The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Disc Drive: Willow Glen's Doug Murr nailed a pair of seconds to help the Rams win the team title at the league finals last week. Murr was second to teammate Rich Clarke in the shot put, and he was also second in the discus.

Rams run to league track title

Willow Glen first at league finals

By Dick Sparrer

There were a number of ways the Willow Glen boys could clinch the track and field championship in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League when they competed in the league finals last week.

The Rams had already won the dual-meet championship with a 6-0 record. So to clinch the overall league title they could:

* Finish as low as third in the league meet, as long as Santa Teresa was first and San Jose second;

* Finish second at the league meet, no matter who finished first;

* Or simply finish first overall at the league meet and back up a dual-meet championship with a title at the division finals

What Willow Glen didn't want to do was finish third at the league meet with San Jose nailing first, because that would mean that the Rams would have to share the championship with the Bulldogs.

Well, as it turns out, the Rams aren't sharing a thing.

Willow Glen chose the simple way out. The Rams won it all at the league meet at San Jose City College last Wednesday night, and they won it going away.

The Rams ran up 175 team points to finish well ahead of runner-up Santa Teresa (118) and third place San Jose (82).

"It turns out that we won it pretty handily," said Willow Glen coach Michael Galindo. "And we've got a ton of guys going on to CCS."

A "ton" translates to a dozen Willow Glen boys, along with two girls, who have qualified for the Central Coast Section South Division meet set for May 16 at Soquel. The top placers there advance to the CCS trials May 23 at San Jose City College.

Chris Watkins, Eyasu Kebede, Rich Clarke and Ruben Figueroa each won individual events to lead the Rams to the team title at the league meet, and a host of Rams placed in multiple events at the finals.

Shannon Donovan and Jeanette Najera were top Willow Glen placers in the girls' division at the league finals. Donovan won the 110 hurdles and Najera was second in both the 800 meters and two-mile.

Watkins breezed to a win in the 800 meters in 2:06.99 with Leo Garcia second in 2:10.42, and Oscar Garcia fourth in 2:11.03. L. Garcia was also third in the high jump at 5-4 with Watkins fourth at the same height. Both have qualifed for CCS in the event.

Watkins teamed with L. Garcia, Doug Murr and Ric Branchaud for a second in the 4x400 relay in 3:44.10.

"That was our best race ever," said Galindo of the mile relay. "They all ran extremely well." He added that Watkins recorded a 53.9 split.

Kebede was outstanding in the distance events for the Rams. He was first in the two-mile in 10:13.67 with Noe Torres second in 10:25 and Nick Fill sixth in 11:30.

Torres ended up second in the mile in 4:41.5 with Kebede third in 4:47.0 and Kamal Abdelbaki fourth in 4:47.3.

In addition to dominating the distance events, Willow Glen outmuscled the rest of the league in the weight events with Clarke and Murr leading the charge.

Clarke was first in the shot put with a heave of 43-1112. Murr was second at 43-0 with Fernando Betancourt fourth 38-4 and Seth Andrews sixth at 36-314.

"That was a great event for us," said Galindo of the shot.

The Rams were also tough in the discus with Murr second at 133-14, Ben D'Antonio third at 122-14 and Andrews fourth at 116-4.

Figueroa had a big day in the hurdle events for the Rams, winning the 110 high hurdles in 17.03 and finishing third in the 330 hurdles in 45.98.

Sprinter Giancarlo DaCosta was third in both the 100 in 11.78 and the 200 in 24.26, and he teamed with Murr, John Ross and Branchaud for a second in the 400 relay in 46.81. Ross was sixth in the 200 in 25.52.

Jesse Weston placed second in a pair of events for the Rams. He soared to a second in the triple jump at 38-6 and he was second in the long jump at 19-8 with DaCosta fourth at 18-8.

Donovan and Najera led the charge for the Willow Glen girls at the finals.

Donovan raced to a win in the 110 low hurdles in 18.3 and she added a fifth in the 330 low hurdles in 54.86.

Najera was second in both the 800 in 2:42.7 and the two-mile in 13:15.

Jackie Jones added a fifth in the 400 meters in 1:16.9 and Melissa Ybarra was fifth in the 200 at 29.95.

Hazel Llabes didn't place at the finals, but wrapped up a fine season as the Willow Glen shot put and discus specialist.

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