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Alejandro, Cheng run to wins for Falcons
By Dick Sparrer
Jesse Alejandro and David Cheng each had big days. The Saratoga seniors both ran to a pair of individual victories and ran legs on a winning relay team.
But as good as Alejandro and Cheng were last week, it wasn't enough to lead the Falcons to a track and field win over Gunn in action in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Falcons dropped a 67-54 nod to the Titans to slip to 1-4 in the division. Saratoga also lost 86-36 in girls varsity competition, 65-57 at the boys frosh-soph level and 66-61 in girls junior varsity action.
"Those were hard-to-take losses," said Saratoga coach Marshall Clark.
Alejandro gave the Falcons a shot at a team win by running to a win the 400 meters in 51.0 and leading a sweep in the 800 by finishing first in 2:01.1. David La was second in 2:01.2 with Richard La third in 2:01.9 in a finish that Clark called "impressive."
Cheng raced to wins in the 110-meter high hurdles in 16.2 and the 300 intermediate hurdles in 42.2.
The two teamed with Arnold Chu and John Griffin for a first in the 400-meter relay in 44.3.
Chu came through with a first in the 100 in 11.5 and added a second in the 200 in 23.9.
Alexi Sevastopoulos soared to a victory in the high jump at 6-0 to round out the list of Saratoga winners in the meet.
Jim Cummins was second in the discus with a toss of 109-0 and Connor Peck was third in the shot put. Frank Lee was second in the long jump at 18-9 with Shalom Chung third and Lee was also third in the triple jump.
Sophomore Eevi Aura led the Saratoga girls with a first and a second against Gunn.
Aura took the 200 in 28.1 with Jamie Pfeifer second in 28.9, and she was second in the 100 in 12.9 with Pfeifer third in 13.2
Samantha Smith was second in the 110 hurdles in 18.3 and the 300 hurdles in 55.5 with Zola Petkovic third in 56.3. Petkovic was also third in both the 100 hurdles and 200 meters.
Other Falcons placing second were Elizabeth Howe in the 400 in 68.3, Claire Tero in the 800 in 2:38.5, Joanna Burgess in the 3,200 meters in 13:38 and Melody Lee in the discus at 85-4.
Jackie Molzon was third in the 3,200 and TJ Angela was third in the triple jump.
The frosh-soph boys, like the varsity boys, lost a close decision to Gunn. Patrick McKenna and David Evan were each winners for the Falcons in the meet.
McKenna took the 100 in 12.0 with Gene Lu second and Dayne McGee third, and he also won the 200 with Lu third.
McKenna, Lu, McGee and Ben Duncan teamed for a win in the 400 relay in 48.1.
Evan supported with a win in the high jump at 5-4 with Kevin Bromage third, and T.J. Osborne was second in the triple jump at 34-0 and second in the long jump at 16-6.
Conway Teng raced to a second in the 400 in 56.5 and was second in the 800 in 2:20, and Michael Wong was second in the 65 high hurdles in 10.8 and third in the 300 intermediates in 50.2
Dan Yang was second in the 1,600, Tom Cummins was second in the discus at 91-7 and Roy Jang was third in the shot put.
The closest Saratoga came to a win was in the girls junior varsity division, but the Falcons ended up losing by five points.
Jessi Joplin raced to a win in the 100 in 14.0 and helped the 400 relay to a win in 54.9.
Falcons lose to Wilcox
A week earlier, the Falcons had lost a tough 64-63 boys varsity decision to Wilcox.
Cheng was a double winner for Saratoga, taking the 110 high hurdles in 16.2 and the 300 intermediates in 41.8, and Alejandro took the 400 in 54.0 and was second in the 200.
The two teamed with Chu and Griffin for a win in the 400 relay in 44.3 and with R. La and D. La for a first in the 1,600 relay in 3:43.4.
D. La added a win in the 800 in 2:04.9 with R. La second and J. Cummins won the discus with a toss of 106-4.
The girls lost 80-47 to the Chargers in varsity action.
Smith won the 300 hurdles in 52.6 and was second in both the 100 hurdles and high jump. Lee was first in the discus with a heave of 85-3 and third in the shot. Aura, Tero, Neha Talreja and Pfeifer combined for a win in the 1,600 relay in 4:49.
Rachel Foust was second in both the 1,600 and 3,200, and Aura was second in the 100 and 200.
Invitationals
In between the two dual meets, the Falcons competed at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.
"It was an impressive showing for the Falcons," said Clark. "The [boys] 400 relay team ranked 31st but finished eighth in the morning qualifying to run in the afternoon finals of the top nine teams."
Chu, Alejandro, Cheng and Griffin ran 44.96 to finish fifth in their morning heat in the 4x100 relay, then placed seventh in the afternoon with a 44.41. The Saratoga relay team finished first among Central Coast Section teams.
Alejandro also placed for the Falcons, nailing a fifth in the 400 in 50.05. He was the top CCS finisher in the event.
The La brothers teamed with Teng and Don Prolo for an 11th-place finish in the 4x800 relay in 8:29.90, and they joined forces with Cheng and Alejandro for a 16th in the 4x400 relay in 3:31.43.
Cheng was also 16th in the 400 intermediate hurdles in 59.27.
A week earlier, Alejandro was third in the 400 in 50.39 and D. La was fourth in the 800 in 2:01.75 to lead the Saratoga effort at the St. Francis Invitational in Mountain View.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
