The Cupertino Courier Sports Briefs Abdella stars There was no team better than West Valley Community College in the Coast Conference cross country finals early last month. And, as it turned out, there weren't too many better in all of Northern California. The Vikings won both the men's and women's titles at the conference finals, then backed up that finish by finishing second in the men's division and third in the women's division at the Northern California meet at Crystal Springs in Belmont. Sophomore sensation Juan Miramontes was the individual champion in the men's race to lead West Valley to a team second at the NorCal meet behind American River. American River also won the women's title, with Hartnell second and West Valley third. Rosemarie Lagunas finished second overall for the Vikings. Former Cupertino High School star Nuru Abdella finished in the top 25 for De Anza College in the men's division. Abdella was 22nd in 22:22 for the Dons, who were 12th in the team standings. Pam Johnson of De Anza finished 36th in 21:17 in the women's division. A week earlier, Abdella was sixth in 21:15 to lead De Anza to a team fifth in the conference meet. Emilio Vindiola was 25th in 22:29, with Pablo Viramontes 39th in 23:37, Jamiel Danesh 41st in 23:48 and former Fremont High star Brian Cooper 52nd in 24:52 for the Dons. Christina Van Meter of De Anza was ninth in 20:46 to lead the Dons to a team third. Johnson was 15th in 21:55, with Mitzi Marter 25th in 23:43, Phuong Ly 31st in 25:27 and Anne Marie Weiss 32nd in 25:36. [ Back to Contents Page | Cupertino Courier Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Cupertino Courier, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.