Photograph by Jeff Kearns

Gleeson strikes gold at CCS ... twice

Kraemer, La boys win state berths

By Dick Sparrer

They were going for the gold at the Central Coast Section (CCS) track and field finals at San José City College last Friday night.

And Lynbrook's Kim Gleeson struck gold ... and then some.

Gleeson came through with a record-shattering performance to win gold in the shot put. But that wasn't all--the Lynbrook senior was also a CCS champion in the discus.

Her performance, along with the efforts of placers Sheridon McPherson and Julie Chen, helped the Vikings to their best CCS finish since 1991. The Vikes found a place in the section's top 10 by running up 22 points to tie Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep for seventh place overall.

Now Gleeson has qualified for the state meet coming up May 31 and June 1 at Cerritos College in Norwalk in Southern California.

Joining Gleeson on the state trip will be Saratoga seniors David La, Richard La and Will Kraemer, who each finished in the top three last weekend to qualify for the prestigious meet. The three placers helped get the Saratoga boys into the CCS top 10. The Falcons rolled to 20 points to tie Aptos for eighth.

The La brothers were impressive again in the 800-meter run, finishing second and third in the CCS field. Jacob Evans of Aptos won the event in 1:55.30, with David La a close second in 1:55.68. Richard La was right behind in third place in 1:56.10. All three advance to the state meet.

Kraemer earned a state trip by finishing third in the 1,600 meters. He ran 4:21.91 to qualify for advancement.

Gleeson will also make the trip to state after her outstanding double victory in the weight events for the Vikings.

The powerful senior heaved the shot 42-3.25 to break her own school record and finish first in CCS. She had set a new school standard of 41-10 at the CCS trials a week earlier.

Gleeson was also a winner in the discus with a heave of 144-9, finishing well ahead of runner-up Katie Isola of Burlingame, second at 129-4.

McPherson, a senior, flew 36-10.5 in the triple jump to finish fifth at the CCS finals, and Chen, a sophomore, ran 15.82 to nail seventh in the 100 hurdles.

The Vikings were also eighth in the 4x100 relay in 50.79.

The Saratoga girls ran seventh in the 4x100 relay. Eevi Aura, Jamie Pfeifer, Neha Talreja and Anna Aura teamed to run 50.32 for the Falcons.

Later in the meet, the Falcons finished sixth in the 4x400 relay in a season best 4:06.27. The foursome of E. Aura, Talreja, Pfeifer and Alicia Follmar had run 4:08.14 in the trials for their best time of the year, then bettered that by almost two seconds in the finals.

Follmar, a freshman, also ran 11:15.15 to finish eighth in the 3,200 meters. She nailed a personal best 11:07.79 to finish fifth in the trials.

In other local action, Ferman Smith of Prospect soared to a fourth-place finish in the boys high jump. Smith, a junior, topped that bar at 6-4 to nail fourth.

Westmont ended up with a pair of placers at the section finals, with seniors Chris Aimonetti and Ashley Mamola each finishing among the leaders.

Aimonetti was fifth in the boys discus with a toss of 153-8, and Mamola sprinted to a sixth in the 100 hurdles in 15.78.