Los Gatos Weekly-Times West Valley runs to glory in conference at NorCal By Dick Sparrer 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. Miramontes covered the 4.2-mile men's course in 20:25 to finish just a second ahead of runner-up Michael Kasahun of Fresno City College. Nick Piellusch was 11th in 21:47 with Jules Villanueva 17th in 22:09, Jacob Green 37th in 22:53, Jose Acosta 39th in 23:01 and Isireli Naikelekelev 40th in 23:03 to help the Vikings to the team second. Lagunas was second in 17:31 on the 2.95-mile course for women to lead West Valley to a team third. Mary Vidovich was 11th in 19:21 with Rachael Wiseman 16th in 19:40, Heidi Janes 18th in 19:49 and Veronica Garcia 33rd in 21:01. A week earlier, West Valley had run to team titles in both the men's and women's division at the Coast Conference finals at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Miramontes covered the 4.0-mile course in 20:19 to finish first overall with Naikelekelev fifth in 21:14, Villanueva eighth in 21:18, Acosta 10th in 21:30 and Piellusch 12th in 21:41. West Valley's Lagunas was the women's champ at the meet, running over the 3.0-mile course in 17:55. Wiseman was fifth in 19:52 with Vidovich seventh in 20:00, Janes eighth in 20:28 and Garcia 13th in 21:25. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.