Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Abdalla leads Rams to dual meet title

By Dick Sparrer

They may have running for the championship, but the boys of the Willow Glen cross country team looked more like they were running alone in a meet last week at Montgomery Hill Park in San Jose.

The Rams finished one-two-three overall when the teams in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League met at Montgomery Hill to run on the 2.73-mile course. Willow Glen easily outrun Santa Teresa to the finish line, beating the Saints 18-40 in the battle of the division's two unbeaten teams.

Running well out in front of the pack was junior sensation Mohamed Abdalla, who set a new course record in 14:34. Abdalla, 14th in the Central Coast Section last year and eighth in the state, finished nearly a minute ahead of the rest of the field.

Teammate Marcos Corona, second in CCS and 10th in the state a year ago, was just under a minute back at 15:31 with Eyoel Galato third in 15:44. Samson Galato was seventh in 16:07.

The Rams improved to 7-0 in the division with the win and Santa Teresa slipped to 6-1.

The Willow Glen girls also finished the dual meet season with a 7-0 record after running away from Santa Teresa 20-37. Leland finished second at 6-1.

Senior Nancy Velazquez finished first against the Saints and was fifth overall in the girls race at 19:24.

Rams ran past Comets

Marcos Garces was running wild for Willow Glen, fast enough in fact to catch a comet by the tail. Well, not a real comet, but the James Lick Comets. His five touchdowns sparked the Rams to a 55-14 win over Lick in West Valley Division play last week.

The win helped the Rams improve to 6-1 for the year and to 4-0 in the division.

Garces ran for 248 yards, including touchdown runs of 34, 1, 43, 6 and 15 yards, and he also ran in for a two-point conversion. The Rams also scored on a 28-yard TD pass from Juan Baron to Matt Reiton, a 5-yard run by Anthony Doan and a 15-yard interception return by Justin Fuller.

The Rams will try to keep their league win streak alive this weekend when they host Sobrato on Oct. 28, 2 p.m.

Boys win, girls lose in polo

Charlie Kane fired home three goals and Reese Rotsaert and Sam Brandt scored two apiece to lead the Willow Glen boys water polo team to a thrilling 9-8 win over Piedmont Hills last week. The win helped the Rams push their record to 7-0 in the Santa Teresa Division and to 9-1 for the year.

Dustin Shean and Josh Dombro also scored for Willow Glen as the Rams fought back from a 4-3 halftime deficit to pull out the 9-8 win.

In girls action Stacey Furtado pitched in two goals, but Willow Glen team lost a tough 12-4 decision to Pioneer last week. Kara Waggoner and Jennifer Allen also scored for the Rams.

Rams are rolling along

Ashley Haight knocked in three goals in a single game and Kalen Bigger scored a goal in each game as the Willow Glen girls field hockey team improved to 9-0 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL with two wins last week.

Bigger knocked in a second-half goal off an assist by Rebekah Cremer to lift the Rams to a thrilling 1-0 win over Homestead. The two clubs had fought to a scoreless tie in the first half before Bigger broke up the goose eggs with her goal that would prove the game winner.

Willow Glen unloaded for five first-half goals, three of them off of Haight's stick, in a 5-0 win over Sobrato to open the week. Bigger and Jennifer Uribe also scored in the win and Danielle Yaconelli had a couple of assists.

The Rams, 9-1-1 overall this year, will visit San Jose Academy on Oct. 25, 3 p.m., before returning home to host University on Oct. 27, 3:30 p.m. Willow Glen will then host Berkeley on Oct. 30 and visit Del Mar on Nov. 1 to close out the regular season. The Dons figure to be Willow Glen's rival in the race for the division championship. Del Mar boasts a 7-1-1 record in league play.

Davis-Tsukiji win

Seniors Kristen Davis and Samantha Tsukiji nailed a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles to lead the Willow Glen girls tennis team to a 6-1 victory over Pioneer last week.

The win came after two losses to open the week, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Evergreen Valley and 6-1 loss to Prospect. Stephanie Tran was 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles in the loss to the Cougars, and Davis and Tsukiji went three sets in each match before falling. Tran lost in three sets against the Panthers.

Willow Glen is now 6-8 for the year.