At the season's start, Galina Becker's name was nowhere to be found among the Central Coast Section track leaders. The Mt. Pleasant junior, defending CCS champion in three events, missed seven weeks because of a loose bone chip in her left knee.

``That was hard because I missed the most important parts of training for the year,'' Becker said. ``I'm still coming back and having problems on and off with my knee.''

Although Becker may not have the speed and strength to compete with the state's elite, she is positioned to defend her CCS titles in the long jump, triple jump and 100-meter hurdles. Becker posted the best qualifying marks in each event Saturday at the CCS semifinals at San Jose City College.

She was among a handful of athletes who qualified with top marks in multiple events for Friday's finals, including Valley Christian's Khrystal Carter (100 and 200 meters) and Santa Clara's Alicia Follmar (800 and 1,600 meters).

After qualifying in the 100 hurdles, Becker put on a dramatic show in the jumps. She scratched on her first three attempts in both the long jump and triple jump, leaving her with one chance to qualify.

In each instance, she delivered with the day's best mark.

``It's made her focus on the technical aspects,'' Mt. Pleasant Coach Steve Nelson said of her injury. ``The speed is not there, but her goal is still to win three events. If she is able to, that will be an accomplishment.''

After a meet on Dec. 31, a doctor found a loose bone chip in Becker's left knee, and she missed nearly two months of training. Although she's competing well at the section level, Nelson and Becker agree that the speed and power needed to contend at the state championships is still missing. (Her mark of 38 feet, 10 3/4 inches, in the triple jump ranks No. 7 in the state).

``She's about where she is as a freshman for speed,'' Nelson said. ``She's a fighter and a competitor and does not like to lose. She'll really come back with a vengeance next year.''

Becker logged a season-best 15.09 seconds in the 100 hurdles, the section's second-best time. She also had the day's best qualifying mark in the long jump(18-4 1/2).

Carter, a sophomore, turned in personal bests in the 100 (12.07 seconds) and 200 (24.43 seconds). Now she enters the CCS finals with leading times in both events.

``I'm excited about it,'' Carter said. ``All the stuff I did in the summer really helped me out. I'm a lot faster.''

The girls 800 features four of the top five runners in the state and is shaping up to be one of the best races at Friday's finals.

Archbishop Mitty's Christine Whalen and qualified in 2:16.92, placing second in her heat behind Live Oak's Christine Jones.

Menlo senior Libby Jenke, the state leader, won her heat in 2:15.31, well short of her season-best mark of 2:11.66 (set at the Arcadia Invitational). Alicia Follmar, second in the state and the state leader in the 1,600, ran the day's best qualifying time of 2:12.34. Valley Christian's Evelyn Wing (fourth in the state), Whalen (sixth) and Jones (eighth) all qualified.

After missing the state championships by two-tenths of a second, Scott Robinson's goal entering this season was to finish among the top three at the Central Coast Section track and field championships.

But along the way, something clicked, and the Santa Clara High sophomore suddenly found himself eyeing a CCS championship.

Robinson moved one step closer Saturday by posting the second-best qualifying time in the 300-meter hurdles and 110 hurdles at the CCS semifinals at San Jose City College. He was one of several athletes who qualified in multiple events for Friday's finals at SJCC. Other top performers included North Salinas sprinter Ronnie Drummer (top qualifying times in the 100 and 200 meters), Aptos senior Jacob Evans (among the top two qualifiers in the 800 and 1,600 meters).

Robinson said he first believed he could contend for a section title at the CCS Top 8 meet on April 23, when he logged a personal best of 14.72 in the 110 hurdles -- a time that would have put him second at last year's CCS finals.

``It just started feeling right,'' said Robinson, the section leader in the 300 intermediate hurdles. ``Everything felt really well. I thought, hey, I have a chance. I should go for it. I barely missed it last year. That's the reason I really want to try and take CCS.''

Robinson advanced to his second consecutive CCS finals and must finish among the top three in either event to reach the state meet in Sacramento. He placed fourth in the 300 hurdles at last year's CCS finals with a time of 39.63, a fraction behind Palo Alto's Jhak Keegan, who ran a 39.65. He also placed seventh in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.84; he greatly improved upon that time by running a 15.06.

Evans took a step toward defending his titles in the 800 and 1,600 by posting the top qualifying times in both. Evans, the state leader in the 1,600, hopes to double again at the CCS finals. But the 1,600 will remain his focus.

``I'll race to win,'' Evans said. ``If I pull that off, the 800 is kind of a bonus. It's definitely a hard double and demanding, but I actually enjoy challenging myself.''

Evans placed eighth in the 1,600 at last year's state meet and is hoping to get past the qualifying round for a second consecutive year.

``All I can ask is to get to the finals,'' Evans said. ``Whatever happens, happens. I just want to race and do my best.''

Drummer won both of his heats in convincing fashion, especially in the 200, where he raced down the stretch about 10 meters ahead of the pack.

The defending CCS champion in both events, Drummer is hoping to break the meet record of 20.84 in the 200 set by Rubin Williams in 2002. He also hopes to improve on his performance at last year's state meet (2nd in the 200; 4th in 100).

Archbishop Riordan, owners of the section's second-fastest time in the 4x100 relay, was disqualified before the start of their heat. The Crusaders leadoff runner was wearing a bracelet, a violation of CCS bylaws that resulted in automatic disqualification.

Lynbrook, which failed to qualify at last year's semifinals because of a bad baton exchange, posted the fastest qualifying time with a season-best 42.42.