The year in sports
With 1999 all but over, it's time to look back on the year in local sports.
Here are the Town Crier's top 10 sports stories of '99:
10. Foothill College football player Johnnie Gray leads the nation in rushing. The halfback out of Gunn High had an incredible year, topping all junior college runners with 2,152 yards on the ground. Gray, a sophomore, racked up 2,600 all-purpose yards and scored 17 touchdowns. In the Dec. 4 Kiwanis Silicon Valley Bowl, Gray earned MVP honors by running for 174 yards and three touchdowns. Foothill won the game 31-0 over visiting Fresno to finish the season with a 9-2 record.
9. St. Francis High girls volleyball team denied third-straight state title. The Lancers' two-year reign as Division II state champs came to an end Dec. 4 in Cypress with a four-game loss to Santa Margarita in the CIF final. It was pay-back time for Southern California champ Santa Margarita, which fell to St. Francis in the previous two state title matches. The Lancers (34-2) lost the first two games of the match by scores of 16-14, which wound up haunting them in the end. Although St. Francis didn't meet its ultimate goal, the team did win CCS and NorCal titles.
8. Los Altos High's Pete Bjorklund takes third in the state in the shot put. Bjorklund, who has since moved on to Dartmouth College, tossed the shot 59 feet, 2 3/4 inches at the state track and field finals June 5 in Sacramento. Bjorklund wasn't entirely pleased by his performance, though, because he didn't equal or exceed his season best of 60-11. However, Bjorklund was competing with a sore left hamstring he injured the week before at the CCS finals, where he won both the shot and discuss.
7. Homestead High girls basketball team wins third CCS title. Julia Randall's mid-range jumper with 14 seconds left lifted the Mustangs to a 45-43 win over top seed Leland March 6 in the Division II final at the San Jose State Event Center. Senior Julie Speckels of Los Altos scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the second quarter and Michelle Wald added 10 points. The Mustangs (30-4) went on to play for the NorCal title, losing 63-41 to Amador Valley March 13 in Sacramento. Not a bad first year for new coach Wade Nakamura.
6. St. Francis and Los Altos highs finally beat rivals in boys water polo. The Lancers' 14-year losing streak to Bellarmine came to an end Nov. 4 and the Eagles broke a 12-year skid against Palo Alto Nov. 13. Behind four goals by Steve Lipinski, St. Francis pulled out a 7-5 win in front of one of the largest crowds ever to watch water polo at St. Francis. The Lancers (28-8) went on to win the CCS Division II title. Los Altos edged Paly 5-4 to win its first SCVAL De Anza Division crown since 1961. The Eagles (23-7) wound up advancing to the CCS Division II semifinals.
5. St. Francis High girls soccer team wins another CCS crown. The Lancers made it three straight by beating Gunn 2-0 Feb. 24 in the title game at San Jose's PAL Stadium. St. Francis (20-1-3) out-shot the Titans 21-4 and controlled the ball for most of the game. Junior Kati McBain assisted on both goals, which were scored by Julie Mariani and Susan Clark, respectively.
4. Gunn High football team makes its first-ever CCS appearance. The Titans finished as runners-up in the SCVAL El Camino Division and posted a 7-3 record that earned them their first invitation to the CCS playoffs, which started in 1972. Gunn's postseason appearance was brief, though, as the Titans lost 24-6 to host Woodside Nov. 20 in the first round of Division II. But as coach Jeff Remington said after the game. "Gunn will be back in the playoffs next year."
3. Los Altos High girls volleyball team rallies to win CCS title. The Eagles battled back from a two-games-to-one deficit to beat Los Gatos for the CCS Division III championship Nov. 20 at West Valley College. The defining game of the three-hour match was the fourth one, where Los Altos overcame deficits of 8-4 and 12-10 to win by two points. Alex Brown and Mariah Pospisil finished the match with 16 kills each. The Eagles, who won their first CCS crown since 1993, moved on to the NorCal semifinals and ended the year with a 35-9 record.
2. St. Francis High football team upset in CCS playoffs. Hollister-San Benito shocked the Lancers 39-35 Nov. 27 in the CCS Division I semifinals at San Jose City College. Defending champ St. Francis (10-2) held a 27-10 lead at halftime, then fell apart in the second half due to four turnovers. The Lancers, who entered the game as the No. 1 seed, beat fourth-seeded Hollister 26-7 in the season opener. St. Francis coach Mike Mitchell said this was probably the toughest loss of his head coaching career.
1. Pinewood School girls basketball team claims first state title. The Panthers beat Chadwick of Palos Verdes 61-45 March 19 in the Division V championship at Arco Arena in Sacramento. Star point guard Lauren Smith-Hams, now playing at USC, scored 24 of her 31 points in the second half to set a new Division V record. Pinewood went 31-1 and won NorCal, CCS and league titles along the way under coach Doc Scheppler. Guard/forward Sebnem Kimyacioglu was named CCS Sophomore of the Year.