The friendly rivalry between pole vaulters Tori Anthony and Natasha Barthel was nearly derailed in August when Barthel slipped on wet stairs at Raging Waters and suffered a broken left foot.
The St. Francis junior, the defending Central Coast Section champion, couldn't vault until January. As the track season began, Anthony, a junior from Castilleja, who regularly works out with Barthel, began to hit her stride as a vaulter.
The former gymnast cleared a CCS record of 13 feet, 2 inches, the best mark in the United States this year in only her second season competing in the sport.
On Friday night, the friends were battling for section supremacy once again. This time Barthel won, clearing a season best of 12-6 on her third attempt at the CCS Top 8 Track and Field Classic at Los Gatos High. Anthony was second at 12 feet.
``Natasha is technically the best vaulter in the section,'' said vault coach Scott Slover, who works with Barthel and Anthony. ``She is a patient and mature athlete and worked hard on developing her strength when her foot was hurt. Her technique is better than ever.''
Barthel, who was named the girls field athlete of the meet, pumped her fist in the pit when she cleared 12-6, the fourth-best mark in the nation this year, with room to spare. Then she attempted to better her meet record of 12-9 set last year, barely missing on one of her three attempts at 12-10.
``The key for me today was a big pole and a big plant,'' said Barthel, who also trains under St. Francis Coach Tom Tuite. ``I'm starting to get my speed back, and that's the biggest factor.''
Anthony was trying a longer eight-stride approach for the first time in competition and had some close misses at 12-6.
``It was a little different feeling for Tori on her approach,'' Slover said. ``But using the eight-stride approach is going to get her to the 13-6 or 14-foot level. We thought this was a good meet to try it out.''
Another athlete returning from injury was Valley Christian sophomore Dahlys Marshall, who has been out for three weeks because of a sprained ankle.
Marshall had a standout performance, winning the 100 meters (12.47) and 100 hurdles (15.0) and taking fourth in the 300 hurdles (48.06).
``After the third hurdle I thought I was going to collapse,'' Marshall said of the 300-meter race. ``I was just trying to hang in there. But I'm happy to be back and hope that I can keep it going until the state meet is over.''
Marshall, named the girls track athlete of the meet, also ran on the winning 400 relay team with Khrystal Carter, Kristen Houp and Cherelle McMillian. The Warriors won the team title with 64 points, beating St. Francis with 53. Carter didn't enter the 100 or 200, but will race in the Bay Area Top 8 meet at James Logan High today.
Archbishop Mitty junior Renisha Robinson, the top 800 runner in the CCS, skipped her specialty race to compete in the 1,600, which she won in 5:04.26.
Robinson's absence from the 800 opened the door for Palo Alto sophomore Mia Lattanzi, who ran a tactically sound race to win in a personal best 2:15.17. Lattanzi moved past Taylor Johnson of San Lorenzo Valley with 200 meters left and streaked to the finish.
They tried to hide him, but sooner or later, the word was bound to get out -- this freshman can run.
Aptos High's Rylan Hunt proved it Friday night by running away from the 1,600-meter field at the CCS Top 8 Track and Field Classic at Los Gatos High.
Hunt finished in 4 minutes, 21.39 seconds, a slight improvement to his personal record, but a giant leap in his stature as one of the top distance runners in the Central Coast Section. Not only now, but into the future.
It wasn't so much the time that drew people's attention, as it was the way he ran. Dissatisfied with the slow pace midway through the race, Hunt disregarded the plan to kick with 500 meters to go, and went with 600 left. He couldn't resist.
He broke away from Willow Glen sophomore Mohamed Abdalla by running his final lap in 60.2, winning by nearly five seconds over Alisal's Enrique Lopez, while Abdalla faded to fifth.
``When that drive comes, you get it going and it stays with you,'' Hunt said of his finishing kick. ``You know it's going to hurt, so you've got to make it hurt good.''
The two fastest runners this season -- St. Francis' Ben Sitler and Burlingame's Monte Kellerher -- didn't compete. But Hunt still felt no need to defer to a more experienced field.
Aptos distance coach Dan Gruber, who has coached four CCS distance champions over the past decade, is excited about Hunt's potential.
``The hardest part is to hold him back,'' Gruber said. ``I'm finding out his limits and his capabilities. We're limiting his training, but we're finding out that he's fearless, talented and a great competitor. That's one great hunk of clay to start working with.''
Three CCS boys season bests were set: a 38.58 in the 300 intermediate hurdles by Eric Hersey of Los Altos, a 22.43 in the 200 by North Monterey County's Reggie Topps, and a 3:25.64 in the 1,600 relay by the Scotts Valley team of Richard Fillman, Colin Gerber, Ben Mullen and Joe Luttrell (49.6 split).
Hersey completed a hurdles double and was named boys track athlete of the meet, though he was unhappy with his 14.40 in the 110 high hurdles.
St. Francis' Kyle Mills-Bunje completed a double as well, but that did not include his best event, the pole vault.
Mills-Bunje won the long jump at 22 feet, 2 inches, and the 100 in 11.23. But the 100 came at the worst time for the section's pole vault leader (16-6) -- just as he was about to enter the pole vault competition at 15-6.
Completely gassed, Mills-Bunje, who was given the choice by Coach Mike Saso to scratch from the 100, missed once at his opening height before passing to 16-1 to salvage a bit more time to rest. He then missed twice to finish with a no-height.
``The pole vault's my best event,'' Mills-Bunje said. ``If there's an event that's going to conflict with it at CCS, I'd probably drop it.''
Teammate Casey Roche won at 15-6 and had a near-miss at a personal record 16-1. He was selected as the boys field athlete of the meet.
Both feel they are on the verge of huge breakthroughs, Roche into the mid-16s and Mills-Bunje to 17 feet. They may have happened Friday, if not for the timing of the 100 and a shift from a tailwind to a cross-headwind just as the bar was raised to 15-6.