Sports

GreenTown bike ride set for Dec. 21

GreenTown Los Altos’ fifth annual Winter Solstice Night Bike Ride is scheduled 7 p.m. Dec. 21. The 12-mile ride begins at Peet’s Coffee & Tea in downtown Los Altos and goes as far as Christmas Tree Lane in Palo Alto before returning to Los Altos, with a stop for hot chocolate on the way back. Those taking part in the free, family-friendly ride are encouraged to decorate their bicycles with twinkle lights, wear helmets and warm clothes, and make sure bike lights are operational. To register and for more information, visit eventbrite.com and type “Winter Solstice Bike Ride” in the search box.

Tree lots benefit high school sports

A holiday tree lot benefiting athletics and performing arts programs at Mountain View High is open 5-8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends next to the football field at 3535 Truman Ave. The nonprofit Mountain View High School Sports Boosters manages the lot, which will offer noble, Douglas and Nordmann firs, along with wreaths, tree stands and decorative reindeer. For more information, visit spartanstreelot.com. The MVLA Tree Lot, which benefits Los Altos High athletic programs, is slated to run through Dec. 23 in the Chase Bank parking lot, 749 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View (corner of Castro Street). The tree lot, which also offers wreaths and decorations, is open 3:30-8 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends.

Mike Williams is the new varsity boys tennis coach at St. Francis High.

Hired last month, Williams replaces Dick Svedeman, who retired at the end of the spring season.

At 4-0, perhaps the only way the Mountain View High boys basketball team could have started the season any better was to have Jailen Daniel-Dalton – whom coach Kevin Mack called “our leader” – in the lineup.

Even without the standout senior, expected to miss another week with a shoulder injury, the Spartans won last week’s Westmont Tournament. They opened by edging Willow Glen 46-43 on Ryan Bahar’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, rallied from a four-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Leland 59-55 in the semifinals and routed Prospect 52-33 in Friday’s championship game.

Malcolm Slaney/ Special to the Town Crier
Los Altos High’s Lauren Soobrian set a school record at the state cross-country meet.

Record runs by Lauren Soobrian and Adam Sage highlighted a banner day for Los Altos High at the state cross-country championships in Fresno, where the Eagles’ boys team also made school history Nov. 30.

Soobrian finished fourth in the Division I girls race with a time of 17 minutes, 42.7 seconds that made her the fastest freshman girl at the entire meet (five divisions). Her time beat Lauren Jacob’s school record, set in 2013, by nearly 10 seconds. Coach Steph MacKenzie is confident no Los Altos runner has ever placed as high at state as Soobrian did.