Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Leland's Barnett sisters run 1-2 against Evergreen, Santa Teresa

By Kevin Sparrer

Nohe Lema and Julian Valentino are establishing their dominance early this year on the cross country trails of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

The two Willow Glen seniors finished first and second in the second race of the season in the BVAL's Mt. Hamilton Division, helping the Rams defeat Sobrato and Silver Creek.

Lema finished first in 15:59 with Valentino right behind him, finishing in 16:33. Only two places behind Valentino was the third Ram to finish, senior Yonathan Seleshi (fourth in 16:44), and senior John Ladd (16:49) was fifth.

Senior Nati Wolde (17:33) finished 11th, and junior Mario Ramirez (18:03) capped the scorers for the Rams.

Leland also had some success in the second week, beating Evergreen Valley and Santa Teresa, with sophomore Haico Kaashoek (16:16) finishing second and senior Matt Vera (16:48) coming in fifth. Senior Ryan Hirahara (17:15) was 11th with sophomore Adil Majid (17:27) right behind in 13th. Senior Frank Gao (17:38) came in 15th, while junior Ben Hu (19:26) and senior Braden Kolte (19:31) finished 17th and 18th, respectively.

Willow Glen's girls fared about as well as the boys, with Kristina Rivera (20:56) taking second, freshman Nicole Rockwell (21:39) completing the race in fifth, freshman Daniela Lomeli (23:23) in 11th, junior Chanel Galven (24:44) 13th and junior Reya Bloise (26:55) 15th.

Leland's girls ran hard, with the Barnett sisters in the lead. Claudia Barnett took first with Stephanie Barnett right next to her, both finishing in 18:51. Behind them were Claire Pfieffer (sixth, 20:55), Michelle Hsieh (eighth, 21:09), Emily Childress (ninth, 21:14) and Ashleigh Brendlin (13th, 21:52).

Willow Glen takes on Leland and Piedmont Hills on Oct. 16 in the next race at 3:30 p.m.

In a Santa Teresa Division boys race, it was Leigh's Mickey Pappas (15:27) who came in first. A large group of Longhorns came in barely a minute later with Peter Stephens (fourth, 16:12), Matthew Stevens (sixth, 16:28) and Brez Hurley (seventh, 16:32). Adam Blease (11th, 17:31) was the fifth Longhorn, while Marbud Phanwar (29th, 19:03) and Andrew Yu (50th, 24:44) finished out the team.

Pioneer's horses were right on the heels of the Longhorns, with Nestan Strum (second, 15:34) and Nathan Strum (third, 15:59) leading the way. Behind them were Mike Zamora (10th, 17:14), Mark Angelopolous (13th, 17:55) and Davis Ngo (25th, 18:37). Rey Blume (33rd, 19:24) and James Brandon (42nd, 20:43) also ran for the Mustangs.

Westmont's Warriors struggled a little with Khoi Truong (35th, 19:34) leading the pack, with Sam Brey (36th, 19:36), Sans Hoy (44th, 20:59), Steven Nguyen (46th, 21:19) and Justin Le (47th, 21:24) behind. Jonathan Butsuec (48th, 22:19) also ran for Westmont.

Westmont's girls had a bit more success with Abbey Blake (first, 19:23) winning her race. Behind her was Christine Ristow (eighth, 21:11), Twyla Hawley (14th, 22:25), Cynthia Loayza (17th, 23:04) and Anessa Gaur (33rd, 25:19). Parwana Mohimmod (39th, 26:10) also ran for the lady Warriors.

Leigh's girls had a good showing with Michelle Hopper (fourth, 20:16) leading the way. Just over three minutes later, Molly Volden (19th, 23:21) and Amanda Wilson (20th, 23:36) came in for the Longhorns. Becky Martin (26th, 24:52) and Carolyn Valenzuela (27th, 24:53) completed the scoring, while Nicole Sialaris (46th, 28:10) and Lauren Weber (47th, 28:13) also ran for Leigh.

Pioneer's girls had a pair finish strong in Toni Sarge (third, 20:04) and Jessica Tam (seventh, 21:03), but the next Mustang didn't finish until Jenna Giover (30th, 25:09). Gianna Azamora (37th, 25:48) and Hannah Burnham (41st, 26:38) completed the scoring, while Jessica Frausto (48th, 28:31) and Vivian Nguyen (49th, 29:23) also ran with the horses.

Pioneer will face Mt. Pleasant and Live Oak on Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m., while Westmont confronts Oak Grove and Leigh takes on Overfelt and Independence at the same time.