Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Corona, Abdalla, Wright on to CCS meet

By Dick Sparrer

The cream floats to the top each spring when the finest track and field athletes compete in the Central Coast Section finals. Willow Glen distance stars Marcos Corona and Mohamed Abdalla and Presentation freshman speedster Brittney Wright will be part of that rich field on May 25 when the CCS championship meet is held at Gilroy High School.

Corona, Abdalla and Wright each qualified for the CCS finals with the top eight performances at the CCS semifinals held May 19 at San Jose City College.

Corona, a senior, and Abdalla, a junior, breezed to a four-five finish in the 1,600-meter run for the Rams at the semi's. Corona was fourth in 4:19.53, with Abdalla close behind in fifth at 4:19.65.

Corona also earned a place in the CCS finals in the 3,200, finishing ninth in 9:35.42. Abdalla, who finished third in the CCS finals a year ago in 9:22.36, failed to advance, winding up 14th overall in 9:41.08.

Wright earned a place in the CCS championship meet in her first year of high school competition. The speedy Panther finished fourth in the 100 in 12.35 to qualify for the finals. She also helped the Panthers quality in the 4x100 relay. Presentation ran 49.22 for sixth place.

The two local qualifiers will be in the CCS field this Friday at Gilroy when field events begin at 4 p.m. and running events get under way at 6 p.m.

The top eight finishers in each event (top 12 in the 1,600 and 3,200) at the semifinals qualified for the CCS finals.

Presentation senior Irina Padua will advance to the finals in the 4x100 relay, but she just missed a berth in the 100, running 12th in 12.73. She was also 14th in the long jump at 16-0.75.

Junior Tracy Vargo was 27th for the Panthers in the 1,600 in 5:32.97.

Willow Glen senior Rafael Barriga was 17th in the 400 in 51.48 and 24th in the 200 in 23.34 at the semifinals. Sophomore Nohe Lema was 22nd in the 3,200 in 9:58.17, and junior Julian Valentino was 24th in the 1,600 in 4:35.70.

For the girls, junior Michelle Moran was 28th in the 3,200 in 12:08.84.

Gong leads Panthers

Junior Danielle Gong won a pair of individual events and helped the Panthers place in two relays to lead Presentation to a top 10 finish at the CCS swimming and diving championships last Saturday at Stanford University.

Gong raced to a win in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:00.02, finishing more than three seconds ahead of runner-up Laurence Delisle of Archbishop Mitty (2:03.32). Gong had finished second in the event at last year's CCS finals.

The Presentation junior was also a winner in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 55.21 to beat out defending CCS champion Megan Fisher-Colbrie of Monta Vista (55.73).

Gong anchored the 400 freestyle relay for the Panthers. She teamed with senior Kelley Oreglia, junior Julia Still and sophomore Maddie Takaki to turn in a 3:36.71. The quartet also finished fifth in the 200 medley relay in 1:51.60.

Gong's effort helped the Panthers to a team sixth in the finals behind Mitty (244), Monta Vista (223), Palo Alto (219), St. Ignatius (196) and Gunn (118). The Panthers ran up 110 points to finish just ahead of Burlingame (105).

In the B finals, Takaki finished first in the 100 fly in 58.88 and seventh in the 50 free in 25.03, and Still was sixth in the 500 free in 5:17.51.

In the diving event, Presentation sophomore Hisako Yamato finished 18th with 200.00 points.

Rams fall to Bells

A great season came to an end for the Willow Glen boys volleyball team when the Rams lost to Bellarmine in the CCS semifinals, 25-16, 25-19, 25-17.

The three-game loss left the Rams 22-14 for the year, including an 8-2 record on the road to a second-place finish in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and a 2-1 mark in the CCS playoffs. It was Willow Glen's second loss to the Bells this year--Bellarmine had beaten the Rams in the Homestead Tournament earlier this year.

The Bells went on to beat powerhouse Homestead in the CCS title match 25-23, 27-25, 25-16.

Willow Glen finished second to Serra at the tough Leland Charger Classic during the season, and won the all-important Tiki Match in head-to-head competition with local rival Leland.

Seniors playing their final high school match in the CCS semifinals were Tobin Chase, Robby Paine, Evan Bishop, Chad Camp, Billy Hanh and Robby Harris.

Rams Classic

The Willow Glen High School Athletics Booster Club will host its 14th annual Rams Golf Classic on June 5 at the Spring Valley Golf Course. The 2 p.m. shotgun start follows registration at noon. The entry fee of $160 per players includes green fees, a cart, lunch, on-course contests and dinner and awards. The cost for the dinner only is $45.

All proceeds from the tournament support Willow Glen High School athletic and spirit programs. For more information and to register, visit wghsgolf.googlepages.com.

Field closed

The turf field and track area at Willow Glen High School will be closed from May 28 through June while new lines are sown into the field. All perimeter gates will be locked and no one will be allowed to enter the stadium during this time. However, all grass fields will remain open during the period.

Coaches needed

Willow Glen is looking for coaches for varsity and junior varsity wrestling and JV girls soccer for the 2007-08 winter season. Fax a resume to 408.535.2353 or call athletic director Peggy Booth at 408.535.6330.