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Alumni give Rams a running lesson
Lazarus was the lone female runner alumni
By Dick Sparrer
It was Willow Glen of today versus Willow Glen of yesteryear when the current Rams challenged their alumni to a cross country battle on Aug. 18 at Hellyer Park in San Jose. And it turned out to be a split decision.
The Willow Glen girls outran an incomplete alumni team, nailing the top six places overall, and the Willow Glen boys lost 18-44 to the former Rams, grabbing just one of the first seven spots.
The current boys' team was given a running lesson by Willow Glen alumni runners, many of them members of the 1982 squad that won a Central Coast Section title.
Mike Livingston (class of 1983) covered the 3-mile course in 15:59 to run away from the field. Hector Barron (class of '84) was second in 16:14.
Willow Glen sophomore Ngoan Phan starred the current Rams by finishing third in 16:29, but the alumni runners snagged the next four places.
Davie Livingston (class of '83) was fourth in 16:36 with Victor Santamaria (class of '85) fifth in 16:56, Dan Burns (class of '94) sixth in 17:40 and Tom Hoffman (class of '83) seventh in 18:11.
"The alumni runners proved that they still have much of the same distance running strength that helped Willow Glen win multiple league and CCS championships over the years," said Santamaria, the head coach for the Rams who was competing for the alumni.
The coach was happy to get the stars of the past together with the stars of the future in the special event.
"Many of the current Ram runners were inspired by the alumni runners, and expressed awe at their running ability," added the coach "The Rams also received some cross country pointers from the alumni runners."
M. Livingston topped the list of returners. The former WG star was a member of the '82 CCS championship team that was ranked No. 1 in the state and the nation. He went on to gain All-American status as a runner at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, then later became a national class runner for Reebok.
Barron, who finished second overall, is currently a United State Secret Service agent who flew home from Washington, D.C. for the event. He ran for Willow Glen CCS championship teams in 1982 and '83.
D. Livingston, Santamaria and Hoffman were other members of those CCS championship teams in the early '80s, and Burns and Tony Nguyen (class of '80) rounded out the alumni top seven. Nguyen was 11th in 18:50.
Other alumni runners were Robert Salinas (class of '72), Chris Von Rueden (class of '95), Dave Barron (class of '82), Gil Katzen (class of '85), Pete Wagner (class of '83), Steve Hart (class of '75), Doug Peters (class of '79), Chris Bandanza (class of '81) and Ward Crary (class of '71).
"Although the boys varsity couldn't keep up with the alumni team, this chance to run with their Willow Glen cross country predecessors gave the Rams a unique and valuable opportunity to prepare for the upcoming season," said Santamaria. "And also a chance to bond with the strong tradition of excellence that Willow Glen cross country has enjoyed since 1965."
The coach of that '65 team, Orbin Jones, was also on hand for the alumni event. Jones led the Rams to 11 league titles and three CCS championships before retiring in 1983.
John Owens, former WG cross country coach and currently head track coach at the school, also took part in the event.
Phan led the current Rams with his solid third-place finish.
"Ngoan challenged the alumni runners during the first mile, but the older alumni runners demonstrated a little more strength and experience and pulled away," said Santamaria. "But Ngoan hung on and broke up the alumni sweep."
Supporting the effort for the Rams were junior Kamachi Mbawa, eighth in 18:12; freshman Augie Adams, ninth in 18:13; sophomore Juan De Lara, 10th in 18:49; junior Luis Varela, 12th in 19:02; soph Gilbert Rosales, 13th in 19:29; and junior Abraham Gutierrez, 14th in 19:58.
Also competing for Willow Glen were juniors George Brian and Steven Alvarado, and sophomores Jeffrey Pizzella, Fabian Diaz and Anthony Howell.
The Willow Glen girls had an easier time of it with just one alumni runner returning for the race.
Margery Lazarus (class of '79) was the only female alumni and she finished seventh in 26:12. Lazarus was the first female runner in Willow Glen history back in 1976 and was captain of the WG girls' team.
Senior Vanessa James raced to a victory in the girls' race, stopping the clock at 21:10.
Junior Jennifer Cook was second in 21:51 with senior Andrea Miller third in 23:16, sophomore Eleni Mastorakos fourth in 23:17, freshman Cristina Diaz fifth in 24:42 and freshman Kelsey Siebert sixth in 25:10.
Sophomores Francesca McArthur, Veronica Najera, Cassie Alvarado and Sarah Roberts, and freshmen Yari De Lara, Nicole Chavez, Chavonta Collins, Linda Duong and Sia Mbawa also competed for the Rams.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
