Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Abdalla runs 2nd to lead Rams to state 4th

By Kevin Sparrer

Senior Mohamed Abdalla was knocked off of his throne at the 2007 CIF State Cross Country Finals held on Nov. 24 at Woodward Park in Fresno, but his eyes are set on the next level.

Abdalla failed to hold onto his Division III state title, finishing second in 15:20 on the 3.1-mile course, only three seconds behind the leader and still driving Willow Glen to a fourth-place finish as a team.

"Abdalla was just a few yards away from defending his title," said Willow Glen head coach Victor Santamaria. "He was there with only 20 meters to go and was still in the lead, but he just ran out of gas. Even though he wasn't able to defend his title, he still ran a personal best and stepped up to beat the runner who beat him in the Central Coast Section finals."

Abdalla will continue on to the Footlocker Western Regional Cross Country Championships on Dec. 1 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, where he finished 28th last year.

"His goal all year has been to qualify for nationals, and to do that he has to finish in the top eight," said Santamaria. "If he goes in well rested, he has a strong chance to achieve that goal."

Also running with Abdalla will be junior Nohe Lema (seventh, 15:44). Lema's performance at the state finals qualified him to continue on to the regional race.

"Lema is going to have a good learning experience at the regional level," said Santamaria. "The competition is really strong and it moves really fast, but he has a chance of finishing in the top 24 to earn him All-Western Regional honors.

"He ran an awesome race at the state level," said Santamaria of Lema. "He started slow but was able to overtake around 20 runners in the second half of the race to finish in the top 10."

After Lema came junior Valentino Julien (35th, 16:22), junior John Ladd (94th, 17:03) and junior Nati Wolde (108th, 17:12), completing the scoring for the Rams.

Also running for Willow Glen were freshman Donald Plazola (112th, 17:13) and sophomore Christian Vargas (160th, 17:56).

"While we had a good chance to finish a little higher than fourth as a team," said Santamaria. "One of our goals all year was to finish in the top five, and we accomplished that goal."

While Abdalla and Lema will be competing in the seeded race at Footlocker, the rest of the Willow Glen boys team will be running in their class-level meets.

"Plazola will be running against the best freshmen runners in the region. This will be a good chance for him to see how he compares to the rest of the area," said Santamaria.

Presentation's cross country team also took part in the state finals in Fresno and finished 11th as a team in Division II. The Panthers were led by senior Michelle Callaway (29th, 19:00). Behind her were senior Tracy Vargo (35th, 19:04), junior Rebekah Phillips (65th, 19:29), junior Shannon McCarthy (89th, 19:52) and freshman Gina D'Arpino (126th, 20:30) completing the scoring for the Panthers.

Also running for Presentation were sophomore Rachel Phillips (152nd, 21:08) and senior Nicole Zanardi (170th, 21:45).