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Carrillo's Wentz takes Div. II gold November 19, 2005 By DEWEY FORGET THE PRESS DEMOCRAT HAYWARD - Jacqui Wentz prefers to lag just behind the leaders and then finish with a flourish. The formula has proven to be a winner for the Maria Carrillo runner. On Saturday at Hayward High in the Div. II girls' North Coast Section cross country championships, Wentz tried a new tactic. Against the stiffest competition she has faced all year, she quickly moved to the lead and controlled the pace throughout. She was never threatened at any point over the 3.1-mile course, cruising home in 17:58 to capture the individual gold medal. It was the first individual title for Carrillo since Jenny Aldridge in 2000. "I've never seen her that focused. At the end, she looked like she was just out for a run in the park," said Maria Carrillo coach Danny Aldridge. "She was relaxed, in a zone ... no strain and I guess no pain." Jennifer Martindill, in just her second year of competition, ran 18:35 for second, and Montgomery freshman Celeste Berg, who continues to improve with every race, was third in 18:54. All three advance to state, along with Petaluma's Taylor Parks. "Last year, I started on the JV team and moved up to the varsity and ran at NCS, but I don't think I finished in the top 100," Martindill said. "Today, I knew what I could do." While Wentz was the only Redwood Empire individual runner to take home gold, the Maria Carrillo boys and girls won the Div. II team titles to advance to the state meet next Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Pumas girls, who were second at state last year, will be returning for the sixth consecutive year. Petaluma, which has never sent a team to state, finished second in the boys' Div. II to earn a trip to Fresno. Jason Grubb (16:05) ran his best race of the year to finish fourth for the Trojans, edging Carrillo's Michael Brew and Kyle Louv of Eureka. Ryan Aldridge of Carrillo was seventh. "I was really pleased for our young guys, in particular for Jason, who had an outstanding performance," said Petaluma coach Jim Lynch. "I didn't think we would mature this quickly. We return six of our top seven next year." Rancho Cotate's Shannon Rich was the Empire's only Div.I participant to make it to state, finishing third in 18:48. "I was two seconds slower than last year when I ran sixth in Div.II," she said. Willits and Ursuline girls ran third and fourth, respectively, in Div. IV to make state. Middletown's Julia Malvino checked in at 20:29 to also advance. Mike Perez (Lower Lake) ran fifth; Brian Cole (St. Helena) was ninth; and Kenny Smith (Willits) 12th in boys' Div.V. They also will compete at Fresno. Santa Rosa Christian, with Zac Nave (sixth) and Kevin Dinglasan (ninth) finishing in the top 10, made it to state for the second straight year in Div. V boys. SRC's Faith Hall and freshman Jaime Feldman of Sonoma Academy also move on. Other state qualifiers included: Windsor's Laura Rogina in girls' Div. III and Analy's Tyler Cannon-Reese in boys' Div. III.
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