Laurie Cottrell’s blueprint for building a track team is perhaps
still free of dust.
It was only two years ago when the jumps-coach-turned-head-coach
took a relatively young Lady Balers squad that was fresh off a
Tri-County Athletic League title and instilled not only team unity
and sportsmanship, but also a dynamic that allowed San Benito to
claim the league crown in both 2008 and 2009.
HOLLISTER
Laurie Cottrell’s blueprint for building a track team is perhaps still free of dust.
It was only two years ago when the jumps-coach-turned-head-coach took a relatively young Lady Balers squad that was fresh off a Tri-County Athletic League title and instilled not only team unity and sportsmanship, but also a dynamic that allowed San Benito to claim the league crown in both 2008 and 2009.
And while her team is now the three-time defending league champions, Cottrell is rolling out a similar “team-building” plan this season as well, especially after the loss of seniors Courtney Allen, Ellen Dungy, Natalie Becker and Kelsey Russell.
After all, the Lady Balers are 78-strong this season with just 14 seniors, four of whom have never competed in track before.
“Starting off the year, it feels like a whole new team,” said Cottrell, who implemented a different training program for her team this year — one that calls for more distance running, among other things — and includes everyone, from the long-distance runners to the throwers to the jumpers to the sprinters.
“There’s a lot more team building,” the head coach added. “This will allow them to be more dynamic.”
And as for the underclassmen?
“They’ll see what’s expected,” Cottrell said.
While San Benito’s numbers weigh heavily in favor of the underclassmen, the team still has a fair share of returning talent.
Leading the way is senior Sophie Coelho, who devoted her offseason to pole vaulting and even qualified to the National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in the event as well.
And the extra time spent practicing is noticeable.
Last year at this time Coelho was clearing 8-0 in the pole vaulting event, but in late January the senior Lady Baler cleared 10-04 at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nev,. and is currently ranked third in the Central Coast Section as a result.
“I’m shooting for top three in the CCS and an 11-0,” said Coelho, a height that would at least tie the San Benito vaulter with the section’s current leader, Allison Ang of Gunn.
“It’s all right to start the season with,” Coelho added of her 10-04. “My goal is to get an 11, but it’s definitely gonna be a struggle.”
An 11-0 last season would have supplied Coelho with the CCS title.
On Saturday, Coelho cleared 10-0 at the exclusive Stanford Invitational to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. She defeated 10 others in the event and was the top finisher out of the Central Coast Section.
Being the lone Lady Baler to compete at Stanford, though, Coelho is certainly the type of lead-by-example athlete Cottrell will look to this season to not only help further develop a youthful team this year, but also heading into next year as well.
Currently, San Benito’s 4×100 team includes a freshman in Savannah Wilson (jumps) and a sophomore in Lenae Stevens — in addition to Coelho and senior teammate Monique Lassaga-Bishop — while its 4×400 foursome includes either sophomores Molly Lamanna or Vanessa Estrada (400, 800), and freshman Maura Forbush. Seniors Melisah Cortez (400) and Michelle Duarte fill in the remaining two spots on the 4×400 team, which clocked a 4:18.95 at the Wildcat Relays and is in seventh place in the CCS as a result.
“They may be inexperienced,” Cottrell said, “but they’re quick on their feet.”
Freshman Emily Palmquist, the coach added, will be one to keep an eye on in both the distance and jumping events, while sophomore Melissa Castro will look to improve upon a strong first year when she finished second in the high jump at the TCAL Championships with a 5-02.
This year, her 5-0 in the high jump at the Wildcat Relays is currently ranked 11th in the CCS, whereas fellow sophomore Krystal Alnas, who finished fourth at TCALs in the shot put last season with a 34-09, is currently ninth in the CCS after she delivered a heave of 32-04 1/2 at the Wildcat Relays.
Meanwhile, Mirella Ocampo is currently 15th in the CCS with a throw of 97-0 in the discus, a toss she recorded at the Mount Pleasant Relays on March 6, and Chelsea Emilio returns after advancing to the CCS Trials last season in the long jump.
She even recently recorded a personal record of 31-0 in the triple jump as well.
“A lot of the girls have been motivated each practice, to work a little harder, train a little harder,” Cottrell said.
Motivation could perhaps be difficult to instill within a youthful team that has won the league title three years in a row. But Cottrell is hoping the new training regimen, which includes CrossFit and plyometrics, will keep her team fresh and focused in order to stave off the efforts of Notre Dame, Salinas, Gilroy and North Salinas — the latter of which fell just 13.5 points short of the Lady Balers during last season’s TCAL Championships.
“I think there is a bit of a fire lit under our butts because we have won it three times in a row,” Coelho said. “We’re a young team, but we’re gonna put in the work and fight hard.”
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San Benito will return to the track on April 10 at Leland, where it will compete in the Don Bell Quicksilver Classic in San Jose.
