The mercury climbed to well over 90 degrees, but the heat didn't keep the two Falcons from racing to individual victories in the annual event held on Fremont's Sunnyvale campus.

Subramaniam cover the two-plus miles in 10:17 to finish three seconds ahead of his nearest rival to win the boys varsity race, and Follmar ran 11:53 to finish three seconds ahead of Marie Nguyen of Milpitas.

Scott Russell of Monta Vista took the early lead in the boys race, but Subramaniam moved in front well into the course and held it to the finish line.

Jason Yao of Monta Vista finished third in the boys event in 10:28 with Russell hanging on for fifth in 10:43. Teammate Matt Paquet was eighth in 10:48.

Greg Geldman of Los Gatos was sixth in 10:44 with Lynbrook's Eugene Berson 11th in 10:51.5 and Saratoga's Steve Surrette a close 12th in 10:51.8.

Santa Clara edged Saratoga for the team title in the invitational, running up a low 58 points to 99 for the Falcons. Rounding out the top five finishers for Saratoga were Ken Douglas, 24th in 11:05; Henry Barmeier, 28th in 11:12.4; and Scott Surrette, 34th in 11:26.

Monta Vista was third in the team poll with 112 points and Los Gatos nailed fourth with 136 points.

Joining Geldman in the top five for the Wildcats were Matthew Petrillo, 15th in 10:55; Sean Barder, 29th in 11:12.9; Nathan Young, 30th in 11:15; and Tyler DeSantis, 56th in 12:00.

Fremont's Kevin Schneider and Randall Polgar each finished in the top 20 for the host Firebirds. Schneider ran 10:52 to nail 13th and Polgar was 14th in 10:54.

Westmont's Michael Pickens rounded out the top 20, finishing 20th in 11:02.1, and Cupertino's David Rabinowitz was close behind in 21st in 11:02.6. Lynbrook's Luis Jensen was 22nd in 11:03 with Cupertino's Weihow Hsue 25th in 11:11 and Chris Cook of Homestead 27th in 11:12.1.

Westmont's Jacob Publicover was 46th in 11:49 with teammate Yuta Nakata 50th in 11:53.9.

In the girls varsity event, Follmar battled with Milpitas' Nguyen and Erin Kim throughout the race, but it was Follmar's big kick down the final stretch that took the Saratoga junior to her third straight Firebird win.

Talented Lynbrook freshman MayC Huang was fourth in 12:16 with Jill Penasky of Homestead fifth in 12:19, early leader Dana Underwood of Monta Vista sixth in 12:25 and Julianne Hanson of Cupertino eighth in 12:40.

Ariana Nicewonger nailed a place in the top 10 to lead Los Gatos to the team title in the invitational. Nicewonger was ninth in 12:44 with a pack of Wildcats close behind—Jacqui Kemp 13th in 13:11, Kristy Barker 14th in 13:19, Ashley Harris 15th in 13:20 and Jillian Goodwin 16th in 13:22.

Los Gatos ran up a low 67 points to take the title with Milpitas second at 67 and Monta Vista third at 83, Lynbrook fourth at 130, Saratoga fifth at 151 and Cupertino sixth at 177.

Aya Wakabayashi supported Huang's effort by finishing 10th in 12:45. Christina Liao was 30th in 13:57 with Sasoon Kim 39th in 14:16 and Zoreh Akhaven 47th in 14:32.

Prospect's Becky Palm was 12th overall in 12:55 with teammate Jew Kocksko 37th in 14:08. Westmont's Jessica Wacker was 28th in 13:53.

Supporting Underwood's effort for Monta Vista were Connie Shieh, 17th in 13:23; Lorraine Lau, 18th in 13:25; Carolyn Chuang, 19th in 13:29; and Jill Burke-Blake, 23rd in 13:41.

Rebecca Boyle of Homestead ended up 20th in 13:30 with Kimberly Chew of Cupertino 21st in 13:33 and Persia Saffaie of Saratoga 25th in 13:48.