Sports Wrap Sports Wrap (September 16, 2005)

Eagles football falls just short in opener

Despite suffering a 20-16 loss to Evergreen Valley in its season opener on Sept. 10, the Los Altos football team believes it has laid the foundation for a strong season.

The host Eagles took a 7-0 lead into halftime and enjoyed a 10-7 advantage in the second half, but eventually fell just short of a win. An untimely penalty wiped away what would have been a go-ahead touchdown for Los Altos in the fourth quarter as the Eagles fell to 0-1 under first-year head coach Erik Rutgers.

ìWe all took a lot of positives from the game,î said Rutgers, who stressed the need for his team to eliminate the few mental errors it committed. ìWeíre extremely excited for the season, especially after what we saw against a very good Evergreen team.î

Los Altos travels to Santa Cruz on Sept. 17 to play Harbor, a team that features a wide-open, no-huddle offense. The Eagles then conclude their preseason with a visit to archrival Mountain View on Sept. 24.

Cross country Spartans hit ground running

The Mountain View cross country team got its season off to a fine start by winning both the boys and girls competitions at the Lynbrook Center Meet on Sept. 8.

Robbie Reid won the boys race in a school-record time of 10:49, and was closely followed by fellow junior Roger Huang, who finished 6th in 11:14.

The young Spartans girls placed three runners in the top seven and were led by sophomore Tania Morimoto, who also set a school record with her 12:46 run, good for 3rd place.

Next up for Mountain View is the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 24, a meet in which Los Altos and St. Francis will also compete.

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St. Francis continued its perfect start to the football season with a 21-10 victory over Oak Grove at Piedmont Hills on Sept. 9. The Lancers (2-0) face a brutal preseason test as they visit Los Gatos (1-0) on Sept. 16 in a match-up of perennial CCS contenders. Ö Mountain Viewís volleyball team pushed its record to 5-3 with a strong, three-game victory over visiting Santa Teresa on Sept. 8. Ö St. Francis took 4th place in the prestigious John Schmitt Memorial boys water polo tournament on Sept. 9-10. The Lancers (3-2) defeated Los Altos 10-6 in a second-round contest behind four goals from sophomore Tom Avery. The Eagles began their season with a 2-3 showing in the loaded field. Ö The Los Altos girls water polo team (7-2) showed its hot start was no fluke with a strong 3rd-place finish in the Los Altos Invitational. Meanwhile, Mountain View placed 9th in the 12-team field.

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