Los Altos High last week left no doubt that it has the top track and field team in the SCVAL De Anza Division.
The Eagles boys and girls both decisively claimed team titles at Thursday’s division finals at Gunn High, outscoring second-place squads from Los Gatos by double-digit points. The girls beat the Wildcats 141-94, while the boys prevailed 121-101 over Los Gatos at the seven-team meet.
“All the coaches were so impressed with (our athletes’) sportsmanship and determination, and it was great to see all the months of hard training pay off,” Los Altos co-head coach Steph MacKenzie said.
The Eagles set two records in the process. By winning the boys 100-meter dash in 10.59 seconds, senior Zach Fagin broke the school record he set last year (10.93) for the seventh time this season. Five Los Altos girls – Jasleen Sidhu, Lauren Soobrian, Fiona Bodkin, Lydia Anderson and Ella Fadil – combined to set what MacKenzie described as a “rather obscure but hard to achieve record.” Their combined time of 56:19 in the 3,200 run crushed the CCS record (57:39).
And these runners did so without any of them winning the race. Sidhu took second (11:12.39), Soobrian was third (11:13.60), Bodkin placed fourth (11:16.84), Anderson came in fifth (11:17.86) and Fadil finished sixth (11:18.41). Sidhu did win another event: the 1,600. The junior ran it in 5:14.65.
Los Altos’ other winners on the girls side included Paige Kasso in the 100 (12.55), freshman Daniela Hughes in the 200 (26.27) and the 4×100 (49.94) and 4×400 (4:07.70) relay teams.
For the boys, Fagin added wins in the long jump (22 feet, 3.25 inches) and high jump (6-4), and was also on the victorious 4×100 relay team (42.50).
Nathaniel Guillory, on that relay as well, won the 200 (21.88). Samith Varamballi captured the triple-jump title (41-11) and freshman Maxime Morelle took top honors in the shot put (43-8).
Mountain View was just as dominant at its division finals Friday at Wilcox, where the boys and girls both won team titles by wide margins. The boys beat runner-up Fremont 129-84 and the girls toppled second-place Monta Vista 119-80.
Spartan sophomore Hannah Rutherford claimed the girls 100 (12.28), 200 (24.71) and 400 (57.65). Teammate Olivia Backholm won the 800 (2:27.71) and 1,600 (personal-best 5:20.48).
For the Mountain View boys, winners included Kevin Klemm in the 200 (22.65), Evan Markelz in the 3,200 (9:23.62), Dylan Louie in the high jump (personal-best 6-1), Mihir Marla in the triple jump (42-11.75) and the 4×100 (44.68) and 4×400 (3:36.56) relay teams.
Baseball
Los Altos last week swept Palo Alto “for the first time in a long time,” Eagles coach Gabe Stewart said, keeping his team in contention for the De Anza Division title.
The pair of one-run victories over Paly put Los Altos alone in second place at 8-2. The Eagles face first-place Los Gatos (10-0) this week “in a home-and-home league series that will most likely determine the league champion,” Stewart said.
Los Altos edged Paly 5-4 April 26 and 2-1 Friday, then squashed Sequoia 7-2 Saturday in non-league play to raise its overall record to 13-8.
Tied at 4 with the Vikings in the fifth frame of the series opener, the visiting Eagles went ahead for good on a sacrifice fly by Matthew Carlson that brought home Jack Burcell. Paly threatened in the sixth, getting two runners on with two away, but reliever Aidan Stiff came in and induced the next batter to hit a harmless grounder to first base.
Friday at home, the Eagles erased a 1-0 deficit in the fifth when they scored both of their runs. Stuart Cash’s single scored Gavin Moore from third and, after Los Altos loaded the bases, Carslon was hit by a pitch, scoring Burcell. Alex Eletich earned the win in relief and Darrion Wesley picked up the save.
Gareth Cartier notched three hits, two of them doubles, in the home win over Sequoia.
Shaking off a five-game losing streak, St. Francis has now won three in a row to even its West Catholic Athletic League record at 6-6.
The latest of these wins came Friday at Riordan, where the Lancers prevailed 7-1.
Tommy Schott went 3-for-4 for St. Francis (14-10 overall) and Brent Valentine drove in four runs. Ned Righellis earned the win, allowing just three hits over six innings. The senior struck out seven.
Softball
Mountain View is coming off its best week of the season, winning all four games to push its overall record above .500.
The Spartans (3-5 league) knocked off the top two teams in the De Anza – Wilcox and Milpitas – before sweeping Saturday’s non-league doubleheader at Menlo-Atherton.
The 11-7 victory over Milpitas April 25 featured a grand slam by Tabby Smith. Marissa Tsoi went 4-for-5 with three RBIs in Thursday’s 11-7 win at Wilcox.
Gymnastics
Mountain View last week won its second meet in a row, putting up a score of 150.050 to edge host Half Moon Bay (149.450). St. Francis placed third (148.000 and Los Altos finished fifth (105.650) at the April 25 meet.
Five Spartans placed among the top-10 all-around: Alyssa Ong (fifth, 37.450), Anna Kolpakova (sixth, 37.400), Misty Mukherjee (seventh, 36.900), Alice Chegwidden (ninth, 36.750) and Rowan Barcelona (10th, 36.500).
“It was Rowan’s first meet, and she was very solid,” said Sarah Wallace, coach of the Mountain View and Los Altos teams. “She didn’t really seem to be nervous, and you wouldn’t have known it was her first high school meet.”
The Spartans “struggled a bit on the (balance) beam,” Wallace said, “but on other events they were really good.” Particularly on the uneven bars, which they won behind Ong’s first-place score of 9.9 and Mukherjee’s third-place total of 9.6.
“Bars was amazing,” said Wallace, adding that the two girls’ routines were “nearly flawless.”
Lauren Imelli led St. Francis with an all-around score of 37.700 that was good enough for third place. Her total included a winning score of 9.750 on beam.
Sarah Mosalem had Los Altos’ top all-around score; the senior’s 33.750 put her in 18th place.
