MV track displays 'a little bit of a kick' MV track displays 'a little bit of a kick' (May 20, 2005)

By Scott Campbell

After leading the 800 meter race nearly from the start, Mountain View sophomore Robbie Reid saw his lead vanish as Los Altos senior Eric Buysse pulled ahead approaching the last straightaway. Hardly missing a beat, Reid put his head down and sprinted to the win.

"I just wanted to save a little bit of a kick for the end," said Reid, who finished in 1:58.91, while second-place Buysse was .20 behind. "Right as I saw him pass me, I gave it all out and luckily I passed him at the end. You never really want to lose to Los Altos so it was kind of cool to beat him."

The sophomore certainly had the Spartans coaching staff in a tizzy afterwards.

"Robbie Reid is an animal," said Mountain View sprints coach Evan Smith. "He started out playing football and we could tell that he was a runner, and we basically just told him he should be running. He's the toughest kid on our team. You saw him coming down to the finish line against that Los Altos kid. ... He refuses to lose."

Reid's triumph marked the high point of the SCVAL Qualifiers for Mountain View, whose girls placed ninth and boys finished in a tie for tenth in this midday meet at Los Gatos on May 14.

The girls, who took third place in both the regular season and the El Camino Division Championships, again excelled at the high jump. Four Spartans placed in the top twelve, including senior Jane Doolittle, who tied for second by clearing 5-2.

A trio of sophomores rounded out the field for Mountain View (4-2 El Camino). Roni Amsden placed fourth, Cheryl Kaestner took seventh and Anndrea Nelson finished tied for eleventh.

"High jump was really fun because there are so many of us and we're all having fun together," said Amsden, who also finished fourth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. "We have a really good sense of camaraderie on our team. It's like a family."

Fortunately for the Mountain View girls, that atmosphere is likely to continue as so many of them will return for at least one more season.

"We have a very young (girls) team," said Spartans head coach Samantha Read. "I think we've got a good run coming in the next few years with the girls and they'll be back up [as division champs] again."

Sophomore Kate Kornegay placed a strong third in the 100 meter hurdles in 16.53 and took seventh in the 300 meter hurdles.

Nelson came in fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 34-02.25 and will join Doolittle, Amsden and Kornegay at San Jose City College for this weekend's CCS Trials.

Meanwhile, the boys, third in the lower division with a record of 4-2, but winners at the El Camino Division Championships, fared particularly well in the relay events.

The 4x100 meter team of Danny Slate, Forrest Sansom, David Lee and Alex Adams finished fifth in 44.30, while Slate, Sansom, Adams and Reid took fifth in the 4x400 meter with a time of 3.33.48.

The Spartans also had three sixth-place finishers: sophomore Devin Mooers in the high jump, junior Matt Warmbrodt in the discus and senior Justin Bull in the triple jump. They will join Reid and the relay teams at the CCS Trials.

"Team-wise, to have this many athletes qualifying on to next week, to me, that's a big highlight," said Read. "It's just all exciting right now."

Given her team's success in the postseason meets and its relative youth, coach Read hopes Mountain View will move up to the De Anza Division following the 2006 season.

"I suspect that next year we probably will move up which is something that we've wanted to for a long time because we think that we can really compete with those other schools," said Read.

For now, the Spartans hope to continue their run of strong performances with a good showing at CCS.
E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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