|
Chicago is a long way to go to lose, so it's a good thing that the Los Gatos Athletic Association cross country team came away with a victory in the Junior Olympic Nationals on Dec. 11.
Los Gatos made the long trip to the Windy City and, while posting the second best team time in the race, the girls finished third overall. However, if the times for all eight girls on the team had to be taken into account, then Los Gatos would have finished first in the nation. With a third-place finish as a team, the locals became team All-Americans.
Hayley Pascale led her team with a 19th-place finish overall. She crossed the finish line in 15:03 and was followed closely by Taylor Johnson, who finished 20th, only a second behind Pascale. Both Pascale and Johnson became individual All-Americans with their top 20 finishes.
Next for Los Gatos came Jennifer Bergman (15:26) in 39th place. Following her was Cara Hoyt (15:37) in 55th and Amanda Speedy (15:45) in 62nd to finish out the scorers. "This team will go down as the best Los Gatos Athletic Association cross country team in history," said coach Willie Harmatz.
Katie Nast (15:46) trailed Speedy by only six places. The last two girls for Los Gatos were Shelby Golan (16:17) and Alisa Strayer (16:47) in 117th and 170th.
This is the second year in a row where they have placed in the top three in the nation.
Pascale leaves the team as the Most Valuable Runner, after being an individual All-American for the third year in a row.
Los Gatos didn't fare as well in the 3-kilometer run for the midget boys. As a team they placed 24th overall.
David Beam was the first Los Gatos finisher in 10:52. Nick Olsen (11:30) was second for Los Gatos in 162nd and was followed by Graham Gage (11:33) in 172nd, Kyle Borch (11:46) in 205th and Matt Richards (12:07) 151st.
Los Gatos only had two runners in the midget girls 3-kilometer race. Melissa Hopper (12:09) and Michelle Hopper (12:35) placed 112th and 159th. "Watch out for Melissa and Michelle; we'll be hearing from them as they become stars next year," said Harmatz.
Alan Menezes was the only Los Gatos runner to finish the 4-kilometer race in the youth boys division running 14:41 for 126th. "Alan has a great future in racing," according to Harmatz.
|
