Lannes: Highly decorated athlete will return for one more Los Gatos award

It's a good thing that Antonio Lannes had broad shoulders during his days as an athlete at Los Gatos High School. After all, he had to fill a pretty big letter jacket.
He needed the extra large jacket to hold all of his high school awards—the LG block letter, seven white stars, four orange stars, two swimmer awards and two water polo balls.
And that's not even counting the more than 25 medals he won in league and Central Coast Section swimming meets.
Lannes left Los Gatos as one of the most decorated aquatic athletes in school history, and in his senior year he was recognized as the top athlete in the school when he won the Outstanding Senior Male Athlete Award for the 1993-94 school year.For his outstanding accomplishments as a Wildcat, Lannes will be among the 11 members that make up the seventh class of inductees in the Los Gatos High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies will be held May 1 at La Rinconada Country Club.
Lannes made an immediate impact when he arrived on the high school campus in the fall of 1990 and jumped right into the pool to play water polo. He was selected to the all-league first team offense that season, and his high school aquatics career was off and "... swimming.
In the spring, he placed third in the league finals in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 100 butterfly, and was a member of the first-place 200 medley relay. He also won a third-place medal on the 400 free relay
Advertisementteam.It was more of the same a year later when he won all-league first team offensive honors in water polo. That year he was second in the league in both the 100 fly and 200 individual medley, and he competed on 200 free relay and 400 free relay teams that placed second.
Lannes made it three straight years on the all-league first team offensive unit in his junior year and went on to nail second in the 100 fly, second in the 400 free relay and third in the 200 free relay in swimming.
But as good as he was in his first three years in the Gatos water, he was even better as a senior.
He was not only named to the all-league first team offense for a fourth year in a row, he was the league's Player of the Year after leading the Wildcats to a 7-0 finish in the division. Lannes, picked as his team's Most Valuable Player for a third straight year, scored 128 goals in his senior season.
His year, though, was only half over. In the spring, he was the league champion in the 100 fly and 100 breast, and helped the Cats to firsts in the medley relay and 400 free relay. Los Gatos placed second in the league that season, the school's best finish in many years.
He went on to compete in the CCS finals for a fourth straight year, and again, came through with his best effort. After placing fourth in the 100 free and sixth in the 200 free as a junior, he finished third in both the 50 free and 100 free and helped the Cats to a second in the 200 free relay and a third in the 400 free relay.Following his senior year, Lannes tried out for the National Water Polo Junior Team. He passed the first cut, but not the second.
That wasn't the end for the Gatos grad, though. He went on to Bucknell University on a full aquatics scholarship. He was a varsity starter for four years on the water polo squad, serving as team captain in his senior season, and he was a member of the swimming team all four years, earning co-captain status as a senior.
While at Bucknell, Lannes won the Albert E. Humphreys Award, given annually to the outstanding senior male student athlete.It seems a fitting end to an outstanding career for one of the most decorated athletes in Los Gatos High School history, but it's not over yet. Lannes has one more award to add to his collection—the trophy he'll receive for being inducted into the Los Gatos High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Los Gatos High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held on May 1 at La Rinconada Country Club. Tickets for the Hall of Fame dinner are priced at $90. For ticket information, call the Los Gatos Athletic Association at 408.395.2002.