Kraemer, La clinch win for Falcons

Saratoga sweeps Fremont in opener

By Dick Sparrer

Will Kraemer had already won both the 800 and 1,600 meters. But for the Saratoga boys track and field team to beat Fremont in the first dual meet of the season in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, it would take another big performance from the talented senior distance runner.

Well, the Falcons ended up getting more than they had bargained for.

Not only did Kraemer come through with a win in the 3,200 meters, Richard La was hot on his heels, finishing second to lift Saratoga to a 67-55 win over the Firebirds at Saratoga.

The one-two finish by Kraemer and La sealed the victory for the Saratoga boys and helped the Falcons to a clean sweep against Fremont in the first dual of the year.

The Saratoga girls outran Fremont 104-23 on the varsity level and 98-1 in junior varsity competition, and the 'Toga boys ran past Fremont 90-24 in frosh-soph action.

"It was a good start to the dual meet season," said Saratoga coach Marshall Clark.

"It was a hard-fought victory over Fremont in the varsity boys," added the coach. "It was decided by the one-two finish by [Kraemer and La] in the 3,200 meters."

Kraemer's three individual wins sparked the Saratoga boys to the victory. The senior raced to a win in the 800 in 2:06, with Conway Teng second in 2:16, and he was first in the 1,600 in 4:39, with Don Prolo third in 5:08.

It was Kraemer's third win of the day that lifted the Falcons to the team win. He was first in 10:34, with R. La second in 10:34.

Michael Wong raced to a win in the 110-meter high hurdles in 18.4 with Steven Hwang third in 19.4, and Wong was third in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 47.4.

Mark Elfving led a Saratoga sweep in the high jump. Elfving was first at 5-10 with Kevin Bromage second at 5-10 and David Evan third at 5-4.

Tom Cummins won the discus with a toss of 104-2, and Jeff McGowan was second in the shot put at 33-10 ¹/4.

Gene Lu ended up second in the long jump at 17-1 ¹/2 with Jacob Osborne third at 16-10 ¹/4, and Osborne was second in the triple jump at 36-2 ³/4 with Reg Sharma third at 32-6 ¹/2.

Arnold Chu was second in the 100 meters in 11.5 with John Griffin third in 11.6, and Chu was third in the 200 in 23.8.

Teng added a second in the 400 in 53.4, with Justin Gardner third in 55.5.

The Saratoga girls ran away with the decision in the varsity meet, with freshman sensation Alicia Follmar leading the way.

Follmar won three events to pace the Falcons to the team win. The freshman took the 1,600-meter run in 5:34 with Laura Belomy second in 6:05 and Natalie Ku third in 6:39; she won the 3,200 in 12:49, with Belomy second in 13:45; and she took the high jump at 4-6, with Samantha Smith second at 4-4 and Shaheed Jafri third at 4-2.

Jamie Pfeifer and Eevi Aura went one-two in the 100 and 200, but traded places in the two events. Pfeifer took the 100 in 13.2, with Aura second in 13.3, and Aura won the 200 in 27.8, with Pfeifer second in 27.8. The two also helped the Falcons to a win in the 4x100 relay in 52.6.

Neja Talreja was a winner in the 400 in 65.8, with Anna Aura second in 67.4, and A. Aura won the 100 hurdles in 17.9, with Smith second in 18.0 and Zola Petkovic third in 18.0. Smith was a winner in the 300 low hurdles in 53.6, with Petkovic third in 56.5.

Jackie Molzon nailed a win in the 800 in 2:40 with Jackie Pak second in 2:41; Amanda Van Hoeson took the shot put at 31-11; and Jessica Tu won the triple jump at 26-9.

Tu added a second in the long jump at 13-5, with Sara Ghalandari third at 12-0, and Jafri was second in the discus at 62-0. Christina Kaspar won the 200 and long jump and was second in the 100 to lead the Saratoga JVs to the lopsided win over the Firebirds. Parsan Saffaie ran to wins in the 1,600 and 3,200.

William Alleshouse and Joe Yeh each won a pair of events to lead the Saratoga frosh-soph to victory. Alleshouse took the 100 and 200, and Yeh was tops in the 400 and 800.

The Falcons were coming off a solid showing at the K-Bell Invitational at Los Gatos High.

The La brothers ran one-two in the 800 to lead the Saratoga showing at the K-Bell. David La was first in 1:57.84 and R. La ran second in 1:58.57.

"That was impressive," said Clark. "David also had a 52.0 relay split."

Kraemer added a fifth-place finish in the 1,600 in 4:51.6.

In girls varsity action, Follmar finished with a "great kick" to nail fourth in the 1,600 in 5:26.

The Aura sisters teamed with Talreja and Pfeifer to nail a fourth-place finish in the 4x400 relay in 4:27.04.

Three Saratoga boys placed in the frosh-soph division at the K-Bell. Michael Wong was fourth in the 65 high hurdles in 11:17, Alex Reeves was fifth in the high jump at 5-4 and Tom Cummins was fifth in the discus at 114-2.