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Published on 11/06/1995 All articles from this issue

Prep roundup

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By Andy Nystrom

Town Crier Sports Editor

Los Altos runners, St. Francis volleyballers

win league titles

Los Altos' boys runners inched by Gunn to win the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division cross country title last Tuesday at Crystal Springs in Belmont.

The Eagles ripped up the 2.97-mile course with 51 points; Gunn followed with 52 and Mountain View finished seventh with 168.

Tops for Los Altos was freshman Andrew Hill, who took fifth with a time of 17:20; Jon Kaye, Sean Whalen, David Burnham and David Zander also ran strong for the Eagles. "(Andrew) was sick, but he still came out. He's led us all season," said Los Altos Coach Margaret Bennett.

As for Whalen and Zander, both ran personal bests of 17:41 and 18:12, respectively. Bennett was especially excited with Whalen's jaunt, a "huge" 22-second improvement over his previous record.

For Mountain View, Rene Moini notched a Central Coast Section-qualifying time of 17:59.

In girls action at Crystal Springs, Mountain View placed second in the El Camino championship with a score of 59; Palo Alto took first with 43 and Los Altos finished sixth with 112.

Spartan runner Tonia Giraud sped to first with a time of 20:10. "She's a really dedicated, focused runner. She's improved her time every race," said Mountain View Coach Marron Honningman.

Mountain View's Allie Pitts and Chian Wu finished fourth and fifth, respectively; Lauren Miller led Los Altos with a CCS-qualifying, seventh-place time of 21:16.

Over in the De Anza Division championship, Los Gatos grabbed first with 47 points and St. Francis took second with 55.

The Lancer boys also placed second in the West Catholic Athletic League championship last Wednesday with 56 points; St. Ignatius led the pack with 41.

The CCS meet is Saturday at Crystal Springs.

Girls Volleyball

St. Francis fired off its guns against Los Gatos last Wednesday. And Los Gatos' hands must have been burning after either digging or grazing bullets from the Lancers' outside hitters.

In a hard-fought match, St. Francis triumphed 15-3, 15-8, 15-11 to notch the SCVAL De Anza Division title. It is the sixth consecutive league crown for the Lancers, who finished 12-0 and upped their overall record to 31-3.

Los Gatos finished division play 10-2, losing both of its matches to St. Francis, the sixth-ranked team in the state. The Wildcats are 21-5 overall heading into the CCS playoffs, which get under way Saturday.

If St. Francis continues to play in-your-face offense and scrappy defense, more CCS and state titles may soon be in its hands.

A host of Lancers had a hand in last Wednesday's victory. Blasting away on offense were Shelly Glennon (14 kills), Jamey Scritchfield (13 kills) and Vicki Viso (eight kills); defensively, Scritchfield, Roz Pelayo and Julie Hansen dug almost everything in sight.

Doubling as an outside hitter and setter, Viso was constantly in on the action. Especially impressive was a game-two kill, in which she adjusted to the set in mid-air and hammered it home with her opposite hand.

Although St. Francis swept Los Gatos - for the second time this season - it was by no means an easy victory. The Wildcats' bodies-flying-everywhere defensive style forced long rallies in the first two games, and made the Lancers work for the win in game three.

On the doorstep of victory with a 14-11 lead, St. Francis failed three times to finish off Los Gatos. But on the fourth try, Pelayo cranked one of her three service aces off the back row for the win.