Los Altos High’s boys and girls teams entered Saturday’s SCVAL track and field championships undefeated – and they left that way as well.
Both squads finished well ahead of runner-up Los Gatos, which hosted the meet. The girls’ 120 points nearly doubled the Wildcats’ total (65), while the boys beat Los Gatos 106-86. The Mountain View girls came in third (51) and the Spartans’ boys team tied Palo Alto for third (44).
No one scored more points for their team than Eagle senior Zach Fagin, who won all four of his events. Individually, Fagin claimed the boys 100-meter dash (11.04 seconds), the long jump (21 feet, 6.5 inches) and the high jump (6-2). He also ran the second leg of Los Altos’ 4×100 relay, joining forces with Ata Sen, Leo Goebel and Nathaniel Guillory to set the meet record (42.26).
“Not a big surprise for those who have followed Zach all season, but it is still hard to rise to expectations and pull off the win in four events at a league championships,” Los Altos co-head coach Steph MacKenzie said. “Three of his events were happening all at the same time, and it was exhausting just watching him go back and forth between long jump, high jump and 4×100.”
The Eagles’ 4×100 girls relay team placed first as well. The foursome of Gwendolyn Mello, Daniela Hughes, Ananya Vaswani and Paige Kasso combined to run a 49.78. Kasso also took first in the 100 (12.89). Three more Los Altos girls won their events: Maddy Randall in the 800 (2:15.53), Lauren Soobrian in the 3,200 (10:49.66) and
Megan MacKenzie in the triple jump (36-04.5).
The Eagles’ other league champs included Guillory in the boys 200 (22.84) and Brandon Louie in the boys wheelchair 100 (21:39), 200 (40.29), 400 (1:23.12) and shot put (17-8).
Hannah Rutherford led Mountain View with wins in the girls 200 (25.54) and 400 (55.66). The sophomore also anchored the victorious 4×400 relay (4:97, 08) and ran the second leg of the third-place 4×100 relay (50.95).
Mountain View’s Mihir Marla won the boys triple jump (42-7).
All of these athletes, along with many of their teammates, advance to Saturday’s Central Coast Section semifinals at Gilroy High.
Boys volleyball
St. Francis (24-7) has landed the top seed in the CCS Open Division playoffs and was set to host No. 8 Mountain View (16-16) in the quarterfinals Tuesday (May 9), after the Town Crier’s deadline.
Los Altos (24-8) is the No. 3 seed in Division I; the Eagles were slated to host either No. 6 Monta Vista or No. 11 Wilcox in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Baseball
As Los Altos coach Gabe Stewart said, “The Eagles could not meet the moment” against Los Gatos Friday – their last shot at sharing the SCVAL De Anza Division title with the Wildcats.
Los Altos fell 12-0 at home to Los Gatos, which routed the Eagles 12-3 two days earlier. With two league games remaining, the Wildcats clinched the crown with a 12-0 record and Los Altos dropped to 8-4. The Eagles (13-10 overall) have qualified for the Central Coast Section playoffs, however, guaranteed to finish among the league’s top four.
Gymnastics
Dominating with depth, Mountain View won Friday’s Last Chance Meet at Los Altos.
Five Spartans placed in top 10 all-around, helping the team score 152.950 points. St. Francis finished third (146.550) and Los Altos took sixth (106.200).
Rettie Chow’s all-around score of 38.500 led Mountain View and was the second best of the day. Teammate Misty Mukherjee was fourth (38.2500).
Caelan Nash paced St. Francis (eighth, 37.200) and Sarah Mosalem was the top performer for Los Altos (19th, 34.750).
Boys lacrosse
Los Altos made the CCS playoffs at the expense of rival Mountain View Saturday. The Eagles beat the host Spartans 11-7 in the play-in game to determine the Peninsula Athletic League’s final automatic CCS qualifier.
Los Altos, which won three games earlier in the week to secure second place in the PAL Bay Division, rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Ocean Division champ Mountain View. The Eagles roared back to lead 6-4 at halftime, then outscored the Spartans 5-3 the rest of the way.
Jack Wald finished with five goals and an assist to pace Los Altos (11-4 overall). The Eagles’ defense – led by goalie Raiden Mori and defensemen Ben Conner, Jack Park and Will Park – allowed just nine second-half goals over the four games last week.
The playoffs start today; the seedings were not available when the Town Crier went to press.
Swimming
St. Francis’ girls and boys teams both finished fifth at Saturday’s CCS finals in Hollister. The girls produced 127.5 points, while the boys totaled 119.
Los Altos placed sixth among the boys (118) and 17th on the girls side (48). The Mountain View girls were 11th (88), while the Spartan boys took 14th (61).
Individually, Mountain View sophomore Dar Lavrenko was the top local finisher with a second-place time of 46.30 in the boys 100-yard freestyle.
Boys golf
St. Francis claimed the West Catholic Athletic League title May 1 at Los Altos Golf & Country Club, edging runner-up Serra by four strokes. The Lancers, who shot a 394, placed third in the round-robin portion of the league season with a 10-4 record.
All six St. Francis golfers shot under 90 last week playing in cold, windy and sometimes wet weather. Roshan Chandra led the Lancers with a 73 that included five birdies. Sam Baumuller and Aidan Davidson each shot a 79.
St. Francis qualified for the CCS regionals, held Tuesday at Laguna Seca Golf Course in Monterey.
