By Dick Sparrer
Make no mistake about it... the Wildcats are back.
The Los Gatos cross-country teams swept all five divisions at the De Anza Athletic League finals last week at Crystal Springs in Belmont, and in most cases did it in impressive fashion.
The Gatos girls placed five runners in the top 10 and six runners in the top 15 to run away with the varsity championship. The Cats ran up a low 22 points to 65 for runnerup St. Francis.
"This was one of the best overall team efforts in the league finals of any of my great teams through my 18 years," Gatos girls' coach Willie Harmatz said after the meet. "This was the lowest team score in Los Gatos history, and we won by the widest margin in Los Gatos history at any league finals."
But wait... we're not through yet.
The Los Gatos boys stuck four runners in the top 10--actually, in the top six--to romp to the varsity crown. The Cats finished with 37 team points to 59 for second-place Homestead.
Five runners in the top 11 lifted the Gatos boys to the league frosh-soph title, and five runners in the top 10 drove the LG boys to the DAL junior varsity crown.
And just to make it a clean sweep, the Gatos girls put five runners in the top 15 to easily win the junior varsity crown.
"It was fun," Harmatz said with a grin after the finals were over.
And well it should have been.
But the fun really starts for Los Gatos this week when the Wildcats return to the same Crystal Springs course to run for the Central Coast Section championships. The Cats hope to contend for both the boys' and girls' championships in the Nov. 16 meet.
For a while, though, the Wildcats can enjoy a dominating performance at the league finals.
Joseph Carter and Sarah McAleer each finished second in their respective varsity divisions, and Ryan Smith, Cody Darwin and Laura Sund each won league individual titles for the Wildcats.
Carter, just a sophomore, finished second to Dan McDonough of Cupertino in the boys' varsity division. McDonough was first overall in 15:50 with Carter a close second in 15:57.
"He did a great job," Los Gatos boys' coach Steve Barth said of Carter. "His time is the fifth best frosh-soph time in Los Gatos history." Barth figures Carter has a shot at finishing as the top sophomore in the upcoming CCS meet.
Senior Peter Carter, still recuperating from an injury, finished just behind his younger brother, ending up third in 16:12.
"He's almost completely back," Barth said of P. Carter. "Each time out, he makes another step forward."
Sophomore Jedd Martin finished fifth in 16:28 with senior Ben Martin sixth in 16:32 to round out the list of Cats in the top 10. Sophomore Pat Sullivan was 21st in 17:38 with David Landers 27th in 18:20 and David Aidi 32nd in 18:34.
McAleer led the girls' effort for Los Gatos, just right on the heels of Anne Ricketts of Saratoga in the varsity final.
Ricketts was first in 19:05 with McAleer just a foot behind her in the same time.
"She's becoming one of the favorites to win CCS," Harmatz said of McAleer. "Another 50 yards, and she would have won."
Andie Knudsen ended up 13th in 21:03 with Kristin Hoeft 39th in 24:25 for the Cats.
"This effort should put us in the top seven or eight in the state rankings," Harmatz said of the Gatos girls. "And we did this great with no real team competition against us."
Sund led the Gatos girls to the league jv title by finishing first overall in 21:26. The Cats finished with 26 points to 32 for St. Francis.
"She looked confident, strong and motivated," Harmatz said of Sund.
Carol Chen ran third in 22:02 with Krista Ellsworth fourth in 22:07, Stephanie Chavez fifth in 22:12 and Jenny Uhrowczik 13th in 23:06.
Smith was the individual champ in the boys' frosh-soph division, running 17:31 for the Cats. Gatos ended with 31 points to 54 for Saratoga.
"He ran with great confidence and concentration," Barth said of Smith.
Zack Regner finished third in 18:04 with Jeff Ouellet sixth in 18:18, Phil Smith 10th in 18:31 and Jordan Stuhlmueller 11th in 18:39.
Darwin helped Gatos make it a clean sweep. He ran 18:16 to win the boys' jv title and lead the Cats to a team title. Los Gatos ended up with a low 29 points in the division.
Chris Lipp was second in 18:22 with Brian Parker seventh in 18:54, Greg Parker ninth in 19:36 and Peter Hoffman 10th in 19:39.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 13, 1996.
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