SAN JOSE—Christopher set four new school records at the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championship semifinals—and Vanessa Koontz was a part of each one.
The sophomore standout entered the Cougars record books individually in the 200 and 400-meter dashes and as part of the 400 and 1,600m relay teams. Koontz’s success at the semis on May 24 earned her qualifying marks for the CCS Finals on May 30 in the 200m (seventh place, 25.19), 400m (sixth place, 58.68) and 1,600m relay (eighth place, 4:03.02)—which she runs with Carly McPolin, Ally Foster and Natalie Gutierrez.
“The teamwork for the girls is incredible. They compete at the highest level,” Christopher coach Jeff Myers said. “Individual wise, she’s (Koontz) been training really hard. She has a lot of raw ability. She’s been getting better and better at working hard at practice. It’s paying off.”
The Cougars ‘ goal heading into the CCS meet was to have as many athletes qualify for state as possible. With the Top 6 moving on to the California Interscholastic Federation meet June 6 and 7 in Clovis, that goal is looking more like a reality. Christopher qualified for the finals in eight events and placed in the Top 6 in four of them—three of which were first place finishes.
The Christopher boys led the way as Cody Oberlander finished first in the high jump with a 6-foot, four- inch mark while Bryan Pipkin captured first in the pole vault at 13 feet, six inches. Issac McCrimon rounded out the Cougars’ competition for the boys, finishing ninth in the long jump with a CCS Finals qualifying mark of 21 feet, 2 inches.
“Cody has been right on the money,” Myers said. “Him and Natalie (Gutierrez) on the high jump have just been hitting their strong runs, hitting their peaks on their arches. Their timing has just been great for the them on their jumps. Bryan has been right there all year long, it was just a matter of getting one more opportunity. We all knew he could do it, it’s just a matter of putting it together at the right time.”
Gutierrez earned the only first place mark on the girls’ side, tying for first with Mady Fagan from Saratoga in the high jump at 5 feet, 2 inches. Gutierrez was also a part of the school record setting 400m relay—along with Cydney Caradonna, Haley Romero and Koontz—which failed to qualify for the finals despite their time of 49.87 seconds.
Christopher’s Foster qualified for three events individually with her highest finish coming in the 100m hurdles where she took eighth (15.23). She qualified in the long jump at 17 feet, 2 inches for 11th place and the triple jump at 34 feet, 4 inches for a 10th place finish.
“It’s a big meet, a high intensity meet,” Myers said. “This a finals meet where you have to beat your way in. For the kids to make it that far, I’m proud of them for that for doing what they can to the best of their abilities. Kudos to those guys.”
Haley Romero rounded out Christopher’s CCS Finals qualifiers with a 12th place finish in the long jump at 16 feet, 5 inches.
Gilroy’s Nicole Holder participated in the high jump and despite being the Monterey Bay League champion—where she PR’d at 5 feet, 2 inches—she missed the qualifying mark and landed in 15th place at 4 feet, 10 inches. The Mustangs’ Courtney Pipkin took part in the pole vault, but recorded no height. Gilroy’s Tim Van Horn was the lone male representative for the Mustangs, but failed to qualify for the finals as he finished 16th in the high jump (6 feet).
The CCS Finals will kick off at 4 p.m. May 30 at San Jose City College.
