"It was the finest team performance in my five years of coaching at Willow Glen," said the Willow Glen head cross country coach, "and one of the all-time invitational team performances in school history."

The Rams dominated the competition at the Serra Invitational on the 2.95­mile course at Crystal Springs in Belmont on Oct. 10. With four runners finishing in the top 10—and one of them taking first place in the race—the rest of the teams involved didn't ever have a chance. Willow Glen won the title with 28 team points and Harbor was a distant second at 106.

Marcos Corona is the cornerstone of this Willow Glen team. Corona, a sophomore, is undefeated in his racing appearances this season. Whether it be a league or invitational race, Corona has yet to come in as low as second place.

"Having such a strong front runner adds so much to the team," said Santamaria.

As if an unblemished record is not impressive enough, it is also Corona's first year running cross country. Corona finished the Serra Invitational in 15:58 for his latest victory, making him one of the top runners in the Central Coast Section.

But one runner can't make a team. It was a combined effort of the Willow Glen squad that made the victory possible.

Just 32 seconds after Corona was junior Ruben Camacho (16:30), who placed fifth. Only seconds after that came junior Robert Ramos (sixth in 16:36) and freshman Mohamed Abdalla (seventh in 16:36). Abdalla also set a new freshman school record with his finish.

The final point scorer for Willow Glen was senior Jose Cervantes, (16:59) who finished 20th in 16:59.

Aside from the invitational, the Rams have also been cleaning up in competition in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. They faced Silver Creek, Piedmont Hills and Leigh on Oct. 7 and walked away victorious, topping the Raiders 22-35, the Pirates 18-41 and the Longhorns 24-33.

Once again Corona dominated the pack, setting a sophomore course record at Montgomery Hill Park in 15:31. However, once again it was a team effort. Willow Glen had all five point scorers place in the top 15.

Ramos (16:06) placed third with Camacho (16:21) not far behind in fifth. Cervantes (16:40) finished ninth overall with Abdalla (17:00) 14th.

Aside from the top five, Willow Glen also had two other runners place in the top 20, showing a lot of promise for the Rams this year. Justin McArthur (17:45) placed 18th with teammate Derek Kulish (17:55) right behind him in 19th.

The Willow Glen girls finished fourth in the 18-team field at the Serra Invitational. Senior captain Cristina Diaz (20:25) led her team with a 20th-place finish. Shortly after Diaz came freshman Kari Server (20:42) in 26th and junior Maria Sosa (20:43) in 27th. Just under a minute later came the next point scorer when freshman Hayley Tharp (21:28) finished 39th. Senior Montserrat Alvarado (21:34) completed the race in 41st.

"Diaz ran extremely tough, and showed the type of fierce competitiveness displayed in the past," said Santamaria. "This was the team's best team performance all year, and it was a great indicator that they are coming together after a challenging start of the season."

The girls were able to take two victories in league competition on Oct. 7 when they defeated Leigh 22­26 and Piedmont Hills 21­34. But they dropped one to Silver Creek 20­35.

Sosa (20:27) led the Rams that day with a fifth-place finish, followed closely by Diaz (20:09) in sixth. Server (20:42) came in 10th with Tharp (21:01) close behind in 13th. Alvarado (21:22) finished out the points with a 14th-place finish.

Field hockey

Senior Mallory Stein scored one goal and set up teammate Dana Samhouri for another to lead the Willow Glen field hockey team to a tight 2-1 win over Presentation.

Stein scored unassisted in the first half, but Presentation's Jamie Ng tied it with a goal before intermission.

Willow Glen broke the tie and clinched the win when Samhouri scored off assists from Stein and Rachel Siehl in the second half.

The Rams, now 5-2-2 in the West Valley Division, had opened the week with a 3-0 loss to first-place University. Willow Glen will host Berkeley on Oct. 21, 3:30 p.m.

Presentation, 2-4-3 in the division, had opened the week by fighting Branham to a 1-1 tie in overtime. Alison Wan scored the lone goal of the day for the Panthers.

Girls tennis

The girls on the Willow Glen tennis courts discovered that revenge is sweet. The Rams lost three matches in the first half of the West Valley Division season, and they came back to beat all three teams in the second round.

The Rams had already knocked off Hill and Yerba Buena in the second round, but last week stretched that string to three with a 4-3 win over Gunderson.

Stephanie Tran won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles to lead the Rams past the Grizzlies. Yessenia Barraza won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 and Diem Ly Vo won 6-0, 3-0 (retired) at No. 4.

Sandy Tat and Jeanette Sulay teamed for a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 1 doubles.

The Rams came back two days later to sweep Lincoln 7-0. Krista Pronge won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles with Tran winning 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2, Barraza 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 and Vo 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4.

Tat and Sulay were 6-4, 6-1 winners at No. 1 doubles. Kristen Davis and Kharlyn Encarnacion won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 and Camille Rivera and P.K. Luu rolled 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3.

"The team continues to improve," said coach Don Dushane. "We now have beaten all three teams that beat us in the first round."