Afterwards, with all of the pole vaulting done and a gold medal in his pocket, the Los Gatos High senior was all smiles.

"I came here to get it done," Little said moments after claiming the section title in the twilight at San Jose City College and earning a berth in the California state meet June 4­5 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.

Little's winning vault was 15-0, three inches shy of his personal best accomplished at the CCS Top 8 Meet in late April, but four inches better than runner-up Casey Roche of St. Francis. Little's best mark at CCS also was well short of his ambitions.

"I would've liked to have gone higher—15-6 or 16," said Little, who cleared 13-6 and finished tied for fourth in 2003. As a sophomore, competing for Del Mar in 2002, Little placed 21st in the CCS trials.

Little's victory, combined with a fourth-place effort by the 4x400 relay team and a fifth-sixth shot put finish by senior Danny Starick and junior Deven Lopez, gave the Wildcats 17 points and a tie for 10th place in the team competition.

Santa Clara won its first CCS track and field crown with 40 points. Lynbrook took second with 32 points and St. Francis was third with 30.

The boys relay team finished in 3:21.92, more than three seconds better than they did the previous week at the section trials.

Starick and Lopez switched places from their trials efforts. Starick finished fifth in the finals with a heave of 52-11, a big improvement over his 50-4 qualifying mark and just one foot behind third-place James McCluskey of Palo Alto. Lopez took sixth in the finals, improving from 50-7 to 52-5.

Chad Blanchard came through with a seventh in the 800 meters in 1:58.

The Los Gatos girls, led by senior sprinter Ali Dodson, scored 22 1/3 points and finished seventh in the team scoring. Mitty ran away with the girls team title, scoring 66 1/3 points.

The girls 4x400 relay unit of Caroline Stege, Samantha Peppard, Ashley Benson and Dodson, ran a blazing 3:59.03 for second place and a state berth. They will join Little in Sacramento, as will high jumper Michelle Johnson.

Little cleared 15 feet on his first try, before missing three attempts at 15-3. He also cleared 13-6, 14-0, 14-4 and 14-8 on the road to the CCS title, but he had several misses along the way.

"My step was kind of off today," Little explained, "but I have good endurance."

Little, who credits pole vaulting guru Bob Slover with giving him a foundation at Del Mar and praises coach Tom Newman for helping him since his arrival at Los Gatos during his junior year, hopes to continue his vaulting career at Brigham Young University.

"I will walk on, probably redshirt the first year, and try to earn a scholarship," said Little about his plans after graduation.

For now, Little will try to take care of business in Sacramento.

For the Los Gatos girls, the meet wasn't quite what they were hoping for.

"It was a bittersweet night for the Los Gatos girls this year," admitted head coach Monica Townsend. "They finished seventh as a team, which was pretty good considering."

The night started out with disappointment when a nagging foot injury forced top-ranked senior pole vaulter Sally Stanton to settle for fourth place at 11-0, a place short of state qualification.

"She has been battling severe foot pain for the past five weeks, hampering her training," said Townsend. "She's been competing through the pain, resting when possible."

But after clearing 10-6 and 11-0, the pain in her foot proved to be just too much.

"The pain set in hard and constant," said Townsend, "so for her attempts at 11-6 she just couldn't get her run down."

Johnson, a junior, cleared 5-4 in the high jump to tie for fourth. Since the CCS sends seven girls to state in the event, Johnson will make the trip to Sacramento.

Dodson barely missed a state berth in her specialty, the 400 meters, but she will make the trip to Sacramento with Stege, Peppard and Benson in the 4x400 relay.

The quartet ran its fastest time of the year at 3:59.03 to finish second in the relay. It was a 57.9 anchor leg by Dodson that helped Gatos clinch second and the state spot.

Dodson, who ran 25.81 to finish seventh in the 200, was fourth in the 400 in 56.98, finishing just .02 seconds out of a state qualifying berth.

The foursome of Cheryl Parkman, Dodson, Mary Gonzales and Jaimee Erickson teamed to finish fourth in the 4x100 relay in 49.17.

Peppard, just a freshman, added a sixth in the 800 in 2:18.79 for the Wildcats.