April 13, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Record times in track

by Keith Peters

The second day of the annual Arcadia Invitational track and field meet was simply spectacular, with 10 national outdoor leaders and seven events that recorded the No. 2 marks in the nation.

Evan Anderson of Menlo-Atherton and Libby Jenke of Menlo School didn't rank in either of those categories, but that didn't lessen the outstanding performances of those seniors on Saturday.

Jenke finished second in the Invitational girls' 800, clocking 2:07.57. While Jenke has run 2:07.47 indoors, her outdoor time nonetheless ranks her No. 3 in Central Coast Section history, No. 3 in the nation and No. 1 (outdoors) in the state this season.

On the all-time CCS list, Jenke now trails only Ann Regan of Camden, who ran 2:04.37 in 1977, and Francie Larrieu of Fremont (Sunnyvale), who clocked 2:06.04 in 1970.

On the 2005 national outdoor list, Jenke trails only Sarah Bowman (Virginia) at 2:05.41 and Latavia Thomas (Pennsylvania), who won Saturday's race in Arcadia in 2:06.76.

While Anderson still has some major time to drop before reaching the all-time CCS leaders in the boys' mile, he has himself headed in that direction after finishing second in the Arcadia mile in 4:12.88.

That time is a huge personal record, a school record and translates into a 4:11.41 for 1,600 meters, which puts him closer to state leader Mark Matusak (4:10.71).

Matusak originally was scheduled to face Anderson on Saturday, but opted instead for the two-mile. Brandon Bethke, the state's No. 2 miler, did not run.

With those two out, Anderson was the top Californian in the mile. He finished second to Ken Cormier of Douglas High in Arizona. Cormier ran 4:12.67.

"It was a good race to run a fast time," Anderson said. "I'm definitely happy with my time and place. I was fifth or sixth with 150 to go, and I out-kicked almost everyone."

"He ran very smart in the pack early and made a strong move on the last lap," said Gunn coach Ernie Lee, who had a handful of athletes competing. "He was actually moving the best in the final stretch and for a little while there I thought he might have a chance at winning it.

"Tactically, he ran perhaps the smartest way to run a fast time opposed to trying for the victory. He may have had a better chance of winning it if he went out with the leaders earlier, but they you can't be sure he would have been able to finish as strong as he did."

Anderson's previous best was 4:15.54 (for 1,600 meters). Remarkably, Anderson is running much faster this season than last, when he had a great training partner in then-senior Jeremy Mineau.

"Evan hasn't been doing much different this year than he has been doing for the last three years," said M-A assistant coach Eric Wilmurt. "But he has been doing it without the daily running partner of Jeremy. I find that the most impressive. The last two years we said he was being pulled along by Jeremy, but when you run times like this, you're not much of a follower.

"Lately, his training has indicated he would run this fast, and it is so great for his hard work to pay off like it did this weekend."

Anderson said he wasn't too surprised by his time, since he knew he could break 4:15 even last year.

The goal now is to stay motivated and consistent. Anderson's next big race will be at the Bay Area Top 8 on April 22 at James Logan High in Fremont. After that, he likely won't be tested until the CCS finals on May 27 or at the CIF State Meet on June 3-4 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.

"He has some big races left to run," said Wilmurt, "and he has a lot of fast miles left in him. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch."

In addition to Anderson and Jenke, a handful of other local athletes competed in Arcadia and performed well.

Menlo-Atherton senior Laurie Roberts tied for second in the girls' high jump with a jump of 5-foot-5, just off her season best of 5-6. Roberts also ran a leg on the Bears' shuttle hurdles relay team that took third in its flight. That team included Jennifer Connet, Rachel Lazar and Lindsey Denny.

Gunn senior Tori Tyler finished ninth in the girls' 2-mile in 10:41.35, an event that produced many of the nation's fastest times this season.

Tyler started the race in last place, since the plan was to run even 79 or 80 seconds per lap. Tyler moved all the way to third with two laps to go.

"She even took the lead briefly at the start of the last lap," Lee said., "but the kickers got the best of her this time. Even so, her time was her best by far and over 20 seconds faster than she ran at Arcadia last year."

Elsewhere, Menlo-Atherton freshman Kim O'Donnell finished third in the non-invitational girls' long jump, improving her personal best by 12 inches to 16-6.

In meets this week, Gunn plays host to Wilcox (Tuesday) and Los Altos (Thursday) at 3 p.m., while Palo Alto welcomes Wilcox on Thursday at 3 p.m. Aragon and Terra Nova visit Menlo-Atherton on Thursday in Peninsula Athletic League action at 2:45 p.m.

Baseball

Gunn finds itself in the position of challenger this week, a position shared by Palo Alto after both teams suffered losses in division play last weekend.

The Titans (5-2, 6-4) fell from first to third following a 5-3 loss to Santa Clara (6-2) on Saturday at Washington Park. The Vikings (4-3, 8-7) fell further behind first-place Los Gatos following a 4-1 setback to the Wildcats that afternoon.

Paly faces two crucial home games this week in SCVAL De Anza Division play - Wednesday against Milpitas and Friday against Wilcox.

Gunn has an easier schedule with home games against winless Lynbrook (Tuesday) and Fremont (Thursday) both at 3:30 p.m.

A victory over Santa Clara would have kept the Titans atop the SCVAL El Camino Division.

"I had mixed feelings leaving the yard on Saturday night," said Gunn coach Tim Thompson. "On one hand, we hit the ball pretty solid against one of the top pitchers in the league and, for the most part Brent (Gardiner) pitched well and the defense was really good.

"But in close games, it's always going to come down to the little things that make the big difference. I would classify that game as a missed opportunity. Now that (2004 league co-MVP Carlos) Hernandez is back and Berner is going well, I don't see any of the other teams in our league beating them when they are on the mound."

Gunn did get the jump on Santa Clara when Ryan McDermott hit the first pitch he saw over the left-centerfield fence in the first inning. The Bruins went up 2-1 before Gunn tied in on a double by Mike Myers and an RBI single by Tucker Laurence. Gunn loaded the bases with one out, but failed to score again.

Gunn went ahead 3-2 in the fourth when it loaded the bases with two outs and Laurence responded with a single that plated only one run. A strikeout again ended the threat with the bases loaded. Santa Clara rallied again with three runs in the fifth and Gunn was done.

In the PAL, Menlo was rained out of its showdown with first-place Half Moon Bay but made up a previously rained out game with El Camino and posted a 9-4 victory on Saturday. Andy Suiter, who was scheduled to throw Friday, took the mound against El Camino and threw a masterful three-hitter while striking out 15. Suiter allowed only one earned run while helping himself with two hits and two RBI, matching teammate Ryan Cavan's output.

Menlo (2-1, 9-9) is at home Wednesday against Terra Nova and visits Menlo-Atherton on Thursday at Flood Park. Both games are at 3:15 p.m.

In nonleague play Saturday, junior lefthander Tommy Pierson pitched five solid innings with no earned runs and four strikeouts to lead Sacred Heart Prep (4-6) to a 5-4 win over visiting Washington of San Francisco. Sophomore shortstop Matt Connor had a three-run double in the fourth to spark the Gators.

Swimming

The Palo Alto boys and girls remained atop the De Anza Division with 3-0 marks (5-0 overall) with close victories over host Gunn in cold, blustery weather last Friday.

After dropping dual meets to Gunn the past two years, the Paly boys reclaimed bragging rights with a 101-80 triumph. The Paly girls maintained their mastery, but had to withstand a challenge from Gunn in a 102-84 triumph.

Paly junior Edward Morrison won the 100 free (50.23), 200 free (1:48.47) and anchored both free relay teams to victory. Morrison's season-best 200 time moves him among the CCS leaders. Gunn won the opening 200 medley relay in a season-best 1:45.20. Paly's Jeremy Goldstein won the 100 fly (56.08) and came back with little rest to win the 500 free in a season-best 4:57.02. Matt Prior paced the Titans with wins in the 200IM and 100 back (a season-best 57.23).

In the girls' meet, Gunn freshman Casey Barnes-Waychus won a tight battle with Paly's Becky Wenzlau to take the 200 free in 1:58.23 and later beat Paly senior standout Monika Friedman in the 500 free (5:16.65).

Paly offset Gunn's five victories by winning the 200 free relay in 1:44.42 and the 400 free relay in 3:48.01 and by getting a standout effort from freshman Liv Jensen, who won the 200 IM (2:16.66) and 100 free (55.51) in addition to anchoring both winning relay teams.

Friedman won the 100 fly in a season-best 59.78 and Tanya Wilcox added an important win in the 100 breast to hold off the Titans' challenge.

In the PAL Bay Division, the Menlo girls (3-1, 4-2) got a CCS-leading time of 1:05.92 by senior Maryann Hiller in a 98-72 triumph over host Burlingame in a very competitive meet. The Knights won the first two relays and posted seven victories to seal the victory.

Menlo-Atherton (3-0, 4-1) remained atop the league with a 110-61 swamping of host Hillsdale as Kelly Eaton won the 50 free, 500 free and swam on two winning relays. Danielle Hildebrandt did likewise with wins in the 100 fly, 100 breast and legs on the 200 medley and 200 free relays.

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