Falcons pull out another track win, but girls fall

By Dick Sparrer

It went right down to the wire for the boys and girls track and field teams at Saratoga High School--and the result was one win and one loss.

The Falcons went right to the finish against Milpitas in dual meet action in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and the boys pulled out a thrilling 64-58 victory while the girls dropped a 69-58 heartbreaker.

Will Kraemer and David La went one-two in the 3,200 meters for the second straight week, and for the second straight week it meant a dual meet victory for the Falcons.

The two Saratoga seniors had helped the Falcons clinch a win over Fremont a week earlier; then Kraemer was first in 10:02 and La was second in 10:11 to lead the Falcons past the Trojans.

Kraemer and La went one-two in three different events for Saratoga. Kraemer was first in the 1,600 meters in 4:34, with La second in 4:38, and La won the 800 in 2:07.6, with Kraemer a close second in 2:07.7. Richard La was third in the 800 in 2:08.

Michael Wong was a double winner in the hurdle events for the Falcons, taking the 110-meter highs in 18.5, with Steven Hwang third in 19.5, and winning the 300-meter intermediates in 46.2, with Hwang third in 49.0.

Mark Elfving led a Saratoga sweep in the high jump at 5-9, with Kevin Bromage second at 5-6 and Alex Reeves third at 5-3.

Tom Cummins won the discus at 108-8 and Daniel Chen won the 400 in 50.1, with R. La second in 52.1.

Arnold Chu was second in the 100 in 11.5 and third in the 200 in 25.0, Jacob Osborne was second in the triple jump at 36-11 and Gene Lu was third in the long jump at 18-2.

The girls lost in the 3,200 meters and ended up dropping a tight decision to Milpitas in the varsity division.

But, said Saratoga coach Marshall Clark, "The girls made a great run at one of the best teams in the Central Coast Section."

Freshman Alicia Follmar was second in both the 3,200 meters in 11.46 and the 1,600 meters in 5:23. But Follmar did manage to soar to a victory in the high jump at 4-4, with Shaheen Jafri second at 4-4 and Samantha Smith third at 4-0.

Andrea Van Hoesen was a double winner in the weights, taking the shot at 30-2 ¹/2 and winning the discus at 74-9, with Jafri third at 65-0.

Eevi Aura raced to a win in the 100 at 13.2 with Jamie Pfeifer second in 13.4, and Pfeifer was first in the 200 in 28.1, with Aura second in 28.1.

Zola Petkovic was second in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.7, with Anna Aura third in 18.4, and she was second in the triple jump at 28-8.

Neha Talreja was second in the 400 in 65.2, with A. Aura third in 68.0, and Jessica Tu was second in the long jump at 13-1 ¹/2, with Sara Ghalandari third at 12-10 ¹/2.

Saratoga won easily in the girls junior varsity and boys frosh-soph divisions.

Steven Surrette and William Alleshouse won two events apiece to lead the Saratoga boys to a 73-48 frosh-soph win over the Trojans. Joe Yeh, Sean Bromage and Roy Jang were other Saratoga winners in the meet.

Christina Kaspar won two events to spark the Saratoga girls to an 83-22 JV win over Milpitas.

A day after beating Milpitas, the Trojans headed over toWest Valley College to compete in the West Valley Relays.

Kraemer led a solid Saratoga showing with a first-place finish in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 6:32.35. Kraemer added a fourth in the 1,500 meters in 4:09.92.

R. La was third in the 800 in 1:58.14, racing past his brother David in the final few meters. D. La fell just two yards short of the finish line and ended up fifth in 1:59.90.

Follmar ran second in the 3,000 meters in 10:47.98 to lead the Saratoga girls at the meet.

The foursome of E. Aura, A. Aura, Talreja and Pfeifer finished second in the 4x400 relay in 4:18.13, and Lauren Belomy, Parsan Saffaie, Josephine Chan and Follmar nailed fourth in the 4x1,600 relay in 24:22.36.

E. Aura, Pfeifer, Smith and A. Aura added a fifth in the 4x100 relay in 52.91.

Conway Teng was third in the frosh-soph 800 in 2:08.25 and Alex Reeves was third in the high jump at 5-6.

Yeh, Robert Alejandro, Alleshouse and Teng added a third in the 4x400 relay in 3:47.49 and Cummins was seventh in the discus at 105-10.

Warriors split

Ashley Mamola raced to wins in the 100 and 300 hurdles, but the Westmont girls track team could manage just a split in a double-dual meet with Gunderson and Independence last week.

Mamola won the 100 hurdles in 16.31 and the 300 hurdles in 49.37 to lead the Warriors past the Grizzlies 106-15, but Westmont lost 67-60 to Independence.

The Westmont boys lost 67-57 to Gunderson, despite a couple of wins by Todd Bethke in the hurdles. Bethke won the 110-meter high hurdles in 17.83 and the 300 intermediates in 47.28.

Burt Codera sprinted to a win in the 100 in 11.62 and Westmont won the weight events, with Aremon Habibi first in the shot put at 49-9 ³/4 and Robert Jennings first in the discus at 148-6.