Last season, Archbishop Mitty hurdler Michael Boulton was just .06 of a second away from finishing in third place in the 300-meter hurdles at the Central Coast Section meet and earning a trip to the state track and field meet in Norwalk.

This year, Boulton is determined to get there. Entering Friday's CCS finals at San Jose City College, Boulton has the fastest time in the section in the 300 hurdles (39.22 seconds) and the third best time in the 110 high hurdles (15.07). A top-three finish in either event will earn an invite to the state meet June 6-7.

Boulton won his heat in each event at the CCS qualifying meet at San Jose City College on Saturday.

``A lot of people come to this meet just worried about qualifying for CCS,'' said Boulton, who plans to compete at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo next season. ``But if you're thinking that way, you're not going all out. I'm looking to post my best time.''

Homestead's Will Faules was second in the 110 hurdles and won the 300 hurdles as a junior and Boulton is looking forward to the challenge of racing him Friday.

``Last year, Faules was the big guy. Now I have the best time in the 300 so everyone is shooting for me,'' Boulton said.

``This meet is a chance to show what I can do.''

SARATOGA HIGH: Falcons sophomore Alicia Follmar won her heat in the 1,600-meter race Saturday, beating Presentation's Melissa Grelli with a time of 5:00.02.