August 2, 2007

SPORTS

Swimmer breaks own record

Wins four gold medals at championship meet

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Lisa Trimberger won a gold medal for her breaststroke at the Cabana League Championship at Saratoga High School. She has swum for Shadow Brook since she was 6 years old. She not only broke her own club’s freestyle record at the meet for the second year in a row, but took home three other gold medals and a bronze.

Lisa Trimberger broke her own freestyle record at the Cabana League Championship Meet July 14 at Saratoga High School.

Trimberger, who has been swimming since she was 6 years old for Shadow Brook Swim Club, won this year’s 50-yard freestyle for 15- to 18-year old girls with a time of 25:77. That broke the club record of 25:95 she set a year ago, which had stood for 11 years. She nearly broke the club record for backstroke missing it by only 0.08 seconds.

She also took the club’s high point award for 15- to 18-year-old girls, winning four gold medals in back- and breaststrokes as well as the freestyle and the medley relay in which she swam backstroke. The other medley swimmers were Kimmy Hatcher, Kristen Foote and Rachel Hatcher. She and teammates Julie Borks, Rachel Hatcher and Kristen Foote won third place in the freestyle relay.

Trimberger almost didn’t get to swim in the meet. About four weeks before she came down with chronic swimmer’s ear and was not allowed to swim for three weeks. However, the week prior to the meet, the doctor said her ear had healed and she crammed the three weeks of practice into one to earn all those medals.

In the past two years, Trimberger has won six gold medals at the championship meet. Last year she also won the freestyle, back and breast races, with her relay teams coming in second in the medley and third in the freestyle relays.

It was a big year for the swimmer who typically swims only in the summer. She was selected as captain of her swim team at San Jose’s Notre Dame High School and also was chosen as team captain for the Shadow Brook club. It was her last year of swimming for both after he graduation from Notre Dame this spring.

In the fall, she’s off to college at Santa Clara University, which doesn’t have a swim team but does have a swimming club. She plans to join the club, but only after “I adjust to college life first.”

Trimberger’s favorite stroke is freestyle and she deems herself a sprinter rather than a distance swimmer, although she did swim the 500-yard freestyle for Notre Dame for two years.

“I like to swim because it’s a really good way to stay in shape and meet new people. It also allows me time to think about school, projects and to work things out or just to relax.”

Branham Hills baseball team off to Oregon for regional championships

The Branham Hills 15- and 16-year-old senior team is now in Oregon representing Northern Cali-fornia in the Little League Western Regional Champion-ships in Salem.

To get this far, baseball players had to win three tournaments, defeating 10 teams from all over Califor-nia thus far. In Oregon, they will face Idaho in the first of four games of pool play that will include opponents from Hawaii, Alaska, and Arizona.

This is the first Branham Hills team in nearly 30 years to advance to the regional contest.

If Branham Hills advances from these regional championships, they will play teams from all over the world in the Senior League World Series.

With their unrelenting offense and lights-out pitching staff, this group is always exciting to watch.

These all stars go to high schools throughout San Jose, including Bellarmine College Prep, Pioneer and Branham, to name a few.

Monterey’s Bomarito wins Atlantic Series race at San Jose Grand Prix

Raphael Matos clinches 2007 Atlantic Series Championship; pair of youngsters win Formula BMW races

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

It was a particularly good day for two drivers in the Champ Car Atlantic Series race at the San Jose Grand Prix on July 29.

First place finisher Jonathan Bomarito (center), second place finisher Frank Perera (left) and third place finisher Robert Wickens (right) celebrate their podium finishes in the Champ Car Atlantic Series race at the 2007 San Jose Grand Prix on July 29. Photo by Dan Miranda

Pole-sitter Jonathan Bomarito (PR1 Motorsports), a Monterey native, capped off a successful weekend at the San Jose Grand Prix by taking the checkered flag in the Atlantic Series race on July 29, leading the pack from start to finish. To boot, Raphael Matos captured his first Atlantic Series Championship by finishing fourth in the race. Matos came into the weekend leading all Atlantic Series drivers with 291 points and with the championship title, earned a $2 million bonus to be used to supplement sponsorship for a Champ Car ride next season.

Bomarito’s win in San Jose was the first of his 2007 season and the second Atlantic victory of his career. Bomarito, who had approximately 100 family members and friends in attendance, said it was a weekend he won’t soon forget.

“It just feels incredible being here in San Jose, there’s so many friends and family here,” said Bomarito. “With the season we’ve had up to this point, it’s just a remarkable feeling. It’s been a tremendous weekend from the second we put the car on the track. …It’s great to be back up here. What a great feeling.”

Meanwhile, Matos (Sierra Sierra Enterprises) wrapped up his first Atlantic Series Championship by finishing fourth in the race, earning the 25-year-old Brazilian driver a $2 million bonus to be used for a possible ride with a Champ Car team next season. The championship win was also a first for the Sierra Sierra Enterprises team, owned by San Jose locals Dennis and Diane Kottke and their daughters, Stacey Behrendt and Kendra Pacheco.

After winning his first career Atlantic Series race last season in San Jose, Matos returned to the downtown street course in 2007 having won six races this season. His fourth place finish was the 10th top four result this season as well.

Jonathan Bomarito, a Monterey native, took the checkered flag in the Champ Car Atlantic Series race at the 2007 San Jose Grand Prix on July 29. Bomarito said he had a cheering section of about 100 at the race, consisting of family and friends.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Matos. “I can’t really describe what I’m feeling right now. It’s definitely like a dream coming true. I’ve worked my whole life and I’ve dreamed about this moment. …I can’t thank enough the Sierra Sierra Enterprises/Proworks, Inc. team. This is the second year they’ve given me the chance to drive this car. They’re like a family to me. I love them for life, and I appreciate very much what they’ve done for me.”

Rookie driver Frank Perera (Condor Motorsports) finished second in the race, 0.898 seconds behind Bomarito for his seventh consecutive podium. Perera entered the race trailing Matos for second in Atlantic points standings with 251 points.

“It’s good to be on the podium again, for sure,” said Perera, who began the race second on the starting grid. “It was a tough, tough race because Jonathan was quick all this weekend.”

Finishing third in the race was rookie Robert Wickens (Forsythe Championship Racing), who began third at the starting grid before Matos, starting in the No. 4 spot, passed him at the hairpin turn during the early stages of the race. Wickens later reclaimed his third spot, passing Matos at the hairpin with six laps to go following a restart.

Another local driver, rookie Tom Sutherland (Team Jensen), who graduated this year from Los Gatos High School, finished 13th in the race--his best finish of the season.

Teenagers rule the street course in Formula BMW races
Fifteen-year-old driver Alexander Rossi (Team Apex Racing USA) earned his first Formula BMW USA win during the first of two Formula BMW races at the third annual San Jose Grand Prix on July 28.

Atlantic Series driver Raphael Matos placed fourth in the Champ Car Atlantic Series race, giving the Sierra Sierra Enterprises driver the 2007 Atlantic Series Championship. Photos by Ron Stenn

Rossi, a California native from Nevada City, started the race in pole position and never relinquished his lead, leading the pack for all 25 laps, finishing 1.370 seconds ahead of second place finisher Maxime Pelletier.

It’s fantastic,” said Rossi. “There are so many things that make today special. It’s my home race and there are a lot of people here to watch me, so it was great to put on a good show for them. My team have been absolutely unbelievable in giving me a car good enough for the pole and the win.”

Rookie driver Esteban Gutierrez followed suit the next day, taking the checkered flag in Formula BMW USA’s second race of the weekend on July 29, edging out second-place finisher Daniel Morad by 4.685 seconds. Like Rossi, Gutierrez (Autotecnica), who will turn 16 on Aug. 5, led from start to finish in the 26-lap race to earn his third victory of the season.

It’s a family matter

Local family-owned Atlantic Series group Sierra Sierra
Enterprises cut from a different racing cloth

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

If the owners of Sierra Sierra Enterprises had it their way, they would probably prefer to hold meetings about their Champ Car Atlantic Series race team in the family kitchen.

And quite frankly, they can, considering the ownership group, which consists of Diane and Dennis Kottke, as well as daughters Stacey Behrendt and Kendra Pacheco, who all own homes on the same block in Evergreen. While Behrendt and Pacheco currently reside in Evergreen, their parents split time between their Evergreen home and their residence in Minden, Nev., where the Sierra Sierra Enterprises team is officially based.

Sierra Sierra Enterprises owner Stacey Behrendt (center-left) had reason to smile after driver Raphael Matos (center-right) won the 2007 Atlantic Series Championship with a fourth place finish in San Jose on July 29. Last year in San Jose, Matos picked up his first career Atlantic Series win. Photo by Dan Miranda

“It makes it very convenient to get together,” Behrendt said. “It’s good.”

The ownership group noted that racing has always been a part of the family, and that the sport is also a part of the reason why the family is so close. Spending summers at race tracks around the country, said Pacheco, is family time at its finest.

“Of course, when we get together, we tend to talk about racing a lot,” Pacheco said. “But it’s a nice thing to do together. Stacey’s kids come to the track, my kids come to the track, so it’s a nice way to spend some time together with the family.”

“I think it’s really special because our summers are based around all of us being together,” added Behrendt. “The amount of time we spend together as a family is something that is priceless.”

All the more special, Behrendt and Pacheco said, because they grew up with a passion for racing, thanks to their parents.

“We watched racing a lot when we were growing up,” Behrendt said. “A lot.”

Diane Kottke also noted the bond the family shares through racing. More than that, however, Kottke noted that she appreciates the hard work her daughters put in to making the team top notch.

“It’s very nice for me,” said Kottke. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without these two.”

All told, the Sierra Sierra Enterprises team has local flavor in spades. The company’s primary sponsor, Proworks, Inc., is a private, Santa Clara-based manufacturing company with two facilities in the area. To that end, a weekend at the San Jose Grand Prix is special, the group said, not only because the family gets to rest in their own beds for a change, but because the team gets to race in front of the home crowd.

Sierra Sierra Enterprises driver Raphael Matos hugs team owner Diane Kottke after clinching the 2007 Atlantic Series Championship with a fourth place finish in San Jose on July 29. Photo by Dan Miranda

Success on the San Jose street course

Sierra Sierra Enterprises driver Raphael Matos kicked off a momentum swing for the group by winning his first Champ Car Atlantic Series race in San Jose last year.

“The win last year was huge,” Behrendt said. “We came off a really disappointing week the weekend before (in Edmonton). Raphael was leading the race the week before and he hit the wall with about seven laps to go in that race. To put everything back together one week later and put everything behind us to get that was just an amazing victory. It was more than you could ever have hoped. It was emotional and overwhelming.”

Since then, there’s been a steadily climb in success for the team. Matos clinched the Champ Car Atlantic Series Championship in San Jose on July 29 with a fourth place finish on the street course—a first for both Matos and the ownership group, which originally became involved with the Atlantic Series in 2002 when Diane and Dennis Kottke initially formed a team.

“They had some time to kill,” Pacheco said with a chuckle, “so they started a race team, because they’ve always loved to race and they kind of met through racing.”

And since family comes first for the ownership group, the rest of the Sierra Sierra Enterprises team is treated accordingly--as family.

“Because racing has such a team environment, it’s very important that everybody within the team has chemistry with each other,” said Behrendt. “You can have a driver who’s fast, but if there’s no chemistry between that engineer, with that driver, or other key people on the team, you’re not going to succeed. …When we choose our drivers, we don’t look strictly during their tests at their speed. It’s how their feedback is and how they get along with the rest of the team. There’s some development you can do.”

The family-themed atmosphere at Sierra Sierra Enterprises hasn’t gone unnoticed by the team’s drivers as well. Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe signed on with Sierra Sierra Enterprises prior to the start of the 2007 season and said he found a difference right away in the way things are handled.

Sierra Sierra Enterprises driver Raphael Matos (foreground) is in his second season with the team and won the 2007 Atlantic Series Championship with a fourth place finish in San Jose on July 29. Matos’ Sierra Sierra Enterprises James Hinchcliffe (background) signed on with the team prior to the start of the 2007 season. Photo by Ron Stenn

“The minute I showed up for the first test I went to, it was pretty apparent that these guys kind of do things a little bit differently,” Hinchcliffe said. “At this level, a lot of these teams are very corporate and they are businesses more than they are race teams. As soon as you walk into the tent at Sierra Sierra, you can just feel that it’s a much more family atmosphere. It’s very passionate. They’re not here because they have to be; they’re here because they want to be. That’s the kind of attitude you love to see in a race team.”

Matos, in his second season with Sierra Sierra Enterprises agreed with Hinchcliffe’s assessment.

“It’s a family team, but at the same time, it’s a very professional manner in which they do everything,” Matos said. “…It’s a really great environment. I think it’s a very important thing to have on a team.”

And despite the rigors of the Champ Car Atlantic Series schedule, such as traveling and other logistics, the ownership group said it wouldn’t change a thing, because after all, they’re still around their family.

“We travel a lot, but we see very little of the towns in all reality,” Behrendt said. “So when you come home, to know that you spent all that time with your family and a team that we consider family is just special.”

Sports Briefs

Tryouts for De Anza Force – U12 Girls’ Competitive Soccer
Girls’ U12 Soccer Tryouts (born after 07/31/1995). De Anza Force competitive teams. Schedules are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Class 3 (Competitive): 3pm-5pm; Class 1 (Select): 5pm-7pm. Location is Eaton Elementary School, 20220 Suisun Dr., Cupertino. For more information, contact: Stephanie Pearson at 619-917-7594. 


Silicon Valley Tigers youth tackle football now accepting applications
The Silicon Valley Tigers are still accepting applications for players between the ages of 6 and 14 for their youth tackle football teams.  We are a non-profit organization that was founded in 2006. We are dedicated to preparing the youths of Silicon Valley to play football at the high school level. We are a member of the highly competitive NYFL football league.

To register, or for more information, please go to our web site www.siliconvalleytigers.com and follow the instructions.  We have excellent coaching staffs in place for all teams.   If you have any questions about the Tigers or the NYFL, please contact Mary Ann O'Hara at 408-646-7748, Rod Abarca at 408-836-7844 or email rod@siliconvalleytigers.com.


Join the Almaden Aftershocks Boys’ U14 Soccer
The Almaden Aftershocks U14 Boys’ competitive soccer team is looking for several new players (born between Aug. 1, 1993 and July 31, 1994) for the fall season to be part of a winning tradition and a team-family culture. The Aftershocks’ coaches strive to improve fundamental soccer skills, build team spirit, improve physical fitness, create life-long friendships, and focus on team-building attitudes and fair play through practicing and playing soccer, and having fun! Our players are personally trained by an English Premier Trainer. Contact coach Mark Schrick at schrick@pacbell.net or (408) 391-6664 for more information.


Bay Area Boot Camp 5K Fitness Training Program
Boot Camp dates are from September 10 - November 4 at South Bay locations. The cost is $125 - All proceeds benefit the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative. The 5K Fitness Training program, developed by Bay Area Boot Camp’s expert coaching staff, is a comprehensive workout series designed to prepare you for the Silicon Valley 5K Run/Walk on November 4, 2007.

Designed for runners of all levels, this 8-week program includes:

Eight weekly training sessions led by Bay Area Boot Camp coaches

A detailed schedule of running, speed, and cross-training drills

A Training log to help you track your progress and keep your focus

An eight-week nutrition plan designed to support your training and optimize your energy level

Unlimited phone and email support from our coaching staff of veteran 5K, 10K, and marathon runners

15% off September and October Boot Camp sessions - an ideal way to enhance your race preparations and cross train in a supportive group environment

A pre-race party – get to know your fellow 5K racers and learn more about BAWSI!

For more information, contact Mary Beth Gonzales at marybeth@bayareabootcamp.com or phone 408-425-9475. Visit our website at www.bayareabootcamp.com.

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