Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Abdalla, Corona leading Rams into state cross country meet
By Kevin Sparrer
It's off to the races for the Willow Glen boys.
The Rams have run their way to a second-place finish in the Central Coast Section Division III finals, and now it is off to state finals. The Rams, who missed a CCS crown by only six points, will now compete in the state meet on the 3.1 mile course at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 25.
Mohamed Abdalla, a junior, not only finished first in his own run in Division III, but also posted the second fastest time for all divisions in CCS. With the CCS title, Abdalla became only the second Ram to accomplish that feat, the first being the current Willow Glen head coach, Victor Santamaria (in 1984). With his victory, Abdalla has earned the No. 1 seed in Division III at state.
"I was especially proud of Abdalla for bringing home the individual CCS title, because he had set his sights on this goal a year ago and has been dedicated toward achieving it ever since," said Santamaria. "He is one of the most dedicated athletes I have ever coached and he has a profound joy and passion for this sport."
"Abdalla is ranked No. 1 in Division III at the state level and is extremely excited about taking the next step in his successful junior campaign."
Behind Abdalla was his running mate, Marcos Corona who was the second-place finisher in CCS Division III, coming in only 12 seconds behind Abdalla. Corona is a senior, and between Corona and Abdalla, Willow Glen is excited for the state meet.
"I am just as proud of Corona," said Santamaria. "He's suffered many setbacks over the last year, yet he's never given up and here he is earning his second straight runner-up finish at CCS and establishing himself as one of the top runners in the state.
"It will be exciting to see the improvement of Corona over the next several weeks, as he himself is just getting back into his top form and he's a great big meet performer."
After Corona at CCS came senior Samson Galato in 13th place with junior Eyoel Galato finishing right behind him in 19th.
E. Galato was expected to place much higher, but struggled through the race with painful shin splints. Despite the pain, he continued through the entire race to help his team to qualify for state.
The final point scorer for Willow Glen was sophomore Nati Wolde, who finished 29th.
"With only three returning runners, the challenge for most of the season was establishing the varsity team," said Santamaria. "This was an outstanding effort for the boys. They definitely had their best overall team performance all season."
Also running for the Rams were sophomore Abdul Kamara and freshman Cristian Vargas.
"The boys work so very hard to be successful and so their achievements thus far as league finals, at CCS finals and whatever they accomplish at the state level truly mean a lot to them and to Willow Glen High School," added the coach.
The girls varsity cross country team had a tough day at the CCS finals, finishing seventh overall in an extremely competitive field. They worked hard to finish in the top three, missing third place by only 11 points. In fact 11 points separated four teams, sending only one to the state finals.
The lady Rams unfortunately fell short of their goal. Junior Kari Server led the team, finishing 16th. Behind her came junior Michelle Moran in 23rd, junior Jackie Anderson 36th, freshman Kristina Rivera 63rd and senior Sandra Sosa 81st.
"I really wish the girls could have enjoyed realizing their goal because they really worked hard for it," said Santamaria. "Nevertheless, this group of girls had an outstanding season, going undefeated in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and defending their league title."
