Kraemer runs to third at Stanford meet

Win, tie for Prospect field hockey team

By Dick Sparrer

Marshall Clark found out something about his Saratoga boys cross country team when the Falcons competed at the Stanford Invitational back on Sept. 29.

Running against the best teams around, the Falcon boys managed a top five finish, a showing that impressed the veteran Saratoga coach.

"This team is for real," said Clark after his Falcons finished fifth in Division III and second among squads from the Central Coast Section.

Senior transfer Will Kraemer led the Saratoga effort, running 16:46 to claim third place.

"It was a strong individual performance by [Kraemer] backed up by a solid team effort by a determined group of young men," said Clark. "It gave the Saratoga ranking in CCS some validity." The Falcons are currently ranked ninth in the section.

Kraemer led the Saratoga showing on the 5,000-meter course at Stanford, finishing third in the field of 169 runners. He was supported by David La, 24th in 17:34; Brett Stanger, 55th in 18:19; Trevor Adams, 62nd in 18:24; Don Prolo, 72nd in 18:37; and Richard La, 76th in 18:44.

Salpointe Catholic of Tucson, Ariz., finished first in the team standings with 113 points, followed by Acalanes of Lafayette (137), Burlingame (176), Corona Del Mar (181) and Saratoga (207). The Falcons edged St. Francis by a point for fifth place.

Saratoga managed to finish a solid 20th in the 35-team girls field at Stanford with freshman Alicia Follmar leading the charge by placing 27th in 20:47.

"[Follmar] continues to run well and is one of the top young runners in CCS," said Clark.

Junior Paula McNally ran well, nailing 74th in 22:02 in the field of 168 runners.

"She continues to improve with every meet," said Clark of McNally.

"On a time comparison with the 2000 team, this girls team made a significant improvement," added the coach.

Zelinski second

Prospect's Danielle Zelinski finished second overall when the teams of the Santa Teresa Division got together for a league meet last week at Alum Rock Park.

The Prospect girls lost lopsided 15-50 decisions to both Independence and Valley Christian, but Zelinski starred for the Panthers.

She covered the 2.85-mile course in 20:59 to finish second overall in the girls' field. Teammate Becky Palm finished eighth in 23:15.

Girls field hockey

Prospect is trying to remain focused on its goal of a division championship in girls field hockey this spring, but Del Mar managed to make things a little blurry for the Panthers in the Santa Teresa Division last week.

The Panthers pulled out a tight 2-1 win over St. Ignatius to open the week, but the Dons fought Prospect to a 1-1 tie two days later.

Still, Prospect remains atop the Santa Teresa pack with a 3-0-3 record.

The Panthers and Wildcats were locked in a scoreless tie through a half last Tuesday before junior Melissa Shouse broke the deadlock when she scored off a Christie O'Hara assist.

Alex Harkins scored a goal off of assists from Stephanie Nichols and Brooke Madsen, and it turned out to be valuable insurance when St. Ignatius knocked in a second-half goal.

Nichols scored again later in the week in the bout with Del Mar, Breanne Condie knocked home a goal off a Lisa Warthan assist to help the Dons pull out the 1-1 draw.

Del Mar stretched its league record to 1-1-3 with the tie. Prospect is now 5-1-3 for the year.

In other local action, Westmont's record was evened at 1-1 when the Warriors lost a 4-0 nod to Cupertino in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.

Over in the BVAL's Mt. Hamilton Division, Saratoga stumbled in a pair of field hockey games last week, falling 3-1 to Los Gatos and 2-0 to Willow Glen to slip to 0-2 in league play and to 1-3-2 for the season.

The Falcons fought each of their opponents to scoreless ties in first-half play last week. But Saratoga gave up two second-half goals to the Rams and was outscored 3-1 in the second half by Gatos.

Saratoga will gun for that elusive first league win this week when the Falcons visit Mitty on Oct. 9 and St. Francis on Oct. 11 in Mt. Hamilton Division play.

Warriors spike Dons

Senior outside hitter Stefani Carver buried 11 kills to lead the Westmont girls volleyball team to a 15-6, 15-7, 15-11 win over Del Mar in league play last week.

The win pushed Westmont's record to 2-4 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. Del Mar is also 2-4.

Westmont, 6-9 for the year, had lost 15-10, 15-10, 15-4 to Mt. Pleasant to open the week.

The Dons had opened the week with a 15-13, 15-7, 15-8 victory over Leigh.

Prospect, meanwhile, lost twice in the Mt. Hamilton Division last week. The Panthers dropped a 15-2, 15-0, 15-2 decision to powerful Mitty after losing a tough five-game decision 15-10, 4-15, 15-3, 9-15, 15-8 to Valley Christian. Randy Gillespie led the Panthers with 17 kills in the match against the Warriors.

Prospect slipped to 1-5 in the division with the two losses and is 2-13 for the year.