Jones opened the year with a win at the Lynbrook Invitational, then backed that up with a second at the Firebird Invitational at Fremont.

Jones led the Wildcats to a team second at the Firebird. Milpitas recorded a low 48 points to win the team championship, and Gatos was second with 80 points.

Jones covered the 2.1-mile course in 11:47 to finish second overall and spearhead the Los Gatos effort. Carolyn Penner was sixth in 12:32, with Ali Rubnitz 15th in 13:15, Allison Lemon 26th in 13:47 and Emily Gordon 31st in 13:58.

In the same meet, Nathan Young was 21st in 11:04 to lead the Gatos boys varsity to a team seventh. Greg Geldman was 25th in 11:10, with Taylor DeSantis 43rd in 11:30, Marcus Huynh 51st in 11:39 and Sean Bardes 73rd in 12:07.

Ariana Nicewonger was second in 13:23 to lead the Los Gatos girls junior varsity team to a team second. Stephanie Girsback was sixth in 14:25, with Sanishya Fernando 11th in 14:34, Becky Chappell 14th in 14:56 and Caitlin Phelps 24th in 15:34.

Steven Whitham was 18th in 12:44 for the Wildcats in the boys junior varsity division.

A week earlier, Jones had starred at Lynbrook, running 13:28.4 over the 2.1-mile course to finish first overall.

Penner ran second in 13:31.1, with Erica Williams third in 13:38.2, Shana Ravel fifth in 13:54.3 and Rubnitz seventh in 14:34.4. Lemon ended up 12th in 14:48.8, with Gordon 20th in 15:04.1.

"What an incredible season opener for this team," said Los Gatos girls coach Monica Townsend. "I asked the group to run as a pack for the first mile to mile and a half. What a sight to see our top seven running together through the first mile in third through ninth place, looking calm, cool and collected."

Jones' winning time was the sixth fastest ever on the course and the second fastest ever for a freshman, said Townsend.

The Gatos girls also excelled in the JV competition, with Nicewonger finishing first in 14:35.8, Stephanie Wilcox second in 14:39.0, Ashley Harris fourth in 15:17.1, Girsback sixth in 16:04.7, Chappell ninth in 16:22 and Fernando 10th in 16:27.3.

"Ariana and Stephanie worked together the whole race to beat the Lynbrook girls in the end," said Townsend. "They showed great strength, competitiveness and speed."

The Los Gatos boys, meanwhile, were led by Young, who finished sixth in 11:50.5. Geldman was seventh in 11:53.2, with DeSantis 10th in 12:09.4.

"This team is going to be a lot of fun to watch develop over the next few years," said Los Gatos boys coach Thomas Newman. "They are very talented and they know how to work hard."

"I'm really happy with this team," added the coach. "It's young, but they have what it takes to be one of the best."

In other action at Lynbrook, Huynh won the boys JV race for Gatos in 12:55.3, and Ian Douglass was fourth in the frosh-soph division in 12:53.4, with teammate Don Gaspar ninth in 13:07.8.

Young finished eighth in 11:01.2, with Geldman 13th in 11:07.6 to lead the Los Gatos boys varsity to a team fourth at the Saratoga Invitational. DeSantis ran 11:33.7 on the 2-mile course for 22nd, with Huynh 34th in 12:03.6 and Gaspar 36th in 12:06.1.

Wilcox won the girls JV race in 13:50.5 to lead the Cats to a team title. Nicewonger was third in 13:55.9, with Fernando sixth, Girsback seventh and Chappell eighth. All five runners are freshmen.

Bardes was fifth in 11:43.5 for the Cats in the boys frosh-soph race. Alex Hudson was 10th, with Seth Smart 17th, Michael Floyd 19th and Travis Livingstone 30th.

Walter Prows was 22nd for the Cats in the boys JV class.