After running the state's second-best time in the 800 meters at the Hampton-Phillips Classic, Saratoga's Alicia Follmar is still uncertain whether she will compete for a Central Coast Section title in that event.

That's because Follmar's No. 1 focus is defending her state title in the 1,600, which she also ran Saturday at San Jose City College.

Follmar, the defending CCS champion, posted the state's fastest time this season at 4 minutes, 52.57 seconds.

``The mile is going to definitely be what I'm really concentrating on, but it might be fun to try something else,'' said Follmar.

``I for sure want to defend my title in the 1,600. My coach and I will talk about whether I do something else.''

There were a handful of outstanding performances at the 14th annual meet named after Andre Phillips and Millard Hampton -- both Olympic gold-medal winners who attended Silver Creek High, San Jose City and UCLA. Approximately 1,500 athletes competed in the event, which was interrupted by intermittent showers.

But Follmar stole the show on the girls' side. She broke the meet record in the 1,600, set by Katie Hotchkiss of Mission-San Jose in 1998. She had hoped to come in under 4:50.

``It's a goal for the next time I run the 1,600. And then I want to go lower than that,'' Follmar said.

Follmar followed that performance by running a personal best in the 800 with a time of 2:12.10. She delivered one of the best races of the day, passing Valley Christian's Evelyn Wing on the final turn and pulling away down the stretch. Wing entered the race with the section's third-best time (2:14.54) and lowered her mark with a 2:13.35. She also owns the section's second-best time in the 3,200.

``I was really happy I had someone to run with,'' Follmar said. ``She pushed me all out. I was really tired.''

In the 1,600, Follmar was one of two athletes in the field who have run under five minutes: Milpitas senior Marie Nguyen broke that barrier at last weekend's Arcadia Invitational and now owns the section's third-leading mark. Nguyen's time of 5:06.12 was second-best Saturday.

The Hampton-Phillips Classic also saw the return of Mt. Pleasant standout Galina Becker, who won four medals at last year's CCS championships, including first in the long jump, triple jump and 100 hurdles. Becker, a junior, competed in her first meet after missing extensive time because of a knee injury.

Mt. Pleasant Coach Steve Nelson said Becker was sidelined because of a loose bone chip in her knee, and said she had to wait about six weeks for surgery.

Becker, who has been training for two weeks, took just three of six attempts in both the long jump and triple jump. She also ran in the 100-meter hurdles.

The girls 100 featured Jennifer Nash, of Merrill West in Tracy, who owns the nation's fourth-fastest time this season. Nash won in a wind-aided 11.66 seconds.

With the announcer screaming Sean Carey's name, Sean Lopes knew his lead was shrinking.

``Gotta go, gotta go,'' Lopes, a Pioneer senior, told himself as he headed into the final stretch of the boys 800-meter race Saturday at the Hampton-Phillips Track Classic at San Jose City College.

Lopes gritted his teeth and held his form over the final 50 meters, and he edged his rival from Albany by eight-hundredths of a second. Although his time of 1 minute, 57.82 seconds was a couple seconds off the personal best he clocked a week ago, Lopes managed to do something he had never done at a big meet: run a negative split.

After leading the field through 400 meters at 59 seconds, Lopes fought a stiff wind on the backstretch and powered through the second lap in 58 seconds. The fifth-place finisher in the Central Coast Section last year said these last two races have given him a shot of confidence heading into the section finals in May.

``I'm hoping to take out Jacob Evans,'' Lopes said, referring to the event's defending champion from Aptos. ``If not, I want to get second.''

Lopes credited his improvement this season to his increased focus on speed work; he no longer goes on the six- or seven-mile runs he used to. Lopes, a sweeper on the Pioneer soccer team that reached the CCS Division II final, also stopped playing club soccer to devote more time to track.

Another runner hoping his performance Saturday will translate into a breakout race at the CCS finals was Gunn senior Andrew Lipkin.

Lipkin won one of the day's most exciting races, the 1,600, by passing Harbor's Darren Mattinson 50 meters from the finish. Lipkin crossed the line with a time of 4:20.92. He is hoping to qualify for the state meet in the 3,200, and he was pleased to have beaten Mattinson, the CCS runner-up in that event last year.

Even though he ran two miles in 9:29.49 at the Arcadia Invitational a week ago, Lipkin knows that making it out of the section will not be easy. The top three finishers advance, and two of California's best, Alex Dunn of San Lorenzo Valley and Jeremy Mineau of Menlo-Atherton, are expected to compete.

Nevertheless, Lipkin said his victory Saturday was ``a huge confidence boost.''

Other local winners included Bellarmine's Mike Layman in the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches); Harker's John Ollila in the pole vault (13 feet); Monta Vista's Bobby Kritzer in the long jump (22-5); Milpitas' Siua Musika in the shot put (52-6); and Overfelt's Matai Wooden in the discus (168-6). Lynbrook won the 400-meter relay in 43.23 seconds.

Nkosinza Balumbu of James Logan recorded a national-best mark of 49-11 in the triple jump. Wopamo Osaisai of Pinole Valley won the 100 and 200 with wind-aided times of 10.59 and 21.76, respectively.