Kraemer leads Falcons to state cross country meet

By Dick Sparrer

There were a number of division champions crowned at the Central Coast Section cross country finals Nov. 10 at Crystal Springs in Belmont.

There were boys and girls champs in CCS Division I, there were boys and girls champs in CCS Division II ... and so forth and so on, right through Division V.

But when you're talking about champions, throw out the divisions when the name Melissa Grelli, of Presentation, comes up. Because Grelli didn't just win the CCS Division III title ... she won it all.

Grelli ran ahead of the field to win the CCS overall crown. The sophomore covered the 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course in 17:31 to finish 10 seconds ahead of her nearest rival.

Grelli will be back on the trails this weekend when the top runners from the section advance to the State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Saratoga's Will Kraemer joins Grelli as a top competitor from CCS running at state.

The senior led the Saratoga boys to a second-place finish in the CCS Division III race. Kraemer became the first individual runner in school history to win a section title when he ran 15:23 to take the division and finish second in the overall field to Brett Gotcher of Aptos (14:56).

The Falcons qualified as a team for the state meet, and Kraemer will lead Saratoga into the competition this week in Fresno. David La (12th in 16:27 at CCS), Brett Stanger (13th in 16:29), Trevor Adams (24th in 16:51), Richard La (28th in 16:58), Don Prolo (76th in 18:22) and Justin Gardner (82nd in 18:34) will join Kraemer at the state meet.