Saratoga's Alicia Follmar and Monta Vista's Ian Laform romped to wins on the 2.1-mile course that crossed Lynbrook's San Jose campus last Thursday.

The performance of Laform, just a freshman, was a real treat for the Matadors. He covered the distance in 11:08.8 to finish a minute ahead of his nearest rivals, teammates Jason Low and Julian Kolev.

Saratoga senior Jacob Osborne ended up fourth overall in 11:11.0, with teammate Steve Surrette, a freshman, ninth in 11:17.2. Sophomore Hari Subramaniam was 11th in 11:19.0, with junior Will Alleshouse 12th in 11:20.3 and junior Robert Paolini 32nd in 11:59.1.

Follmar set the pace in the girls' varsity race. The Saratoga sophomore finished first in 12:38.9.

Lynbrook's Aya Wakabayashi and Zohreh Akhavan were close behind. Wakabayashi, a junior, was third in 13:06.9, and Akhavan was fourth in 13:14.3.

Junior Sasson Kim of Lynbrook also finished in the top 10. Kim was ninth in 13:50.6.

Saratoga sophomore Annie Tam supported Follmar's effort by running 16th in 14:16.4. Junior Jackie Molzon was 26th.

Matt Paquet led a one-two-three finish for the Monta Vista boys in the junior varsity division, finishing first in 11:43.6. Justin Lee was second with Nayson Fernandes third.


Panthers finish strong

The Prospect cross country team ran well at the Crystal Springs Center Meet on Halloween day, with sophomore Becky Palm leading the charge.

Palm covered the 2.95-mile course in 20:07 to finish sixth in the girls varsity division. Teammate Edina Hamulic was 43rd in 23:09.

Senior Nick Song was the boys leader, running 17:47 to get 16th in the varsity race. Senior Scott Smith was 43rd in 18:45 for the Panthers.

Alex Lin supported with a seventh in the boys freshman race in 14:03, with Steve Derendinger 10th and Tan Long 13th.

Freshman Kiran Chand finished 11th for the Panthers in the girls junior varsity race in 18:07, with freshman Pramond Madhurima 25th.

In dual meet action in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, though, it was Westmont running to a couple of wins over the Panthers.

Song finished first in 17:07, with Smith second in 17:10 on the 2.8-mile course at Alum Rock Park, but the Panthers lost a tight 27-28 decision to Westmont in boys varsity action.

Bo Tran, Yuta Nakata, Andrew Tupper and freshman Michael Pickens are top runners for the Warriors this fall.

Palm finished first, and second overall in the Santa Teresa Division field, but Prospect fields an incomplete team and lost 15-50 to Westmont. Palm covered the course in a solid 19:49. Westmont freshman Jessica Wacker was second to Palm in 20:15 and finished third overall day. The two finished eighth and ninth overall, respectively.