Willow Glen Resident

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Abdalla, Kohe pace Willow Glen to wins to open cross country race

By Kevin Sparrer

Mohamed Abdalla is up to his old tricks, but this time he has a new partner in Lema Kohe to take on the cross country world.

Abdalla and Kohe finished one-two, only a second apart (15:06 and 15:07) in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division boys varsity double-dual meet against Santa Teresa and Andrew Hill on Sept. 20.

Shortly behind Abdalla and Kohe was Willow Glen's Julien Valentino, third in 15:35. Nati Wolde (fifth, 16:01) and Eyoel Galato (sixth, 16:13) rounded out the top five, and John Ladd (seventh, 16:14) and Danny Owens (ninth, 16:27) also finished strong for the Rams.

In the girls varsity meet, it was Hayley Tharp (first, 20:17) who led the pack for the Rams. Kari Server (fourth, 21:20) was the next scorer, with Jackie Anderson (sixth, 21:48) not far behind. Kristina Rivera (seventh, 21:54) was the fourth finisher for Willow Glen, while Kim De La Cruz (eighth, 21:58) was the last scorer. Chelsea Moran (ninth, 22:01) also ran well for Willow Glen.

Willow Glen's frosh-soph boys did well, with Donald Plazula (first, 17:42) winning the race. Only seconds behind Plazula were Wilson Lyon (third, 17:54) and Tayler Haugnh (fourth, 17:54). The fourth finisher for the Rams was Tony Nguyen (eighth, 18:57) with Martin Lomeli (13th, 20:41) finishing the scoring. Daniel McDermont (16th, 22:40) also ran for the Rams.

The junior varsity girls were led by Chanel Galven (fifth, 23:57) with Reya Bluse (12th, 27:20) coming in next for Willow Glen. Brianna Aguirre (13th, 27:22) was not far behind with Iliana Lizarraga (15th, 31:24) finishing out the list of runners for the Rams.

For the boys varsity B team, Willow Glen led over Leland, Evergreen, Santa Teresa, Andrew Hill, Silver Creek, Piedmont Hills and Sobrato with the top three finishers in Simon Herrera (first, 16:55), Yonathan Seleshi (second, 17:24) and Josh Saavedra (third, 17:37). Willow Glen also had the fifth-place finisher in Justin Garcia (18:26). Ryan Sontomauro (20, 19:54) finished out the scoring for the Rams. Rene Purclo, Kenny Le, Paul Johnson, Daniel Thorburn, Matt Scwab and Carl Bergholm also ran for Willow Glen.

Willow Glen will face Sobrato and Silver Creek on Sept. 27 at Montgomery Hill with a 3:30 p.m. start.