The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Oliver races to fourth at league finals

By Kevin Sparrer

Some athletic events require great feats of strength, but for Alan Menezes of the Saratoga cross country team it was a great strength of feet that drove him and his team to take second place in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League at the finals held at Crystal Springs on Oct. 30.

The Saratoga junior finished the 2.95-mile run in 15:52, which was fast enough for third place overall behind Michael Johnson and Dylan Shawhan of Los Gatos.

Homestead ended up fourth as a team at the finals. The Mustangs were led by their lead horse, junior Nick Oliver (fourth, 15:54). Following Oliver were senior Alexander Colbeth (seventh, 16:29), sophomore Nikky Louthan (21st, 17:11), senior Robert Mack (28th, 17:32) and senior Sameer Tharakan (30th, 17:39).

The Firebirds of Fremont struggled a little in the finals, finishing seventh led by Saul Pacheco (29th, 17:36), Jose Gurrola (33rd, 17:47) and Will Shen (41st, 18:34). The last two point scorers were Jose Manuel Gurrola (43rd, 18:50) and Cristhian Montenegro (44th, 19:16).

The girls varsity results were similar to the boys with Los Gatos coming out on top behind the efforts of Kaela Townsend.

Homestead, finished third as a team with Emily Evans (third, 18:37) leading the effort. Laura Pochowski (14th, 20:34) was the second Mustang finisher, followed by Alissa Hayes (18th, 20:51), Rachel Holl (21st, 21:00) and Karla Salgado (28th, 21:22).