A year ago, the Evergreen Valley boys track and field won the West Valley Relays team title by one point, just edging out Los Gatos, North Monterey County, and San Benito. Cougar runners, throwers, and jumpers won much more convincingly this year, earning 65 points, five better than Castro Valley. Kevin Liao won the 5000 meter run in 16:08.66 and Tom Liu took third in 16:56.94, earning 16 big points for the team effort. Ryan Thomas was second in the 800 meters and Derion Taylor finished second in the 110 meter hurdles and won the triple jump. The relays also contributed to the victory, with the 4x100 taking fourth, the 4x400 taking third, and the sprint medley earning second place.

Hurdler Lia Randazzo and distance runner Samantha Garcia exhibited excellent performances for the girls team. Randazzo placed fourth in the 100 meter hurdles and second in the 400 meter hurdles. Garcia set school records in the both the 1500 and 3000 meter runs, running the two races in 5:04.37 and 10:50.56, respectively. In her first race over the 800 meter distance, quarter-mile specialist Erica Arenas ran a courageous race to place 5th in 2:25.37.

• In its first league dual meet of the season, the Evergreen Valley track team defeated Willow Glen in both the varsity boys and varsity girls divisions. The girls were lead in their 102-25 victory by sophomore Jennifer Espinoza (winner of 800m and 1600m) and junior Lia Randazzo (winner in 100m and 300m hurdles). Derion Taylor won the 110m hurdles, triple jump, and set a new school record in the high jump at six feet, two inches, as the varsity boys won by the score of 81-46. The Cougars will compete at the West Valley Relays this weekend at Westmont High School.
• The Lady Cougar softball team routed Mountain View 14-2. Pitcher Bianka Molina threw a complete game two-hitter and also went 4-for-4 at the plate to drive in two runs.
  
• Both boys and girls swim teams suffered losses to a high-powered Pioneer squad on Thursday. The boys fell 127-56 while the girls were defeated 119-76. The team's next meet will be on Friday, March 27 versus Leland.
• Baseball will face non-league opponent Silver Creek on Saturday at noon.
  

• Evergreen Valley's swim team opened up its season on Friday afternoon at home against Westmont. The varsity boys team edged the Warriors 87-83. Sophomore sensation Michael Ngo won the 200m invidual medley in 2:03.43, the 100 fly in 57.09, and led the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay to victory.
• On the girls side, the Cougars defeated Westmont by the score of 177-106. Evergreen was highlighted by Chloe Rasmussen winning the 50 free in 25.20, the 100 back in 1:03.59, and both 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.
• The track and field team took a few athletes to the K-Bell Invitational on Saturday at Los Gatos High School. Derion Taylor made his 2009 debut in the triple jump with a victory, jumping a CCS-best 43 feet, 6 inches. Kevin Liao set a personal best in the 3200 meters in 9:52.17 for fourth place and Ryan Thomas led the first 600 meters of his 800 race, but finished fourth in 2:00.74. Erica Arenas ran 59.83 for second in the 400 meters.
• At the Circle of Champions tournament in Salinas, the Lady Cougars softball team fell to Piedmont Hills 2-1. Lauren Clark drove in Janel Salanoa in the 5th inning for Evergreen's lone run.
  

• The track team participated in its first meet of the season at the Willow Glen Invitational. The Varsity Boys scored 65 team points, good enough for second place to Willow Glen's dominating 93 points. Seniors Jeremy Roberts and Domenic Casil went 1-2 in the 200 meter dash with times of 23.16 and 23.29, respectively, and senior Emmanual Scott placed second in the shot put with a school record throw of 44 feet, 4 inches. The boys relays also excelled. The 4x100 (Kevin Le, Jeremy Roberts, Kevin Nguyen, and Domenic Casil) finished second in 45.33 seconds and the 4x400 (Roberts, Nguyen, Casil, and Ryan Thomas) won in 3:38.35.
  
• On the Varsity Girls side, Erica Arenas was second in the 200 meter dash and third in the 100 meters, while Lia Randazzo won the 100 meter hurdles. The girls won both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays (Randazzo, Arenas, Jalisa Taylor, and Bernice Fernandez) in times of 53.10 and 4:26.75. These performances capped a team victory, as the team's 53 points just edged out Leland and Mountain View.
• The Lady Cougars softball team continued play in the Circle of Champions tournament in Salinas with two victories on Saturday. In game one vs. Pacific Grove, shortshop Janel Salanoa and second baseman Ashlee Velez each went 3-for-4 with one RBI. Bianka Molina drove in three runs while also earning the pitching victory in Evergreen's 8-3 win. The Cougars took game two against Hillsdale by the score of 7-3. Molina and Salanoa both had two RBIs as Lexi Medina scored two runs. The team will continue with round-robin games in Salinas throughout the course of the week.
• Evergreen's baseball team was blown out by Gilroy 12-2. Mark Milioto and Chris Gallegos each hit a home run to score the Cougars' lone runs.
  

The Cougar track and field squad will open its season today at the Willow Glen Invitational. On the girls side, 2008 state meet qualifier Erica Arenas will lead both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays as well as her individual efforts in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Star hurdler Lia Randazzo will also partake in both relays and will have her season debut in the 100 meter hurdles. Freshman phenom Samantha Garcia headlines Evergreen athletes in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs.

2008 CCS triple jump runner-up Derion Taylor's work on the hurdles events over the winter will look to pay off today as he will run the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. He is also entered in the triple jump competition. Senior sprinters Jeremy Roberts, Domenic Casil, and Kevin Le look to start 2009 off strong in the sprint and relay events. Distance runners Ryan Thomas (800m) and Kevin Liao (3200m) will each be running their speciality events. Senior Emmanual Scott leads an improved throws squad lead by Coach Jim Grassi. Scott will compete in the shot put and discus.

• The baseball game that was scheduled for this afternoon at Leland was rained out. The make-up date for this match-up will be this Wednesday, February 25. The team will also continue play at the Ted Tamone Memorial Tournament in Santa Clara this week.
  
• Coach Dan Johnson and his Lady Cougar basketball team has earned a number three seed in the CCS Division 1 playoffs. They will face the winner of Santa Teresa and Independence in the quarterfinal round this Saturday, February 28 at Milpitas High School. Time to be announced.
• The Cougar track and field squad will be opening up their season at the Willow Glen Invitational on Saturday, March 7. Entries of all Evergreen athletes will be posted here when available.