Photograph by Aaron Suozzi
They're off an running in the annual Firebird Invitational at Fremont. There were 15 schools in the rugged field this fall.
By DICK SPARRER
Aimee Wu and Anne Ricketts will renew a rivalry this fall.
Check that--they already have.
The two cross-country runners battled it out on trails throughout the area a year ago, and they're at it again this season.
Wu, a star for Lynbrook, and Ricketts, a standout at Saratoga, were running together again at Fremont's Firebird Invitational last week, and it was Wu pulling out the win in this one.
Wu stopped the clock at 12:57 to finish first overall on the 2.1-mile course, with Ricketts just four seconds behind in 13:01.
The two led a pack to the finish line in the girls' race. Only 11 seconds separated the top seven finishers in a rapid-fire finish on the Fremont track.
Wu and Ricketts finished one-two, but Jill Bodily of Gunn was third in 13:02, with Serena DeLaPlace of Westmont fourth in 13:03, Jenny Nadour of Gunn fifth in 13:05, Lauren Miller of Los Altos sixth in 13:07, and Katva Kazakova of Gunn seventh in 13:08.
It was Gunn running away with the team title with a low 49 points. Monta Vista was second with 79 points, Saratoga (85) was third, Los Altos (121) was fourth, Milpitas (163) was fifth, and Lynbrook (176) was sixth.
Jennifer Nguyen led Monta Vista to the team second by finishing ninth overall in 13:24. Lauren Adams was 12th in 13:35 with Carolyn Hendrickson 13th in 13:35, and Lisa Low 15th in 13:39 for the Matadors.
Rickets was second for the third-place Falcons with teammate Susan Song 11th in 13:32.
Like Wu and Ricketts, Homestead's Mike Wolman and Saratoga's Hank Nothhaft return this fall to renew their rivalry on the trails, and it appears they'll be joined by Mirek Marcinskowski of Monta Vista and Paul Neves of Lynbrook.
Marcinskowski finished fifth overall in 10:43 with Wolman sixth in 10:43, Nothhaft eighth in 10:52, and Neves 11th in 10:59 in the Firebird Invitational.
Andrew Hill was first overall in 10:10 to lead Los Altos to the team title at the Fremont meet. Gunn was second with Del Mar third, Saratoga fourth, Monta Vista fifth and Homestead sixth.
Fremont's Jesus Valdoulnos starred for the Firebirds in the boys' frosh-soph division by nailing a place in the top 10. Valdoulnos ended up ninth overall in his division.
Mustangs nail win
The Homestead football team pulled out a 27-25 win over Seaside in a nonleague game last Friday.
Tony Elam just about did it all for the Mustangs in the victory. Elam rambled for 218 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw a touchdown pass, to lead Homestead to the tight win.
Elam scored the only Homestead touchdown of the first half when he broke one 95 yards for a score in the first period.
Homestead didn't score again until the third quarter when Elam surprised Seaside by going to the air. The running back hit Jason Woods for a 67 yards and a touchdown.
Elam scored on a pair of 15-yard TD runs in the fourth period, and quarterback Ben Amiwero ran in for a very important two-point conversion after one of them.
The victory evened Homestead's record at 1-1. The Mustangs had lost a 21-20 heartbreaker to Aragon to open the season.
Homestead will have just one more nonleague test before opening the season in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The Mustangs will visit Cupertino on Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Mustangs spike win
In local girls' volleyball action, Homestead lost its first game to Logan 15-8, but came back to win three straight (15-9, 15-11, 15-11) to clain a nonleague victory. The Mustangs are 4-3 in the preseason.
Fremont, meanwhile, dropped three close games to Mt. Pleasant, losing 16-14, 15-12, 17-15.
King's loses
Joe Madrigal knocked in a goal off of a free kick, but the King's Academy boys' soccer team dropped a 7-1 decision to Fremont Christian. The loss left the Knights 0-3 for the year.
Homestead falls
The Homestead girls' tennis team opened the league season by dropping back-to-back decisions in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Mustangs were blanked 7-0 by unbeaten St. Francis, then lost 4-3 to Los Altos.
Homestead is 0-2 in the division and 1-2 for the year.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 25, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.