TRACK AND FIELD: CCS Champions Rachel Bolton, Samantha Sinclair, Lauren Madigan Crowned in Gilroy

Distance runners, sprinters and everyone else in between all gauge how they begin their respective events, but really know everything rides on how they finish.

The kick, as some competitors call it, separates the good from the elite across the field. On Friday night at the 2011 Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships at Gilroy High, plenty of the section’s best found that extra something to push themselves into the top spot on the results sheet, earning a CCS crown and a berth to next week’s CIF State Championship meet in Clovis.

Kevin Bishop (Monta Vista High-Cupertino), Jourdan Soares (Gilroy High) and Nikki Hiltz (Aptos High) were just three of many CCS champions crowned on a breezy Friday night at the track.

In one of the final events of the night, Bishop showed off his final burst in the final lap of the Boys 3200 event. The top qualifier in the event coming in, the Matadors junior stayed up front with Parker Schuh (Mountain View High), Will Geiken (Los Gatos High) and Yohaness Estifanos (Milpitas High) in the early portion of the race.  

“My coach was right on it and told me that it was going to be a seven-lap race,” Bishop said. “He told me that I would have to take it on the last lap. Once I got to that point, I knew I was going to win it.”

Bishop powered past the lead pack and took the lead for good before the final straightaway. The eventual CCS champ even took a brief second to peek behind him just to make sure he was all clear running down the final march towards the finish line.

He won the race with a time of 9:08.74, a two-second personal record.

“This is a great day,” Bishop said. “I got the win and the PR. Now getting a sub-nine minute mark at state is the goal.”

Bishop’s kick was nice in his distance event, but Aptos distance runner Hiltz decided to show off her final charge not once, but twice, against the best the section has to offer.

By the end of the night, Hiltz had claimed two CCS titles, the first in the Girls 1600 and the second in the Girls 800 and had broken the school record in both those events along the way.

“The main goal was to break both of the school records and I did it,” a beaming Hiltz said. “It just hasn’t really set in yet what happened. It’s just amazing.”

Hiltz finished second to Mountain View junior Allison Sturges in CCS a year ago, but had another gear to turn to on this night.

All even with Sturges going into the final lap, Hiltz stayed close with her competition after the first turn and then took over down the back straightaway to pull away from everyone in the field. The sudden burst seemed to catch everyone off guard, including Sturges who finished second and qualified for state in the 1600 with a time of 4:55.52.

Hiltz won the race with a time of 4:51.94.

“I just pretty much tried to run a three-lap race and was going to see what I had left for the last lap,” Hiltz said.“Turns out that I had a lot left.”

In the 800, Sturges and Hiltz dueled on the final lap yet again. Hiltz roared into the lead around the final turn and maintained a much narrower advantage this time around. She won the race with a mark of 2:12.65. Sturges finished in second with a time of 2:13.80.

Another two-race winner was speedy Gilroy junior Soares.

The anchor on the Gilroy 4X100 boys relay team, Soares helped his team defend it’s CCS title in the event with ease, capturing first place with a sizzling time of 41.77.

Soares also won the Boys 100 with a mark of 10.66. He’ll compete in Clovis next week, beginning on June 3.

“All of our times have been dropping every week,” Soares said. “The last couple times I ran, I felt fast. The main thing for me is finishing. I’m trying to hit a 10.5.”

Scotts Valley sophomore Vanessa Fraser didn’t walk away with a CCS title, but she did earn herself a trip to state with a hard fought third place result in the Girls 3200.

San Lorenzo Valley super freshman Anna Maxwell blasted off in the final lap to take the lead and never look back in the event. She won with a time of 10:46.48. Gunn senior Erin Robinson took second place and Fraser finished in third.

“I knew the whole field would go out strong,” Fraser said. “Once we hit the mile mark things spread out a bit. It was a huge accomplishment for me to stay with the two girls that finished ahead of me for as long as I did. I just really wanted to get that third spot. It feels really great to know I’m going to state.”

Homestead, St. Francis and Mountain View shine

While there was plenty of fun to be had on the track, the competition in the field events was just as hot and heavy.

Navigating through a difficult field, Homestead High junior Rachel Bolton won the Girls Pole Vault with a winning mark of 11-9.00.

“I am super pumped to go to state,” Bolton said. “The wind didn’t allow me to use some of the poles that I’m used to. I was nervous, but once I starting going up on the last try, I knew I got it.”

Bolton cleared the mark on her third and final try to secure the dramatic CCS victory.

Aptos junior Theresa Vinson placed second in the event and will join Bolton at state next week.

Another ecstatic field event winner was Mountain View High junior Samantha Sinclair.

New to the shot put in 2011, Sinclair followed the lead of fellow Spartan thrower Brielle Rowe.

“Brielle is just so good,” Sinclair said. “I just wanted to try and be as good as her. When I started I could barely hit 30.”

Sinclair won the event with a throw of 40-09.50. Rowe, also a Spartans junior, placed third in the shot put and won the Girls Discus with a top throw of 125-02.

Lauren Madigan of St. Francis High-Mountain View won the 300 meter hurdles, edging out a Burlingame runner after the final jump.  The St. Francis girls 4X400 relay team took first place with a time of 3:58.99 in one of the final races of the evening.

Aptos Sean Goetzl won the Boys 110 Hurdles with winning mark of 14.61. Kamara Biawogi (Prospect) and Markell Stine (Los Altos) finished in second and third respectively in the event.

All three runners will travel to the state meet next week.

Other Notable Finishers:

Girls 100: Sarah Williams (Leigh) - 4th place (12.31).

Girls 800: Kieren Gallagher (Gunn) – 4th place (2:16.02), Cindy Huang (Lynbrook)- 5th place (2:17.92).

Girls 1600: Danielle Katz (Los Gatos)- 5th place, Katie Castro (Los Gatos)- 8th place, Jackie Stanger (Aptos)- 9th place.

Girls 4X100: St. Francis-4th place, Leigh- 6th place.

Girls 4X400: Mountain View- 2nd place, Los Gatos- 3rd place, Lynbrook- 6th place.

Boys 100: Maurice Williams (Palo Alto)- 2nd place (10.90), Julius Travis (Gilroy)-4th place, Khalid Johnson (St. Francis) -7th place.

Boys 200: Julius Travis (Gilroy)-  7th place.

Boys 800: Henry Manning (Los Gatos)- 7th place.

Boys 1600: Ben Schneider (Los Altos) - 7th place, Peter Anthony (Cupertino)- 9th place.

Boys 4X100: Palo Alto-3rd place, St. Francis- 5th place, Santa Cruz- 7th place.

Boys 4X400: Gilroy- 2nd place, St. Francis - 3rd place,

Girls High Jump: Kylie McKown (Mountain View) - 2nd place, Nikki Myashita (3rd place).

Girls Pole Vault: Keren Hendel (Westmont)- 4th place, Diamara Planell (Los Altos) - 6th place, Hailey Fish (Soquel)- 7th place.

Girls Long Jump: Micha Auzenne (St. Francis)- 6th place, Linda Plascenia (Watsonville)-7th place.

Girls Triple Jump: Lauren Johnson (St. Francis)- 6th place, Ashley Jones (Monte Vista Christian)- 8th place.

Girls Discus: Brianna Cueva (Watsonville)- 3rd place, Jessica Mattos (Aptos)- 4th place, Terra Steadman (Leigh)- 5th place.

Boys High Jump: Joey DeScalso (St. Francis)- 3rd place, Victor Du (Palo Alto)- 4th place, Dan Carlson (St. Francis) - 5th place.

Boys Pole Vault: Marc Toney (St. Francis)- 2nd place

Boys Long Jump: Jourdan Soares (Gilroy)- 2nd place, Khalil Johnson (St. Francis)- 3rd place, Maurice Williams (Palo Alto)- 4th place, Jonah Hodges (Santa Cruz)- 6th place.

Boys Triple Jump: Mikhail Yanogacio (Milpitas)- 4th place, Jonah Hodges (Santa Cruz)- 5th place.

Boys Shot Put: Cody Bickham (St. Francis)- 3rd place, Jessie Tran (Homestead)- 5th place.

Boys Team Scores: Gilroy 53 points-1st, St. Francis 52 points-2nd.

Girls Team Scores: Mountain View 58 points- 2nd, Aptos 44.5 points- 4th.