They do now.

After getting off and running to a great start in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, the boys and girls varsity cross country teams at Willow Glen each felt the sting of defeat last week.

The boys dropped a tough 23-32 decision to Silver Creek while running to wins over Piedmont Hills (25-32) and Leigh (20-35), and the girls lost 21-35 to Piedmont while running past Silver Creek (28-31) and Leigh (26-30).

The two wins and a loss left the Rams 5-1 in both boys and girls competition. Silver Creek leads the boys varsity pack with a 6-0 record while Willow Glen and Lick share second place with matching 5-1 record. The Willow Glen girls slipped to 5-1 to rest a loss behind Piedmont Hills (5-0) in the standings. Silver Creek is third at 4-2.

It's a different story in the boys frosh-soph division. The Rams are out in front of the pack with a 6-0 record. Silver Creek is second at 4-1.

Ngoan Phan led the Willow Glen boys to the varsity wins over Silver Creek and Leigh last week, running third overall in 15:46 on the 2.73­mile course at Montgomery Hill Park. Gilbert Rosales was close behind in fourth at 15:51.

Jose Cervantes ran 10th in 16:39 for the Rams with Robert Ramos 11th in 16:39, Sean Robinson 19th in 17:25, Ruben Camacho 20th in 17:35 and Derek Kulish 23rd in 17:55.

Junior Cristina Diaz led the way for the Willow Glen girls, running 19:50 to finish third overall. Eleni Mastorakos was 10th in 20:43 with freshman Ashley Tovar 13th in 21:14, Montserrat Alvarado 15th in 21:33, sophomore Maria Sosa 18th in 21:58 and soph Heather Chitwood 22nd in 22:27.

Sophomore Justin McArthur helped the Willow Glen boys frosh-soph team remain unbeaten by finishing first in the division in 16:58. Five freshmen also finished in the top 10 for the Rams, including Evan Bishop (third in 17:59), Sergio Calixto (fourth in 18:09), Saul Espinoza (sixth in 18:25), Brian Chunn (seventh in 18:38) and Eliseo Anaya (ninth in 19:10).

The Willow Glen girls junior varsity team lost to Piedmont Hills last week and is now 4-2 for the year. Leading the effort for the Rams in the meet was Enmbel Couttolenc, 10th in 24:13.

Freshman Nancy Velasquez was 14hh with Erika Gonzales 15th, Franchesca McArthur 21st, Cassie Alvarado 27th and Sandra Sosa 28th.

The Rams slipped to 2-4 in boys junior varsity action. Steven Eicher was 12th in 19:41 with Oscar Vazquez 20th, Tran Tung 24th and John Eicher 29th.

Stick up!

The Willow Glen field hockey team ambushed Del Mar and Cupertino for its first two-win week of the 2003 season. The Rams blanked the Dons 2-0 and the Pioneers 3-0 to improve to 3-4 in the BVAL's Santa Teresa Division and to 5-6 for the year.

Marina Mendez scored a first-half goal off assists from Gina Brugioni and Rachel Siehl, and Brugioni knocked in a second-half goal off a Mendez assist to spark the Rams to the win over Del Mar.

Brugioni came back with two goals and an assist and Mendez scored a goal in Willow Glen's 3-0 win over Cupertino. Janelle Zetterquist had two assists and Mallory Stein added one.

The Rams will try to stay on the winning track with two games this week. Willow Glen was to visit Saratoga on Oct. 14 and will host St. Ignatius in a 3 p.m. game on Oct. 16.

Double fault

It was something of a double fault for the Willow Glen girls tennis team last week. The Rams lost two straight matches in the BVAL's Santa Teresa Division, falling 4-3 to Evergreen Valley and 7-0 to Piedmont Hills to slip to 1-9 in league play.

Sophomore Krista Pronge won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles to lead a one-two-three sweep for the Rams, but Willow Glen lost at No. 4 singles and in all three doubles matches.

Giulietta Pezzaniti nailed a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles for Willow Glen and Tina Panayotopoulos won 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 at
No. 3.

Willow Glen will try to get back on the winning track this week. The Rams were to host Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday and they will entertain Branham on Oct. 16, 3 p.m.

Rams roll

The Willow Glen football team improved to 2-0 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL and to 4-1 for the year with a rousing 28-0 win over Evergreen Valley last Friday afternoon.

The Rams will try to make it three straight in league play this week when they visit James Lick on Oct. 18, 1:30 p.m. The Comets lost 42-21 to Branham in a non-league game last Saturday to slip to 3-2 for the year.

Killer week

Kelsey Roseland hammered home 28 kills in two matches, but it was a tough week for the girls volleyball team at Willow Glen.

The Rams lost 25-20, 25-16, 15-18 to Leland despite a 13-kill effort by Roseland, then dropped a 25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 15-21 decision to Branham despite getting 15 kills from Roseland.

The two losses dropped the Rams to 0-6 in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL.