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Whitlock leads SR to boys' title
Senior wins 100 (11:43) and 200 meter (23.17) events

By DEWEY FORGET
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Maurice Whitlock calls himself a laid-back type guy. A take-it-easy approach is 
his usual attitude. If you want to see Whitlock's serious side, you will have to 
see him compete in his two specialties -- the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. 

Whitlock, the Empire's top boys sprinter, had his game-face on Friday at the 
North Bay League track and field meet at Piner, winning the 100 and 200.

The Santa Rosa senior won the 100 in 11:43, far off his best of 10.92, but plenty 
good enough to defeat teammate Therman McGowan, who finished in 11.55.

Whitlock's 23.17 captured the 200, with teammate Robby Marsh second at 23.30 and 
Montgomery's Bryan Bei third (23.49).

"I felt like I got out of the blocks today, that's definitely getting better. I 
know that if I'm head-to-head it's my race," Whitlock said.

For the second consecutive week, Maria Carrillo's Kristen Sanzari set a meet record. 
Last Friday Sanzari eclipsed the Santa Rosa All-City 800-meter record, and now she 
owns the North Bay League record, besting Jenny Aldridge's 2:16.18 set in 2002. 
Sanzari, running into a strong head wind crossed the finish line all-out in 2:16.0.

"I've been feeling strong; I feel like I have more left at the end," said Sanzari, 
who attributes her late kick to a stronger upper body acquired in the off-season 
with light weight training. "

Sanzari had four gold medals. She also won the 1,600, ran the anchor in the 1,600 relay 
and capped off her performance with a leap of 16-feet, 3 3/4; inches, a personal best, 
in the long jump.

Santa Rosa sprinter Suzanne Howard continued her strong season, taking home gold medals 
in the 100 and 300-hurdles, and the 100 sprint.

Leanne Fogg, Maria Carrillo, ran 11:20.53 in the girls' 3,200, with Alia Gray of 
Carrillo second. Fogg and Gray, running into a strong wind took turns setting the pace. 
The two moved some 100 meters ahead of the pack in the middle stages. Fogg pulled away 
for a convincing win in the final 400 meters.

Montgomery's Blake McDowall, the area's top middle-distance runner, was a double winner 
in the 800 (1:59.48) and 1,600 (4:26.72).

"It was so windy, no one wanted the lead, no matter how slow we were going," McDowall 
said. "So, I bite the bullet and went to the lead early in the race."

Mia Greenstein (Maria Carrillo), who had a personal-best of 10-0 in the pole vault 
earlier this year, had a leap of 9-6 that was sufficient for a gold medal. As a 
sophomore, her best was 8-6. "That's not bad, a foot-and-a-half improvement in one year," 
said her coach Greg Fogg.

Maria Carrillo (199), won the girls' team competition for the eighth time in the past 
nine years. Rancho Cotate (90) was second. Santa Rosa boys'(146) upended defending 
champs Maria Carrillo, who finished third. Cardinal Newman (104) was second.

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