Vanessa Estrada recorded a fourth-place finish at the CCS
Division I Championships and will compete at the state meet in two
weeks. However, the sophomore harrier wound up being the highlight
for the San Benito cross country team on Saturday at Salinas’ Toro
Park.
SALINAS
Vanessa Estrada was the first harrier — boy or girl — to cross the finish line for San Benito on Saturday at the Central Coast Section Division I Championships. Little didn’t anyone know, at that time, that she would be the highlight.
Both the San Benito boys and girls teams wound up finishing in fourth place in their respective divisions on Saturday at Salinas’ Toro Park, each falling short of a state bid in the process, while no one on the boys side managed to qualify toward state.
In shocking, heartbreaking fashion, several harriers on the Baler boys’ side fell down early in the race, resulting in the most disappointing finish of the season for the senior-heavy squad.
Meanwhile, Estrada, who took fourth and will advance to state as an individual, will be the lone representative from San Benito at Fresno’s Woodward Park on Nov. 27. It was a give-and-take feeling for the San Benito sophomore afterward.
“My team is everything to me,” she said.
After clocking a 19:10 two weeks ago in the Tri-County Athletic League Championships, a time that awarded her the league title by some 15 seconds, Estrada recorded a state-qualifying time of 18:58 on Saturday and finished fourth overall in CCS Division I.
Moments after, Estrada stood with her family and friends, letting her recent fourth-place finish — and the extreme fatigue that followed — soak in.
She finally had a race where she was pushed by the competition, one family member said.
“And it hurt,” Estrada responded.
No one said shaving 12 seconds off your previous best time at Toro Park was going to be easy.
It was not only the first time the sophomore harrier had cracked into the 18-minute range — other than competing at Crystal Springs in Belmont — but it is also the first time she will compete on the state level as well.
Massive, elite meets like the CCS Championships often result in bittersweet feelings for many of the participants, however. And Estrada, who although qualified to state, wasn’t left out of the emotional equation.
The fact that she will be San Benito’s only participant didn’t sit well.
“That hurts. That’s my team. I want to go together,” said Estrada, who, at the time, was unaware that San Benito hadn’t qualified to state. “But if I go alone, I’m gonna think about the team. I want to make them proud. I know they pushed it today.”
The news was especially wrenching on the boys side, though, where an early spill resulted in several Balers falling down after the first turn at Toro Park.
At least four members of San Benito hit the dirt hard, leaving bloody knees, torn up backs, and an early deficit that the team could not bounce back from.
“It took me a long time to get back up. I was being trampled on. I felt like a carpet,” said Jose Castillo, whose 11th place finish of 16:19 positioned him short of a state bid by approximately two seconds.
Individuals who qualify to state must first figure into the top 12. State-bound participants then include the top five individuals who do not compete on the top two teams, which, in this case, was an honor bestowed upon CCS champion Bellarmine and runner-up Carlmont.
What was left was Hill’s Miguel Vasquez (15:51), Milpitas’ Yohaness Estifanos (15:52), Monta Vista’s Kevin Bishop (16:06), Salinas’ Max Bell (16:06) and Gunn’s Andrew Prior (16:17), all of whom will advance to the state meet as individuals in two weeks.
It was the fifth individual, though — Gunn’s Andrew Prior — who edged out Castillo by one place and two seconds.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this happened at CCS. Of all the races, I fall down,” Castillo said. “By the time I got back up, the guys were at least 50 meters in front of me. I had to work twice as hard. By that time, it was too late.”
Castillo’s upper back was covered in scratches after the race, while others had knees bloodied from the fall. It was just two weeks ago when the Baler boys dominated the Toro Park course en route to a TCAL title, but Saturday’s CCS final showcased a different result.
Eddie Guzman finished 18th in 16:37; Sergio Alcala was 34th in 16:57; Said Hernandez was 35th in 17:00; and Omar Vasquez was 36th in 17:01, giving San Benito 123 points — 28 points short of a state bid.
Steven Hernandez (37th, 17:03) and Ricky Esqueda (47th, 17:15) rounded out the team.
Boys head coach Jess Morales was left practically speechless afterward.
“I was wondering what happened at the start. I was wondering what they were doing so far back,” Morales said. “But they all fell. I didn’t know that happened.”
Morales later added, “For them to fall down and then come back the way they did, they came in all bunched up. But if you look at their times, that explains everything.”
Each harrier was off his best Toro Park pace on Saturday, if ever so slightly. The early-in-the-race spill threw off the team’s pace, Castillo said, as each runner was forced to play catch-up for the remainder of the 3.1-mile course.
“I was surprised that after falling down, they did as much as they did,” said Morales, later adding, “It’s kind of tough to swallow because Jose, Eddie, Sergio, Steven Hernandez, some of these guys have been with me since they were freshmen and it wasn’t fair that this happened to them. We worked so hard for it.”
The Baler girls were also seeking a top-two placing in order to advance as a team. But it was Carlmont and Gunn that earned state bids, leaving Estrada to be San Benito’s only representative.
“They did OK. I was hoping for maybe second so we could go to state. But we did what we could — no complaints,” girls head coach Josh Morales said. “As long as they did their best, that’s what I’m happy about.”
Sophomore Maura Forbush finished just outside of top-12 consideration when she clocked a 19:59 to finish in 14th, while Megan Pape was 36th in 21:02, Cynthia Trujillo was 43rd in 21:15 and Dayna Casillas was 51st in 21:30 to round out the team.
Grace Tobias (69th, 22:11) and Nikki Gutierrez (80th, 22:42) also recorded times for San Benito on Saturday.
As for Estrada, the elite competition on Saturday yielded a personal boost.
“It actually made it fun because I had someone to go after this time,” said Estrada, who had Carlmont’s Jessie Petersen (18:23), and Gunn’s Erin (18:41) and Sarah Robinson (18:50) to chase after on Saturday.
The second-year distance runner was well ahead of those chasing her, though. Fifth-place finisher Sarah Schreck (19:16) of Carlmont trailed Estrada by roughly 18 seconds.
“In the beginning of the season, my goal was to get 18,” she said, noting how much of a push the competition was for her on Saturday.
Estrada later added, “I owe it to that push. That push helped me. If I’m going to state, I’m gonna have to push it even harder.”
CCS — DIVISION I
BOYS
Team (Top 10 Only)
1, Bellarmine, 30; 2, Carlmont, 95; 3, Menlo-Atherton, 101; 4, San Benito, 123; 5, Salinas, 151; 6, Gunn, 161; 7, Gilroy, 215; 8, Alisal, 242; 9, Serra, 257; 10, Wilcox, 273.
Individual (San Benito Only)
1, Miguel Vasquez, Andrew Hill, 15:51; 11, Jose Castillo, 16:19; 18, Eddie Guzman, 16:37; 34, Sergio Alcala, 16:57; 35, Said Hernandez, 17:00; 36, Omar Vasquez, 17:01; 37, Steven Hernandez, 17:03; 47, Ricardo Esqueda, 17:15.
GIRLS
Team (Top 10 Only)
1, Carlmont, 61; 2, Gunn, 100; 3, Palo Alto, 127; 4, San Benito, 136; 5, Alisal, 190; 6, Gilroy, 192; 7, Salinas, 195; 8, Leland, 213; 9, Silver Creek, 215; 10, Homestead, 215.
Individual (San Benito Only)
1, Jessie Peterson, Carlmont, 18:23; 4, Vanessa Estrada, 18:58; 14, Maura Forbush, 19:59; 36, Megan Pape, 21:02; 43, Cynthia Trujillo, 21:15; 51, Dayna Casillas, 21:30; 69, Grace Tobias, 22:11; 80, Nikki Gutierrez, 22:42.
