outstanding high school running career by placing in the state meet last weekend at Cerritos College in Norwalk in Southern California.
Newman and the girls' 4x400 relay team each placed in the state finals for Los Gatos. In all, Gatos sent nine Wildcats to state competition, and Newman's showing was the best of all.
"Tom did a beautiful job," coach Butch Lumby said of Newman's showing. "His race to get into the finals was outstanding."
Newman had to pass CCS champ Kareem Morrell to qualify for the finals, and he did. He made the most of his opportunity in the finals by placing sixth overall.
"His last 165 [meters] in both races, just put it in another gear," Lumby said. "He accelerated, and you could just see the determination."
Newman has made steady improvement in the half mile. His best time as a sophomore was 2:04 and he ran 2:00 as a junior. This year he pulled his time down to 1:54.
"He worked so hard," Lumby said of Newman, "and his hard work paid off."
Newman's good friend and workout partner, Beebe Rutledge, just missed making the finals in the 800. Rutledge ran 1:54.45 to finish 10th in his heat. Only the top nine advance to the finals.
Rutledge was running in a heat that produced a national record. Michael Granville of Bell Gardens, who ended up winning the state title in 1:50.68, set a national record of 1:46.6 in the trials.
It was a bit of a disappointing finish for Rutledge, but the talented Gatos senior still has one race left. Rutledge set a school record of 1:51.6 in the Arcadia Invitational, and that time has earned him a place in the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento on June 8.
Newman and Rutledge teamed with Craig Conley and Manny Austin to run the 4x400 relay at the state meet. The foursome ran 3:23.01, but failed to qualify for the finals.
The Gatos girls qualified for the finals in the 4x400 relay, though, and they ended up ninth overall in the school record time of 3:51.84.
Stephanie Chavez ran a lifetime best split of 56.6 to lead the Wildcats to the ninth-place finish. Ally Lombardi (57.6), Lina Biber-Ferro (59.2) and Rose Sczawinski (57.9) rounded out the quartet. Lombardi and Biber-Ferro each ran lifetime best splits.
It was an impressive achievement for the foursome. They set the school record in the CCS finals (3:53.14), broke it in state trials (3:52.84) and broke it again in state finals.
"The last three times they ran, they were under the old school record," Lumby said.
The 4x100 relay of Lombardi, Chavez, Kelly Lumby and Sczawinski ran 48.66 at the state meet, just off the school record-setting 48.3 they ran at the CCS finals.
Lombardi ran 2:16.22 in the 800 meters and missed qualifying for the finals by half a step.
"She did a fantastic job going from the sprints and quarter to the quarter and half this year," Lumby said of Lombardi. "It's quite an adjustment, and she really handled it well."
Biber-Ferro ran 2:17.61 in the 800 and Sczawinski ran 58.12 in the 400.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, June 5, 1996.
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