Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Abdalla, Serna earn spots in CCS finals

Panthers, Bells move on to the semifinals

By Dick Sparrer

The fastest, the fittest and the finest will be on the track when the cream of the crop converges at San José City College for the Central Coast Section track and field finals on May 26. And Willow Glen will be well represented in that Friday field.

Mohamed Abdalla and Stephanie Serna have qualified for the section's biggest meet of the year. Field events begin at 4 p.m. with the running events to get under way at 6 p.m.

Abdalla qualified in two events at the CCS semifinals held May 20 at City College. The talented sophomore distance star was second in his heat in the 1,600-meter run in 4:23.61 and he added a fourth in his heat in the 3,200 in 9:45.58.

Serna will join Abdalla on the tip to the section finals. The junior earned a place in the Friday meet by finishing eighth in the shot put with a heave of 33-11.

Freshman Deviny Buchanon came close to qualifying for her first ever CCS final when she ran 13.13 in the 100 to finish fifth in her heat. Christina Okun, a senior, was seventh in her heat in the 100 in 13.60 and eighth in her heat in the 200 in 28.52.

Freshman Kari Server was 14th in her heat in the 3,200 in 12:46 and 17th in her heat in the 1,600 in 6:00.06. Junior Andrea Nankerville was 26th in the discus at 82-0.

In boys competition, the Rams ran fifth in their heat in the 4x100 relay in 45.23, but it wasn't fast enough to get them to the CCS finals.

Senior Robert Ramos was sixth in his heat in the 800 in 2:01.68 and 10th in his heat in the 1,600 in 4:38.16. Eyoel Galato, a sophomore, was 15th in his heat in the 3,200 in 10:28.40.

Presentation's Anna Stetkevich, a senior, was 12th in the triple jump at 35-0.5 and 17th in the long jump at 15-10.5, but failed to advance.

Panthers in semi's

Senior hurler Jamie Lettire went the distance to toss a 5-hitter to lead the Presentation girls softball team to a 4-1 win over St. Francis last Saturday and into the semifinals of the CCS Division II playoffs.

Lettire, who ran her record to 24-1 for the year with win, struck out 15 and was touched for just a lone run in the third inning.

The Panthers had scored two in the second to take the lead and the Lancers cut it to 2-1 with the run in the third. But Presentation answered with two in the home half of the frame. Lettire blanked the Lancers the rest of the way to clinch the 4-1 win.

Freshman Ashley De Mello had two hits and scored a run to lead the offensive attack for the Panthers.

Presentation, now 26-3 for the year, will move into the CCS semi's this week. The No. 2 seeded Panthers will take on No. 3 seed Mitty (20-7) on May 24, 7 p.m., at San Jose's PAL Stadium. The same day, at 4 p.m., Leigh (No. 1, 23-5) will face Notre Dame-Belmont (No. 4, 20-8). The winners will play for the CCS Division II championship on May 27, 1:30 p.m., at PAL.

Bells face Saints

Bellarmine will advance to the CCS Division I baseball semifinals this week after opening the playoffs with wins over Mt. Pleasant (10-0) and Mitty (3-1). The Bells, the No. 2 seed with a 32-4 season record, will take on Santa Teresa (No. 6, 21-6) on May 24, 7 p.m. at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

In the 4 p.m. game on Wednesday, No. 1 Serra (25-3) will challenge No. 5 Valley Christian (24-8-1). The winners will play for the CCS title on May 27 at Muni.

Junior Erik Goeddel and senior Nate Garcia teamed to toss a 1-hitter at Mitty on Saturday. Goeddel picked up the mound win to push his record to 6-1 and Garcia nailed his third save of the year.

The Bells were down 1-0 after Mitty scored a run in the fifth, but Nick Aurelio's two-run double keyed a three-run rally in the sixth to give the Bells the win.

Garcia tossed a 2-hit shutout to push his record to 8-1 and Goeddel ripped a solo homer to lead the Bells the 10-0 win over Mt. Pleasant. Tommy Medica had two hits to drive in two runs.