Girls Athlete of the Week - San Jose Mercury News

JENNIFER BERGMAN, VALLEY CHRISTIAN

Sport: Cross-country.

Class: Senior.

Bergman won the third West Catholic Athletic League title of her career by covering the 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course in 17 minutes, 16 seconds. She set a WCAL record and ran the fastest time recorded by a CCS runner on the course this year. (The second-best time was 17:38 by Carlmont's Justine Fedronic). "Jennifer has been running hard all year and has increased her confidence to a new level," Valley Christian Coach Josh Small said. "We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the team this year and she has been an excellent leader. She helped shape the mentality of her teammates to go out and do their best." Bergman won the CCS Division IV title as a freshman and junior. She is one of the favorite to win at the CCS meet Saturday at Toro Park in Salinas, this time in Division III. "She likes to push the pace from the start to the finish, and this is a hilly course — it plays right into her strengths," Small said.