TRACK AND FIELD: CCS Top 8 Track & Field Classic Brings Out Stellar Field to Los Gatos High

The 32nd annual Central Coast Section Top 8 Track and Field Classic was held at Los Gatos High Friday afternoon, filling the stadium with a bushel of the sections best athletes in one of the final major competitions before next month’s CCS Championships.

With only 35 days until the CCS finals, the Top 8, similar to last month’s Stanford Invitational, is a measuring point to see how a particular athlete may fare against the best of the best in each competition.  

Several local high schools were represented, including competitors from Palo Alto High, Gunn, Los Altos, Christopher, Gilroy, Soquel,  Scotts Valley, Aptos, Los Gatos, Leigh, Santa Cruz, Mountain View and Milpitas to name a few.

Personal records are always the name of the game in the world of track and field. Several local stars broke their PR’s on Friday, with a handful of others topping the standings in their respective events as well.

One of those happy recipients of some good news when his final time was announced was Aptos High’s Sean Goeztl.

The speedy Mariners senior broke the 15 second mark for the first time with a first place time of 14.77 in the Boys 110 Hurdles.

Grant Sauer (Palo Alto High) took second and Markell Stine (Los Altos High) placed third in the 110.

Goeztl also finished second in the Boys 300 Hurdles with a time of 39.39.

“I just had to focus on my arms at the start of the 110,” Goeztl said. “The 110 was starting to frustrate me that I couldn’t improve my time. It feels great to win today and finish with the time that I did. It’s definitely a confidence booster.”

Aptos super sophomore Nikki Hiltz joined Goeztl in the winner’s circle, placing first in the Girls 1600 with a time of 4:55.37. Hiltz finished second in the Girls 800 with a mark of 2:13.36.

“It was huge to win this race,” Hiltz said after her win in the 1600 earlier in the afternoon. “I was stressing a lot all week about this race. Everyone went out really fast. I just tried to track them (the pack) early.  I felt really strong late in the race. I surprised myself a little.”

Hiltz took part in a loaded Girls 800 field, headlined by eventual winner Allison Sturges of Mountain View High.

Sturges surged through the field, gaining plenty of steam down the final stretch to win the race with a time of 2:12.48.

Kayla Knapp of Los Gatos High took third, Kieran Gallagher of Gunn High-Palo Alto placed fourth and Danielle Katz of Los Gatos finished in fifth.

Along with Sturges, two other Mountain View athletes had strong showings of their own. Mt. View junior Emily Andrew kept pace with the leaders until the very end, finishing in third place in the Girls 400.

Andrew, also a star forward on the girls soccer team for the Spartans, is happy about where she stands at this point in the track season compared to her sophomore campaign.

“Last year I wasn’t doing this well,” Andrew said after her race. “I think I could have gotten a faster time today, but the result wasn’t bad. I need to work on my technique more.”

In the field events, Kylie McKown of Mt. View came through with another strong showing against a top notch field.

McKown took first in the Stanford Invite and finished second on Friday in Los Gatos, clearing 5-feet, 4-inches on her final clear.

Caitlin Caeser of Westmont High-Campbell ended up in a third place tie with several competitors, including Gunn junior Julia Maggioncalda.

During an afternoon filled with winners, arguably no one did it with more style than the Gilroy High sprinters.

The Mustangs Boys 4 X 100-meter relay team roared to a first place finish in the relay event. The defending section champs put up a sizzling time up 42.28, over a full second faster than second place St. Francis High-Mountain View (43.59).

Two members of the Gilroy relay team also tied for top honors in the Boys 100 event. Jourdan Soares and Julius Travis ran the 100 in a jaw dropping 10.98 seconds.

Travis also placed second in the Boys 200 with a time of 22.59.

Distance runners Kevin Bishop (Monta Vista) and Vanessa Fraser (Scotts Valley) each came into the Top 8 with the second fastest qualifying times in their respective fields.

Bishop, a senior, won the Stanford Invite and came through yet again on Friday.

Fending off Kyle Rae of Bellarmine and Will Geiken of Los Gatos, Bishop broke away from the three-man pack late to secure his second signature victory of the 2011 season in the Boys 3200. Bishop’s winning mark was 9:17.98.

“I felt like it was my race to lose coming in,” Bishop said. “It helps me mentally to know that I always feel like I have something extra in the last 400 meters.”

Geiken took second with a time of 9:20.24. Yohaness Estifanos of Milpitas finished in fourth place.

It took Bishop until the last lap to grab hold of first place. Fraser, meanwhile, took the opposite approach.

The Scotts Valley sophomore churned her way into the lead after the first lap of eight in the Girls 3200.

Fraser led until the final lap before a San Lorenzo Valley runner zoomed by to take first place.

“I’m really happy with the first seven laps,” Fraser said with a smile after her second place finish. “I’m left feeling good, but I’m a little hungry for a win. I think that’s good.”

Fraser finished with a time of 10:57.80. First place finisher Anna Maxwell (SLV) won the race.

“My plan was to force the pace in the middle as much as possible,” Fraser said. “I tried to use my strength to my advantage and I thought I did that. Anna (Maxwell) just is always really fast in the last lap.”

With a litany of field events going on throughout the day, one of the most compelling came rather early in the slate of events.

The girls pole vault completion had five girls duke it out until the very end, eventually won by a entrant from Presentation High in San Jose.

Homestead High’s Rachel Bolton, Theresa Vinson (Aptos) and Diamara Planell (Los Altos) all cleared 11-feet, 8-inches to finish in second, third and fourth respectively.

“I really thought I was going to get 12,” Bolton said after the competition. “It was a lot of fun. Normally, there isn’t this much competition.  I was really expecting to PR and I did.”

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Other Notable Finishers:

Boys 1600: Peter Anthony (Cupertino)- 3rd, Parker Schuh (Mountain View)- 5th

Boys 3200: Martin Ettema (Christopher)- 5th

Boys 4 x100: Mt. View-3rd, Westmont-4th,

Boys 4x400: St. Francis-3rd

Boys Pole Vault: Marc Toney (St. Francis)-2nd, Zack Bassi (Los Gatos)-3rd

Boys Long Jump: Khalil Johnson (St. Francis)- 1st, DeVaughn Smith (Mt. View)- 2nd

Boys Triple Jump: David Guenther (Gilroy)-3rd, Jonah Hodges (Santa Cruz)-5th

Boys Shot Put: Cordero Gonzalez (Gilroy)-5th

Boys Discus Throw: Mike Gutberlet (Monte Vista Christian)-3rd, Chima Ikeme (Gilroy)-5th

Girls 100: Catherine Li (Los Altos)-4th, Kendra Bonsall (Soquel)-6th, Ashley Jones (Monte Vista Christian)-10th.

Girls 200: Jacqueline Hudepohl (Lynbrook)-4th, Madeline Diaz (Soquel)-6th, Sarah Wobber (Los Altos)-8th

Girls 400: Jacqueline Hudepohl (Lynbrook)-5th, Sarah Wobber (Los Altos)-6th, Kendra Bonsall (Soquel)-10th

Girls 1600: Kayla Knapp (Los Gatos)-3rd, Erin Robinson (Gunn)-4th

Girls 3200: Clare Peabody (Aptos)-5th

Girls Triple Jump: Catherine Li (Los Altos)- 1st

Girls Shot Put: Sabrina Sandoval (Gilroy)-2nd

Girls 100 Hurdles: Micha Auzenne (St. Francis)-2nd

Girls 300 Hurdles: Lauren Madisan (St. Francis)-4th

Girls 4x100: Los Altos-2nd, Soquel-5th

Girls 4x400: Mt. View-1st, Los Gatos-2nd

Girls Long Jump: Christine Ueberrhein (Aptos)-2nd

Girls Discus: Brielle Rowe (Mt. View)- 1st