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Sometimes you find heroes in the most unlikely places. And with top sophomore runner Jill Goodwin out with a sore knee, the Los Gatos girls cross country team found not only one, but two in their time of need.
Junior Ariana Nicewonger and freshman Kaela Townsend stepped up for the Wildcats in the Mt. SAC Invitational on Oct. 2223.
"The Mt SAC Invitational lauds itself as the biggest and best high school cross country invitational in the nation," said Los Gatos coach Monica Townsend.
The 3-mile race had more than 16,500 competitors in all, but the Wildcats would not be intimidated. The Cats' combined efforts earned them a tie for first place with Woodbridge, a ranked Southern California team, and they also defeated Foothill-Santa Ana, who is also ranked.
The total time for this Los Gatos team (102:12) was 2:16 faster than last year, an average of 27 seconds faster per girl.
The leaders for the Wildcats were Nicewonger (seventh in 19:13) and Townsend (eighth in 19:18), both bettering the school record for this race.
Following Nicewonger and Townsend were junior Jacqui Kemp (23rd in 19:50) and sophomore Samantha Peppard (25th in 19:59).
The final point scorer for the Cats was able to shave 38 seconds off of her time from last year. Sophomore Kristy Barker (20:36) ran to a 45th-place finish overall, giving Los Gatos the tie for first. Senior Allie Lemon (67th in 21:10) also ran strong for the Cats.
Los Gatos came back on Nov. 2 to compete in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division finals and finished second to Cupertino on the familiar 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course. Impressively, six girls from Los Gatos finished in the top 20.
Nicewonger (19:22) led the pack once again with a sixth-place finish. Townsend (19:31) followed closely behind in seventh.
Goodwin (19:45) returned from her sore knee to come home with ninth overall and Kemp (19:49) followed right behind in 10th. Barker (16th in 20:44) and Peppard (17th in 20:54) also finished strong.
Like the girls, the Los Gatos boys also came home with a team second at the league finals, finishing behind Monta Vista.
Sophomore Matthew Petrillo (16:31) was the first to finish for the Wildcats, coming in fourth overall. Right behind Petrillo was junior Seth Smart (fifth in 16:43) with senior Sean Bardes (ninth in 17:03), sophomore Jimmy Jatho (13th in 17:09), sophomore Jon Berthet (19th in 17:15) and freshman Michael Johnson (20th in 17:21).
The Monta Vista, Los Gatos, Saratoga and Fremont boys all qualified for the Central Coast Section meet. The event is set is set for Nov. 13 at Toro Park in Salinas.
The top four girls teams were Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monta Vista and Saratoga.
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