Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Willow Glen relay team heads to nationals

By Dick Sparrer

The track and field season may have ended for most high school athletes in California last weekend at the state meet in Sacramento, but not for four runners from Willow Glen.

The quartet of Nati Wolde, Marcos Corona, Mohamed Abdalla and Nohe Lema will compete in the Nike National Track and Field Championships at A&T University in Greensoboro, N.C., on June 15-17.

The Rams earned their place in the national meet by placing fourth in the 4xmile relay at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in Los Angeles in April.

Corona will lead the squad into the national competition. The senior, a 4:15 miler, is coming off of a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter run at the Central Coast Section finals and an appearance at the state meet at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. Corona also qualified for the national meet in the mile.

Abdalla, a junior, is a 4:17 miler who finished fourth in the 1,600 at CCS, just missing a state bid. Abdalla will also compete in the 2-mile at the national event.

Lema and Wolde are both talented sophomores for the Rams. Lema is a 4:28 miler, and Wolde has clocked a 4:38 mile.

"This squad will be making school history by being the first runners to compete in the national championships," said coach Victor Santamaria, himself a former Willow Glen distance star. "The boys are extremely excited and optimistic about their chances to compete with the best teams in the nation."

Willow Glen boasts a time of 18:00 in the 4xmile, which would rank in the top 10 in the nation.

"Since their Arcadia performance in April, the combined improvement in mile times for the four members is 26 seconds," said the coach. "This means that the Rams have the potential right now to run at least 17:34, which could place them in the top five in the nation, earning All-American status."

"In addition, individually Corona and Abdalla have a great chance to establish themselves on the national level," he added.

Raising funds

The Willow Glen track and field team is currently attempting to raise the $5,000 needed to make the trip to the nationals.

"We're in urgent need of sponsorship and funding to be able to send these runners to North Carolina," said Santamaria. "This would be a great opportunity for these fine student-athletes to not only compete at the national championships, but to gain travel experience, and to visit and learn about the beautiful and historic state of North Carolina."

Local businessman and Willow Glen resident Jim Leale, Jr., on behalf of Leale's Transmission, has stepped forward with a $500 donation and has agreed to donate 10 percent of his company's profits from any car service done at his business by a community member who mentions at time of a service agreement that they want to help support the Willow Glen track team. This sponsorship agreement with Leale's Transmission is effective through the month of June. Leale's Transmissions is located at 405 Keyes St. (408.286.5350).

Individual donations can be made by check, made payable to Willow Glen High School, and delivered personally to the main office or sent to Willow Glen High School, c/o Victor Santamaria, 2001 Cottle Ave., San Jose, CA 95125.

CCS, state meets

With his CCS second, Corona advanced to the state meet last Saturday at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. The senior ran 4:23.93 to finish 23rd overall at state.

A week earlier, Corona stopped the watch at 4:18.49 to nail second at the CCS finals with Abdalla fourth in 4:20.92.

"After a very slow first half mile, Marcos ran a bold second half by attempting to run away from the field with a very strong third lap of 61 seconds," said Santamaria. "Marcos was able to establish a bit of a lead, but this lap ended up being too costly, and competitor Brad Surh from Carlmont too strong, as Surh eventually caught and surpassed him over the final lap. Marcos, however, hung on to second place to qualify for state."