LOHS senior makes CCS title case in Top 8 Classic
LOS GATOS — The misfortune of peaking too early didn’t cross Live Oak distance coach Mike Sullivan’s mind two weeks ago when he saw Stephanie Armstrong set the section’s best high jump mark of 2010 at the Mount Sac Relays.
If there’s one thing Armstrong has shown the past three years, it’s that she performs best under late-season pressure.
“Stephanie rises to the level of her competition,” Sullivan said Monday. “She just has a knack for making jumps when the spotlight’s on her.”
The Live Oak senior made, perhaps, her biggest statement Friday when she cleared 5 feet, 4 inches to take first in the Top 8 Track and Field Classic, a midseason preview of the Central Coast Section Championship meet. It was Armstrong’s fourth invitational title this season.
Armstrong couldn’t match the impressive 5-7 height she cleared at Mount Sac but did solidify herself as the top pick for the May 28 CCS finals held in Gilroy.
“Her marks are as good as they come. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t challenge for first,” Sullivan said. “Her biggest strength is her consistency. I definitely think she can do 5-7 at CCS Finals; she was pretty close to going higher at Mount Sac.”
Oddly enough, Armstrong was the only Live Oak entree who did not set a personal record at Top 8.
The Lady Acorns’ foursome of Catherine Sparling, Pauline Olsen, Erika Rodriguez and Lauren Drewniany broke the 400-meter relay school record set a year ago, clocking 50.19 seconds to place seventh. Olsen added a PR while taking third in the 400 meters (58.30), and Rodriguez did the same with her ninth-place finish in the 200-meters (26.11).
Live Oak’s 4×100 relay — Eric Tolson, Jacob Daw, Taylor Alonzo, T.J. Ornduff — placed ninth with its fastest time (44.79) time this season, and the mile relay — Tolson, Daw, Jacob Montoya, Kean Vaziry — improved by 2 1/2 seconds in taking seventh (3:29.31).
For Sobrato, Alan Rios finished sixth overall in the 800 meters (1:55.64), and Austin Meldrum cleared 13 feet even to place fifth in pole vault.
Ralph Jackson placed 11th in the 400 (51.72) and 14th in the 300-meter hurdles (42.80).
