Saratoga runs to SCVAL crown

Kraemer leads Falcons with individual title

By Dick Sparrer

Marshall Clark's teams have done some remarkable things during his many years as a track and cross country coach in the Santa Clara Valley.

But the Saratoga coach would be hard pressed to recall a more memorable season than the one his Falcons are having right now.

Saratoga's boys romped to the league title and the girls ran to a solid fourth-place finish at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League finals held last Tuesday at Crystal Springs in Belmont.

Superstar senior Will Kraemer won the individual crown in the boys varsity race, covering the 2.95-mile course in 15:41. Teammate David La, also a senior, was second in 16:22.

Freshman Alicia Follmar had an outstanding day, finishing second in the girls varsity race in 19:03, and sophomore Steven Surrette was second in 18:15 to lead the boys frosh-soph squad to a team third.

"It was a big day for the Falcon runners," said Clark. "This is a season to remember with pride."

But the season's not over yet. The top varsity performers will go on to the Central Coast Section meet Nov. 10 at Crystal Springs, and Kraemer should figure among the leaders in the boys division.

Kraemer and La were the top two finishers at the league meet and topped a list of four Falcons in the top 10. Brett Stanger was fourth in 16:42, and Richard La was eighth in 17:01. Not far behind was Trevor Adams, who finished 11th in 17:12 to round out the top five for the Falcons. All five are seniors.

Follmar starred for the Saratoga girls with her second-place finish. Sophomore Josie Chan ended up 18th in 20:39 with soph Irene Fan 23rd in 21:16, freshman Parson Saffai 26th in 21:35 and soph Jackie Molzon 31st in 22:02.

The Saratoga girls finished behind St. Francis, Los Gatos and Monta Vista in the team standings.

The Falcons finished behind only Los Gatos and Monta Vista in the boys frosh-soph division, thanks to Surrette's second-place effort. Conway Teng was 11th in 19:01 with Joe Yeh 16th in 19:19, Hari Subramaniam 24th in 19:50 and Eric Hwang 29th in 20:10.

Anjali Kumar led the Saratoga girls junior varsity to a team third behind St. Francis and Monta Vista. Kumar finished 14th in 22:40.

Anna Aura was 17th in 22:43 with Natalie Ku 18th in 22:46, Claire Tero 23rd in 23:02 and Sunita Kumar 47th in 24:41.

Max Tam was eighth in 19:22 to lead the Saratoga JV boys to a team third. Jacob Osborne was 15th in 19:53 with Daniel Young 17th in 20:05, Randy Sciallaba 24th in 20:46 and Lawrence Hui 26th in 21:03.

Zelinski leads Panthers

Danielle Zelinski and Rebecca Palm of Prospect each romped to top-25 finishes when the teams of the Blossom Valley Athletic League got together for their league meet last Monday at Crystal Springs.

Zelinski, a senior, was 24th in 21:12 to lead the Prospect showing at the meet. Palm, a freshman, was close behind in 25th in 21:15.

Prospect's Edina Hamulic was 55th in 23:12 with Jenny Jackson of Westmont 59th in 23:14.

Westmont's Josey Hoult was 60th in 23:16 with Sosina Telda 64th in 23:28 and Liz Medicott 71st in 23:43.

In boys action, Austin Day was 51st in 18:16 to lead Prospect to a team 13th at the finals.

Anthony Lin was 67th in 18:36 for the Panthers with Danny Soloman 78th in 18:51.

Westmont sophomore Andrew Tupper finished 68th in 18:37 with Bo Tran 82nd in 19:01 to lead the Warriors to a team 16th.