By Pete Borello
 Ben Sitler |
Runner Ben Sitler capped his high school athletic career Sunday, and it couldn’t have ended any better for the Los Altos resident.
Sitler won the 3,200-meter run at the 47th annual Golden West Invitational in Folsom. The St. Francis High senior finished in 9 minutes, 7.44 seconds - nearly three seconds ahead of runner-up Colton Tully-Doyle of Rancho Bernardo.
After finishing third at the state meet the previous weekend, Sitler said he was eager to compete in the 3,200 at the Golden West, which brings together top high school athletes from across the country. Sitler missed the Golden West last year because of a knee injury.
It was that injury - which occurred prior to the Central Coast Section championships - that helped motivate Sitler to come back even stronger in the fall.
“The injury frustrated me,” he said, “It made me more determined during cross country and I had a breakthrough year.”
Sitler’s stellar fall season of cross country included winning CCS, finishing second at state and seventh at the national meet.
In the spring he won both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs at CCS, making him the first male athlete to win both titles in the same year since 1985. The Princeton-bound Sitler followed this up with a third-place time of 9:02.56 at state.
Sitler was not alone at the Golden West. Three other St. Francis athletes also competed Sunday by meeting a qualifying standard during the season.
Junior Natasha Barthel placed third in the girls pole vault, clearing 12 feet, 9 inches. Senior Taylor Franklin was seventh in the event, vaulting 11-9.
In the boys pole vault, CCS champion Casey Roche came in fourth. The junior cleared 16-3.
