The Los Gatos High boys and girls track and field teams both finished runner-up to Los Altos in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division Finals on April 27 at Gunn High.
Qualifiers advance to the SCVAL Championship Finals on May 6 at Los Gatos High. From there, athletes look to qualify for the Central Coast Section Semifinals on May 13 and then the CCS Finals on May 20.
It should be a particularly exciting stretch for several Los Gatos athletes who are projected to be in contention to win a CCS title and advance to the CIF State Championships. Entering the week, the Los Gatos boys 4×400 meter relay team of Levi Romero, Wil Brennan, Brady Kamali and Jake Bohane had the top time in the section at 3 minutes, 17.94 seconds.
That ranks No. 5 in the State. The quartet established that time—which is nearly 3 ½ seconds faster than the No. 2 mark in the section—at the CCS Top 8 Invitational on April 21. Romero and Brennan are ranked 1-2 in the open 400, with times of 48.20 and 48.57, respectively.
Kamali has the section’s No. 6 time in 49.62 and also is tied for sixth in the high jump at 6 feet, 2 inches. Aydon Stefanopoulos has the No. 3 time in the 1600 (4:12.41), No. 4 mark in the 800 (1:56.16) and No. 5 time in the 3200 (9:08.99).
Several Los Gatos girls are also having fine seasons, including Nicole Steiner, who has the top mark in the shot put at 41 feet, 11 ¾ inches, which ranks No 6 in the state. Katie Steiner has the section’s No. 4 mark in 38-1. Hannah Slover, the defending state champion in the high jump, has the section’s No. 2 mark at 5-7.
Abigail Lo has the No. 3 mark in the triple jump (37-5 ½) and has cleared 5-2 in the high jump, an automatic CCS qualifying mark. Vanessa Leathem has the No. 7 mark in the long jump at 17-4. Sophie Tau is having a strong senior season in the distance events. She has the No. 7 time in the 3200 (10:48.45) and No. 9 time in the 1600 (4:57.73).
The 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams also have top-10 marks, with Emma Arbitaylo and Jeanette Li being the mainstays in the 4×100 and Arbitaylo and Janie Marie Vidovich being two of the four mainstays in the 4×400.
Swimming/Diving
Los Gatos fared well in the SCVAL De Anza Division Finals on April 28, setting itself up for some fast times and great performances in the Central Coast Section Championships May 5-6 at Hollister High.
Everyone mentioned have hit CCS qualifying times, but State Consideration Qualifying (SCQ) are noted. On the boys side, Ewan Lonergan won the 100-yard breaststroke in 56.78 seconds and took sixth in the 100 butterfly in a SCQ time of 51.79. The 200-medley relay team of Joshua Naim, Lonergan, Tyler Newton and Connor Sullivan finished fifth but in a SCQ time of 1 minute, 37.21 seconds, well under the CCS cutoff of 1:45.99.
Naim was fifth in the 100 backstroke in 56.59, Sullivan was seventh in the 200 free in 1:47.02 and Ryan Madsen placed seventh in the 500 free in 4:51.21.
Mathijs Dirven, Naim, Lonergan and Sullivan finished third in the 400 free relay in 3:16.93. Santiago Jackson, Oren Kagel, Alex Marozas and Newton took fifth in the 200 free relay in 1:30.90. The girls team delivered some spectacular results, with Karly Frangieh winning the 200 free in a SCQ time of 1:51.72 while also taking fourth in the 100 back in 59.36.
Katy Hawk was fourth in the 200 free in 1:54.45, a SCQ mark. She also placed third in the 100 butterfly in 58.49. Lily van Putten was fourth in the same race, finishing in 59.58. Freshman Kiana Koechlin was fourth in the 200 individual medley in 2:08.97 and fifth in the 100 free in 54.53.
Karissa Elliott took fourth in the 100 free in 25.31. Elliott, Hawk, Koechlin and Frangieh won the 400 free relay in a SCQ time of 3:37.48, and the quartet of Hawk, Koechlin, Frangieh and Ava Taylor nailed a SCQ time of 1:39.84 to take second in the 200 free relay race.
Taylor finished second in the 500 free in 5:14.07 and second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.31, while Sarah Schaevitz, Vanessa Lee, van Putten and Elliott finished fourth in the 200 medley relay in 1:54.70. In the 1-meter diving competition, Maddy Wong placed second with 452.60 points, and Ava Lazovsky was fourth with 430.85 points. On the boys side, Parsa Nolan hit a CCS qualifying mark, totaling 370.85 points to finish sixth.
