June 01, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Gunn's Tyler finds happiness in finals

by Keith Peters

Happiness and heartbreak. Those are the emotional highs and lows from the 2005 Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships.

Happiness is finishing among the top three, or achieving an automatic qualifying mark, and earning a trip to this weekend's CIF State Meet at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.

Heartbreak is everything short of that.

There was no heartbreak for Gunn senior Tori Tyler. Or Menlo-Atherton senior Evan Anderson. Or Palo Alto freshman Mia Lattanzi. They, along with a handful of other local athletes, were among the lucky ones. They achieved their goals at last Friday's CCS finals at Los Gatos High and will be competing this weekend in Sacramento.

Tyler had a big smile on her face after finishing the girls' 3,200 meters. Her winning time of 10:31.04 not only gave her a ticket to the finals-only race in Sacramento on Saturday, but it moved her among the CCS elite.

First and foremost, Tyler took over the state lead in the event. Second, she moved into ninth place on the all-time CCS list. Third, her time was the fifth-fastest in section meet history and the fastest time in the meet since 1987.

And, equally important to her, Tyler ran a personal best and set a school record.

"I was really happy to get a PR," the diminutive dynamo said. "My goal was to try and break 10:40, and I was kind of going for 10:32. That's what Ruth Graham ran when she won here."

That was in 2002 when Graham, considered the finest girls' distance runner in Gunn history, won the CCS title in 10:32.06.

"So I guess it's a Gunn tradition," said Tyler, who defended her section title easily and gave her school five straight CCS victories in the event.

Tyler, headed for the University of Washington in the fall, had a few challengers early in the race, but left them behind and was running solo the final four laps.

"Suffice it to say it was a tremendous race," said Gunn coach Ernie Lee. "The plan going into the race was to just run even 79-second laps and not worry about anyone else. Assistant coach Matt Tompkins and I figured that most likely everyone else in the race would just let her go and worry about the other two state meet spots. If anyone did go with her, we were pretty certain that they would fall off after four laps as Tori continued to run the pace."

Two runners did stay with Tyler for the first mile in around 5:14.

"Tori did not slow down and the other girls fell off significantly in the second mile," Lee said.

"I just tried to keep on the pace," said Tyler, who knew she had a shot at the state lead with a lap remaining. The blistering pace set by Tyler took its toll, with Palo Alto sophomore Renata Cummins forced to stop before the finish line and walk the remaining 50 meters.

Next up for Tyler will be the state finals, where she goes in as the top qualifier.

"I hope at least to be in the top five," said Tyler, who was 16th at state in 2004. "Or, win it."

Anderson also has a shot at a top-six finish (and medal) in the 1,600 in Sacramento. He won his first CCS title in the event last Friday in 4:16.76. While the time makes him only the No. 11 qualifier going into Friday's preliminaries, Anderson's season best of 4:11.41 puts him among the top three time-wise.

Anderson likely could have run faster Friday, but he knew quickly he didn't need a fast time to win.

"I knew it wasn't going to be fast after the first lap," he said. "My legs were felt a little heavy. I just wanted to get the lead and stay here. I knew no one was going to come up and challenge me, unless they had a sensational final lap."

No one did and Anderson won going away by more than three seconds. He later finished third in the 3,200 in 9:23.87, a half-second off his career best. That puts him Saturday's finals, giving him two races to possibly medal in.

Lattanzi is happy to be running in one event at state. The talented ninth-grader charged off the final turn and overhauled the field to win her first CCS title with a personal- and school-record 56.18.

Menlo School senior Libby Jenke was the CCS leader at 56.09, but dropped the race in order to concentrate on the 800. Lattanzi took full advantage of the opportunity.

"I was glad she wasn't in the race, because she was my main competition," Lattanzi said. "But I was also disappointed not to run against her."

Lattanzi still had plenty of competition, having to run down Los Altos sophomore Bria Nelson, who ran a lifetime best of 56.71. Lattanzi leaned at the finish, just as she had beaten Nelson at the De Anza Division finals.

"I really wanted to be in the top three," Lattanzi said. "Even though I did not have the fastest time (in the CCS), winning it was still amazing."

Amazing pretty much summed up the girls' 800 race, arguably the fastest of any section finals in the nation. The top four finishers broke 2:10 and the top five all qualified for state based on automatic standards.

Stanford-bound Alicia Follmar capped a sensational double - she earlier won the 1,600 in 4:52.66 - by clocking a lifetime best of 2:07.79. Jenke, the state leader in 2:07.47 (indoors), was second in 2:08.70 after running into trouble late in the race.

"I was feeling comfortable," said Jenke, who led after an opening 61-second lap. "But, unfortunately, I got boxed in on the last turn and was unable to get out and make a move. So, I was disappointed with that.

"I think I ran a good race. Maybe next time I'll react better when situations arise."

Castilleja sophomore Tori Anthony reacted well to the competition in the girls' pole vault, clearing the same height (12-5) as winner Natasha Barthel of St. Francis but finishing second on more misses at a lower height. Both surpassed the previous meet record of 12-1 by Kirsten Lofton of Aptos in 2003.

A year ago, Anthony was participating in gymnastics and her pole vault career had yet to take off.

"I just wanted to try a new sport," she said. "I had been doing it (gymnastics) for 10 years."

Anthony hooked up with Scott Slover, a former UCLA pole vaulter who coached Barthel and St. Francis teammate Taylor Franklin. All three qualified for the state meet.

Also qualifying was Menlo-Atherton senior Laurie Roberts, who finished second in the high jump at 5-6 despite overcoming a fever of 101.3 the night before.

"I've been kind of out of it," Roberts said, after earning her third trip to the state meet.

Roberts trained very little the week of the finals, spending more time sleeping and trying to recover.

"Before I got sick, my thinking was I could win this," Roberts said. He thought process then shifted to just clearing 5-4, the automatic qualifying standard. She did that with ease before making 5-6.

"Five-six is all right," Roberts said. "I'll take it."

As will Palo Alto's 400 relay team, which was very satisfied with its third-place finish and school-record time of 48.26.

"We were seeded third in this meet last year and we got fifth," said No. 2 runner Katy Wanner, a junior. "It was pretty devastating. Our goal this year was to make it to state, and we did."

Joining Wanner was junior Ranecia Fields, sophomore Alyson Seedman and senior Katrina Zawojski. For Zawojski, her happiness in the 400 relay was mixed with the heartbreak of failing to qualify in any of her three other events.

Zawojski finished fourth in the long jump at 17-7, missing third by one inch. In the triple jump, she tied for third at 37-7, but lost out on an inferior second-best jump. She also finished fifth in the 200 in 25.67, failing to surpass any of her season bests.

"I just didn't have any hops," Zawojski said. "I've very disappointed."

Happiness and heartbreak, at the CCS finals.

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