The Willow Glen Rams cleaned house at the 2.95-mile race held Nov. 1 at Crystal Springs. With six varsity boys finishing in the top 15, the other schools never had a chance. Willow Glen finished with 34 points, well under the 85 points for runner-up Leigh.

Sophomore Marcus Corona was not only the first finisher for the Rams, but in the race. Corona finished in 16:13, followed closely by freshman teammate Mohamed Abdalla, who completed the race in 16:16 for second place.

With two runners from Willow Glen coming in the first two positions, the Rams had a good lead over the rest of the pack, but two runners can't win a race.

Sophomore Samson Galato (16:53) was the next Ram to cross the finish line. He finished eighth overall, extending the Rams' lead once again.

Juniors Justin McArthur and Ruben Camacho both finished in 16:56, which was good enough for them to complete the scoring with 11th and 12th place finishes.

Also worthy of mention was junior Robert Ramos (16:57), who came in at 13th overall.

Willow Glen was able to push six runners through the finish gate before most other teams had their first two finish, with Yerba Buena being the only exception.

But it was not only the varsity boys who ran well for the Rams, but also the varsity girls. The female Rams were able to bring home a second place finish at the league finals.

Junior Maria Sosa ran 20:28 to nail 10th place overall. Following Sosa was senior teammate Cristina Diaz (14th in 20:37). Less than a minute later came the rest of the point scorers for the Rams, with sophomore Nancy Velasquez leading the final charge. Velasquez finished 24th in 21:17 with senior Montse Alvarado 25th in 21:18 and freshman Kari Server 28th in 21:31.

The next step for the Rams will be the Central Coast Section finals. The CCS meet will be held on Nov. 13 at Toro Park in Salinas. Starting positions will be determined by a random drawing.

The selections for the CCS championships are not yet available, but for more information check the CCS website at www.cifccs.org.

Field hockey

Senior center-midfielder Rachel Siehl knocked in goals in each game to lead the Willow Glen field hockey team to back-to-back wins over Homestead and Berkeley. The two wins helped the Rams improve to improve to 7-2-2 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.

Willow Glen took the early lead against Homestead on a goal by Siehl thanks to her "aggressive play one-on-one with the goalkeeper," said coach Samantha Bates.

Homestead came back in the second half to tie it 1-1, but the Rams quickly broke the tie.

"Senior Jessica Chavez deflected a hit to the far post from senior Diana Schnabel into the back of the net to clinch the victory," added Bates.

It was a first-half, unassisted goal by Siehl that helped the Rams clinch a 1-0 win over Berkeley a game later.

"Siehl sent a hard shot from the top of the circle that zoomed past the Berkeley goalie," said Bates, who singled out seniors Elise Ruiz and Laura Black for their defensive play.

"[They] provided stellar defense in the back to keep Berkeley from getting on the board," said the coach.

Girls tennis

Krista Pronge, Stephanie Tran and Diem Ly Vo each won twice in singles play to help the Willow Glen girls tennis team to wins over Branham, 4-3, and James Lick, 7-0, in the final week of the West Valley Division regular season. The Rams ended up in second place in league play.

Pronge won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles to start the Rams on the road to victory against the Bruins. Tran posted a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles and Vo won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4.

The No. 1 doubles team of Jeanette Sulay and Sandy Tat capped the team win with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.

Yessenia Barraza lost a tough 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 decision at No. 3 singles and Camille Rivera and P.K. Luu lost in three sets at No. 3 doubles, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. Kharlyn Encarnacion and Kristen Davis lost 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.

But all of the Rams came up winners in the final regular season match, a 7-0 win over Lick.

Pronge pulled out a thrilling win at No. 1 singles with a "10-point tiebreaker," said coach Don DuShane.

Tran won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles with Barraza winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 and Vo winning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4.

In doubles play, Sulay and Tat won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1, David and Encarnacion won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 and Luu and Rivera won by forfeit at No. 3.

Pronge capped the West Valley Division season by finishing second at the singles finals to earn a place in the BVAL tournament.

Tran was fourth in the West Valley tourney and the doubles team of Barraza and Vo finished fourth.