As it turns out, it was plenty good enough. The 5-6 effort helped Johnson nail second place in the event and a berth in the CCS finals coming up May 27 on the Los Gatos track.

"She stopped jumping at 5-6," said Los Gatos coach Monica Townsend. "But the whole part is to qualify."

She did that with ease. She'll now join nine teammates at the CCS meet that's been moved to Los Gatos because of a scheduling conflict at San José City. Field events begin at 4 p.m. on Friday with the running events starting at 6 p.m.

Johnson figures to be a title contender in the high jump at the finals.

"Things look real good for her," said Townsend. "She jumps real well at home."

The coach also had high hopes for her 4x400 relay team of senior Caroline Stege, sophomore Jaimee Erickson and freshman Sammi Moser and Callie Mulgannon. The quartet finished sixth in 4:02.42 at the semifinals, but Townsend blames tired legs for the slower than usual time. She expects big things from the foursome after a week of rest.

Erickson has also qualified in the 100 meters, running 12.58 to get eighth.

"That's really big," said Townsend. "She ran a PR to make it in."

A couple of Cats came close and will be alternates on Friday. Freshman Christine Reed was ninth in the 300 hurdles in 47.56, and freshman Callie Mulgannon was ninth in the 800 in 2:20.11, dropping four seconds from her season best. Senior Ashley Benson also trimmed her season best by four seconds, finishing 12th in 2:22.24.

"We had a lot of girls compete," said Townsend on Sunday. "This is a young team, and they got a lot of experience yesterday."

Five Los Gatos boys will be in the CCS field this Friday on their home track. Juniors Don Gaspar and Seth Smart, sophomore Randall Horn and freshmen Kevin Rutledge and Colin Quirke each placed high enough in the semifinals to qualify for the finals.

Gaspar raced to a 49.71 to finish third in the 400 meters and Horn hurled the discus 148-6 to get fifth. Rutledge soared 6-2 in the high jump to place seventh and Quirke heaved the shot put 47-4.5 for eighth. Smart was ninth in the 1,600-meter run in 4:24.77. The top 12 placers in the 1,600 and 3,200 advance to the finals, and it's the top eight in every other event.

A week earlier, the Wildcats ran well at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League finals held at Los Gatos. The top six finishers advanced to the CCS semifinals.

Smart raced to a win in the 1,600 with a personal best at the time of 4:25. He bettered that time last weekend.

"It was an awesome race for Seth," said Los Gatos coach Thomas Newman. "He ran really smart and had the best kick in the race to PR by about six seconds. He's worked very hard all year and it shows."

Gaspar ran a personal best 49.69 to finish second in the 400. Senior Sean Bardes ran 2:01.99 for fourth and freshman Dane Sawyer ran 2:02.66 for sixth in the 800. Both were personal records.

Quirke nailed second in the shot put at 46-0.5 with Horn fourth at 45-3.

"I know throws coach Ron McKee and I are fired up to have both these young men in the CCS [semifinals]," said Newman. "It's not too often underclassmen make it into the CCS for the varsity throwing events and Ron has two of them."

Horn was also second in the discus at 135-9 with junior Rene Stephen fourth at 129-2.

Rutledge qualified for the CCS semifinals by topping the high jump bar at 6-2 to get second in the league meet.

The Gatos girls also had a big day at the league meet, bigger maybe than even coach Townsend was expecting.

"My young team never fails to amaze me, running so well that we tied powerhouse Palo Alto for the team championship," said the Los Gatos coach. "The girls came out and systematically beat many athletes they haven't beaten all season and most girls performed big personal bests in the process."

Palo Alto had won the dual meet championship in the De Anza Division.

Johnson was an individual champ, taking the high jump with a 5-8 effort that matched her season best and school record.

Erickson raced to a win in the 100 meters with teammate Mary Gonzales second, and Erickson was third, Moser fourth and Gonzales sixth in the 200.

The 4x400 relay team of Moser, Reed, Mulgannon and Erickson teamed to run 3:59.97 for a first-place finish.

Reed ran a personal best 46.93 to finish second in the 300 hurdles. She had finished 10th in the 100 hurdles.

Mulgannon was second in the 800 meters in 2:23.81 with sophomore Samantha Peppard fifth in 2:25.10 and Benson sixth in 2:25.36. All three times were season bests, and freshman Kelly Garton also ran a PR, finishing 10th in 2:30.87.

Moser raced to a fourth in the 400 was fourth in the 400 with Stege sixth, and junior Ariana Nicewonger was fifth in the 3,200.

The Los Gatos 4x100 relay team ran 49.86 to get fifth.

Freshman Kaela Townsend was seventh with sophomore Jill Goodwin eighth in the 1,600 meters.