MATTHEW PETRILLO, LOS GATOS


Sport: Cross-country.

Class: Junior.

Accomplishment: Petrillo hadn't planned on leading the opening mile of the Division II race at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday. But nobody else appeared to want the lead, either, so with the pack lingering around him, he jumped to the front and cruised to victory. His time of 15 minutes, 52 seconds gave him a 19-second cushion over his nearest competitor at the prestigious meet and paved the way to a team title for the Wildcats. ``He works harder than any other kid I've coached,'' Los Gatos Coach Tom Newman said. ``He even got his teammates working their tails off over the summer on their own.'' Petrillo had trouble finding his feet early on, but he adjusted to the varsity level. ``His first couple years here, all these runners were coming out of nowhere to knock him off,'' Newman said. ``Now he can handle them all.''