But on May 28, at the CCS track and field championships, the Presentation senior switched gears, and she had to in order to secure her third trip in as many seasons to the state meet.

Looking more like a sprinter than a two-miler, Grelli used a furious final lap to capture third place in the girls 3,200-meter race and earn the final CCS berth to the June 4­5 meet at Sacramento's Hughes Stadium.

Another Presentation senior, Mandy Williams, placed seventh in a torrid 800-meter race, clocking 2:19.44.

"My kick was the best part of the race," Grelli said, referring to the final 300 meters of the eight-lap race at San Jose City College. "Usually my race is based more on strength."

In the previous two CCS 3,200 finals, Grelli and Gunn's Ruth Graham were the frontrunners chased by the pack, seemingly stretching the lead with each effortless stride. As a sophomore in 2002, Grelli took second in 10:36.68, more than six seconds ahead of a fast field. Last May Grelli again trailed only Graham, running 10:49.74 and nearly 12 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.

But Grelli's final CCS effort was nothing like the past.

A new Gunn star, junior Tori Tyler, had moved ahead of the 12-runner field at the end of the first lap and never looked back. Grelli held second after one mile, followed closely by Milpitas seniors Marie Nguyen and Erinn Kim, but she slipped to fourth place during the fifth lap.

Grelli maintained fourth, but continued to lose ground to Tyler, Nguyen and Kim. However, Kim tired during the final lap, slowing down considerably, and the determined Grelli took advantage.

She made her move down the backstretch, making up more than 10 yards on Kim and moving into third with about 200 meters to go. Grelli then held off late rushes by Mitty junior McKayla Plank and Cupertino freshman Julianne Hanson.

Grelli's time of 11:05.52 was well off Tyler's winning mark (10:49.11) and more than eight seconds in back of Nguyen (10:56.83). Plank was fourth in 11:06.30.

"It's been a rough season," said Grelli, whose best time this season (10:58.6 while winning the West Catholic Athletic League championship) is not as impressive as her top marks of seasons past.

"I've been going through a growing period and there's been senior activities," Grelli explained, "but I'm still really focused. "I will be working on my strength in practice between now and state."

Grelli was 15th a year ago at the state meet, after placing seventh as a sophomore in 2002.

No Rams in finals

Several Willow Glen athletes finished in the top nine in the Blossom Valley Athletic League qualifier, earning berths in the CCS trials on May 22. However, no Rams moved on to the finals.

Angelica Montelongo, a junior who won the Santa Teresa Division discus championship with a throw of 103-5, improved her mark by eight inches at the CCS meet, but finished 15th out of 29 competitors. Sophomore Angela Pizzella, the best 400 runner in the ST division, ran 60.47 at the CCS qualifier for 16th place out of 30. Pizzella also reached the semi-finals in the high jump.

Senior Erica Preiman (high jump, triple jump), junior Christina Diaz (800) and freshman Erin Campbell (long jump) also made it through the tough BVAL meet to the section semis.

Freshman Marcos Corona qualified for both boys distance events, but competed in just the shorter race, clocking 4:33.64. Another freshman, Sean Robinson, also ran the 1,600 at CCS. Seniors Phan Ngoan and Gilbert Rosales competed in the 3,200.