Martin, Beritzhoff lead the Cats to cross-country wins

By Dick Sparrer

No one could keep up with Los Gatos at the cross-country finals in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League held on Halloween Day.

The Wildcats completed the trick of winning three of five league championships and finishing second in the other two divisions, and there were plenty of treats in the process for the Gatos runners.

Russ Martin, Michelle Beritzhoff, Kristi Yackle and Jason Yuki were each league champions for Los Gatos, and no less than 10 Wildcats won all-league honors in varsity competition by finishing among the top 10 in girls and boys action.

Los Gatos put six runners in the top 10 in the boys varsity division and five in the top 10 in girls competition to easily win both league titles.

Martin claimed his second straight league championship by running 15:24 on the 2.95-mile course to finish first. Tomas Viramontes was second in 15:27 with Matt Bates third in 15:37.

"That was the best threesome ever [at Crystal Springs]," said Los Gatos coach Willie Harmatz.

But the Wildcats didn't stop there. Greg Tolan ran a "great race" to finish fourth in 16:16, Darren Key was seventh in 16:49 and Jeff Hoeft finished eighth in 16:57. Clay McKell finished 20th in 18:14.

The effort helped the Cats run up a low 17 points to finish well ahead of their nearest rival Saratoga, second with 61 points.

"We won by the widest margin in Los Gatos history," said Harmatz of the 44-point spread. "This was the second lowest score and second best team time in school history."

The league championship was the ninth straight for Los Gatos and the 15th in the last 16 years. Martin, Viramontes, Bates, Tolan and Key each claimed all-league honors with their top 10 finishes.

The Wildcats will return to the same Crystal Springs course on Nov. 11 for the Central Coast Section finals.

But the Gatos boys won't be alone. The girls will be there, too, after winning their 17th league crown in the last 18 years.

"This was a big win for us," said Harmatz after the girls claimed five of the first six places in the league. "We had an excellent grouping between our No. 2 and No. 5 girls."

"If we run this well at CCS," he added, "we'll win that too!"

Beritzhoff led the charge for the Wildcats. The junior sensation finished first in 18:34 to lead the incredible Gatos finish. Lynsey Harris was third in 19:51 with Jen Rubnitz fourth in 20:02, Ashley Caldwell fifth in 20:06 and Erica Williams sixth in 20:08. All five won all-league honors for their efforts.

Marisa Teel ended up 17th in 21:26 with Mallory Thornton 23rd in 22:44 to round out the superb Los Gatos showing.

The Gatos finished with a low 19 points to 43 for runnerup St. Francis.

"This was the lowest score in Los Gatos history," said the coach. "We had all girls run a personal record at Crystal. And it was the first time all top five girls made all-league."

It marked the third all-league showing for Harris, who is just a junior.

Harmatz indicated that Rubnitz, Caldwell and Williams all "came through big" for the Cats.

"[Rubnitz] is our most consistent and most improved runner," said the coach. "[Caldwell] really came through for us after being sick last week, and [Williams] was battling sore legs but stepped it up for a big PR."

Of course, it was Beritzhoff who led the Los Gatos effort, and Harmatz expects more of the same from the talented junior at CCS this week.

Yackle will join the varsity effort at CCS this week after winning the girls junior varsity title at the leadgue meet. The freshman ran 21:08 to claim her title. Shannon Kehrig was third in 21:46 with Ashley Harris 14th in 23:04, Laura Rossmassler 22nd in 23:31 and Whitney Harper 28th in 23:58.

The Gatos girls finished second to St. Francis in the division.

Yuki was the boys JV champion, running 18:39 for the Cats. Steve Walton finished second in 18:41 with Mike Rossmassler third in 18:54, Will Lampe fifth in 19:09, Nelson Bitter sixth in 19:18 and Michael Bitter seventh in 19:22.

The six top 10 finishers made the Cats easy winners in the division. Los Gatos finished with 17 team points to 55 for Saratoga.

The Wildcats had to settle for second in the boys frosh-soph division. Lynbrook had 39 points to win the title with Gatos second at 52.

Randy West finished third overall in 18:33 with Chris Parides fourth in 18:51. Steve Witham finished ninth in 19:15, Tyler DeSantis 15th in 20:01 and Marcus Huynh 20th in 20:19.

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