San Benito seeks successful title defense, top-three finishes at
Friday’s TCAL Championships in Gilroy
SALINAS
It’s the only meet where finishing in the top nine is ideal, where finishing in the top nine means surviving another day.
Of course, that all changes on Friday.
But before anyone can be crowned at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships in Gilroy, each and every area trackster had their chance of simply qualifying at Tuesday’s TCAL Trials at North Salinas High, where only the top nine in each event advanced, only the top nine moved to the next stage of the postseason.
And although qualifying numbers were slightly down for both the ‘Baler boys and Lady ‘Balers compared to last year, both teams are still very much in position to successfully defend their respective league titles.
“There were some good things to happen, but things we expected to happen,” San Benito boys coach Iran White said. “We put ourselves in a good position to score some points on Friday.
“There wasn’t anything spectacular (on Tuesday), but hopefully they’ll be saving that for Friday.”
Not too surprising, Ryan Shorey (200, 400), Evan McFadden (110 and 300 hurdles), Frankie Rivera (1,600), Jose Castillo (1,600), Eddie Guzman (1,600), Willie Evans (high jump and long jump) and Frankie Martinez (discus) will all return to the TCAL Championships for a second straight year. But San Benito wasn’t without a few ninth-place finishers who managed to narrowly qualify, nor was it without a few 10th- and 11th-place finishers who officially completed their season on Tuesday, albeit just barely.
Justin Williams (12.11) and Mitchell Cook (24.54) took ninth place in the 100 and 200, respectively, while Brian Curiel’s 45.55 in the 300 hurdles qualified him as the third San Benito hurdler on Friday. Willie Evans, meanwhile, who took ninth in the triple jump at last season’s TCAL Trials, finished in the same spot this year with a leap of 38-0 ¼.
Sam Stephens, however, took 11th in the discus Tuesday with a throw of 112-08 ½, missing the top-nine cut by 13.5 inches. White noted a strong wind that reduced the distance on many throws, though, and increased the times on many races.
“It was really windy,” White said. “All of the races were slow, and some of the throws would get caught in the wind.
“It’s tough, but we’ll be all right.
Stephens will compete in the shot put after he took fourth Tuesday with a throw of 44-07 ½.
San Benito will send a total of 30 tracksters from the TCAL Trials to the TCAL Championships, including 17 boys and 13 girls, but not including competitors in the pole vault, the 3,200, the girls 800 and all the relay teams, which automatically advance to Friday’s finals due to a lack of competitors.
On Friday, finishing in the top nine will be tossed aside, however, as only the top three in each event advance to the next stage of the postseason, the Central Coast Section Semifinals.
“I like our chances,” said White, who, at publication, was unaware of how well rival Salinas fared at the TCAL Trials. “Based on what we did today, I feel pretty good.”
The Lady ‘Balers, meanwhile, which went undefeated this year and were only tested late in the season in a dual meet against North Salinas, will send 13 to the TCAL Championships, including multi-event competitors like Courtney Allen (400, 1,600), Kelsey Russell (100, 200) and Melissa Castro (300 hurdles, high jump), among others.
In a pair of late scratches on Wednesday, San Benito’s Chelsea Emilio found her way into top-nine consideration in two events. Emilio will compete in the long jump (13-11) and the 400 (71.20) after she narrowly missed the initial cut on Tuesday.
Sophie Coelho, who will also compete in the pole vault event, qualified in the 100 after she took ninth place with a 13.65 on Tuesday, while fellow vaulter Natalie Becker advanced in the discus event after she recorded a fifth-place throw of 93-02.
“I think it was a competitive day and I think overall, we did well,” San Benito girls head coach Laurie Cottrell said. “We didn’t hit our marks, but we did the best that we could under the conditions that we had.
“Lots of heats. Lots of wind. It was such a long day.”
Other highlights from Tuesday included Krystal Alnas’ 33-11 ½ in the shot put, a heave that placed her third; Ellen Dungy’s third-place jump of 4-10 in the high jump; Allen (58.80) and Melisah Cortez (62.24) finishing 1-2 in the 400; and four qualifiers in the 1,600, including Allen (5:18.12), Rachel Shimabukuro (5:23.68), Michelle Duarte (5:37.13) and Molly Lamanna (5:38.45).
The TCAL Championships will be held Friday at the Garcia-Elder Sports Complex in Gilroy at 4 p.m.
“There’s gonna be some tough competition and it’s open for quite a bit of teams right now,” said Cottrell, whose Lady ‘Balers receive six extra points for completing its season undefeated.
“The positive thing for our team is that we’re undefeated,” she said.
GIRLS (SAN BENITO TOP 9 ONLY)
100 – 1, R. Davidson, Salinas, 13.09; 5, K. Russell, 13.33; 9, S. Coelho, 13.65. 200 – 1, R. Davidson, Salinas, 27.16; 4, K. Russell, 27.63. 400 – 1, C. Allen, 58.80; 2, M. Cortez, 62.24; 9, M. Lamanna, 67.92. 1,600 – 1, C. Allen, 5:18.12; 5, R. Shimabukuro, 5:23.68; 7, M. Duarte, 5:37.13; 8, M. Lamanna, 5:38.45. 100 Hurdles – 1, S. Una Dia, Gilroy, 16.02; 5, A. Banuelos, 17.65. 300 Hurdles – 1, N. Osborn, North Salinas, 49.16; 6, M. Castro, 51.57. High Jump – 1, S. Una Dia, Gilroy, 4-10; 3, E. Dungy, 4-10; 5, M. Castro, 4-10. Long Jump – 1, R. Ruiz, North Salinas, 15-02 ½; 9, L. Adamek, 13-11. Triple Jump – 1, M. Suarez, Alisal, 34-09. Shot Put – 1, B. Sullen, North Salinas, 37-11; 3, K. Alnas, 33-11 ½. Discus – 1, R. Hocog, Everett Alvarez, 95-0; 5, N. Becker, 93-02.
BOYS (SAN BENITO TOP 9 ONLY)
100 – 1, M. Skinner, Everett Alvarez, 11.54; 9, J. Williams, 12.11. 200 – 1, R. Shorey, 23.24; 6, J. Roascio, 24.03; 7, J. Williams, 24.03; 9, M. Cook, 24.54. 400 – 1, R. Shorey, 50.36; 5, N. Soza, 51.81; 6, J. Roascio, 51.92. 800 – 1, D. Perez, Salinas, 2:01.04; 5, D. Kret, 2:05.62. 1,600 – 1, T. Johnson, Palma, 4:37.81; 5, F. Rivera, 4:40.12; 6, J. Castillo, 4:40.29; 8, E. Guzman, 4:41.87. 110 Hurdles – 1, J. Prader, Salinas, 15.22; 3, E. McFadden, 16.00; 5, S. Medina, 16.64. 300 Hurdles – 1, M. Skinner, Everett Alvarez, 40.03; 4, S. Medina, 42.58; 5, E. McFadden, 42.89; 9, B. Curiel, 45.55. High Jump – 1, W. Welch, Everett Alvarez, 5-04; 1, W. Evans, 5-04; 1, S. Medina, 5-04; 1, D. Franco, 5-04. Long Jump – 1, J. Prader, Salinas, 20-01 ½; 7, B. Lenoir, 18-10; 8, E. McFadden, 18-09 ½. Triple Jump – 1, O. Pearson, Alisal, 43-11 ½; 9, W. Evans, 38-0 ¼. Shot Put – 1, P. Marcroft, Palma, 45-03 ½; 4, S. Stephens, 44-07 ½. Discus – 1, F. Martinez, 148-03 ½.
