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DATE: Thursday, September 28, 2006
BYLINE: By DEWEY FORGET
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
TAYLOR, LOCKERT RUN TO VICTORY
PETALUMA BOYS, CARRILLO GIRLS WIN TEAM TITLES
PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / The Press Democrat
Petaluma High's Sterling Lockert and Casa's Jacque Taylor lead at the 2-mile mark en route to wins
Wednesday at the NBL/SCL interlock meet at Spring Lake.
Jacque Taylor makes it look easy. With her long, fluid strides, the Casa Grande freshman runner gobbles
up distance with ease.
Taylor may be the latest in a long line of outstanding runners from the Redwood Empire. Running in an
NBL/SCL interlock meet Wednesday at Spring Lake, she defeated a strong field, covering the 3-mile venue in
18 minutes, 3 seconds. Maria Carrillo's Kristin Sanzari and Leanne Fogg ran second and third, with Shannon
Rich of Rancho Cotate finishing fourth. Carrillo's Alia Gray was fifth.
Longtime Carrillo coach Danny Aldridge calls Taylor ``the real deal''.
``She's right up there with the elite runners that have come through here,'' Aldridge said. ``Her
freshman times are equal to the best, with the possible exception of Santa Rosa's Julia Stamps, who was so
quick out of the blocks as a freshman.''
Taylor, who says she prefers to run in front, was several strides behind Sanzari and Fogg at the start,
but she quickly found her best stride and had a commanding lead after the first mile.
Through the hilly part of the course, Taylor expanded her advantage and coasted home.
``I have been compared to Stamps,'' Taylor said. ``But I don't think much about it.''
Taylor regularly runs against adults and recently finished 14th out of 1,400 runners in the Dipsea cross
country meet, which begins in Mill Valley and finishes at Stinson Beach. She also ran second in the 3,000-meter
intermediate girls USATF National junior championships in Baltimore. She will compete this weekend in the
Stanford Invitational.
``I want to be in the top five at Stanford,'' Taylor said. ``I like running in the top meets. It helps me to
improve and I get to see a lot of the other good runners.''
Petaluma's Sterling Lockert captured the boys' race in a fast 15:48. Nathan Huckeba (Maria Carrillo) ran a
personal-best 15:53 to finish second, with Carrillo's Calvin Thigpen finishing third.
``I was feeling it today,'' Lockert said. ``When I pull away from people, I begin feeling even stronger.
Nathan came up on me on the back part of the course, only a step behind, but I didn't let him pass me.''
In the team competition featuring three Sonoma County League and four North Bay League clubs, Petaluma (28)
won the boys' division. Carrillo (33) finished second with Montgomery (74) third.
Carrillo (26) took the girls' competition. Montgomery (55) was second and Casa Grande (77) third.