Talent is evenly dispersed and no team is willing to concede to
rivals
There have been a lot of changes in the world of track and field
this season for many teams in the Tri-County Athletic League
– all of which tend to cloud any clear picture of which team
will lead the pack toward a league title.
Will it be the defending champs, the Salinas Cowboys? Will San
Benito finally reclaim its position on top after being defeated by
Salinas during the past few years? Or will it be Gilroy, whose
new-found team spirit drives them toward success? And what about
Live Oak
– always a force to be reckoned with?
Talent is evenly dispersed and no team is willing to concede to rivals
There have been a lot of changes in the world of track and field this season for many teams in the Tri-County Athletic League – all of which tend to cloud any clear picture of which team will lead the pack toward a league title.
Will it be the defending champs, the Salinas Cowboys? Will San Benito finally reclaim its position on top after being defeated by Salinas during the past few years? Or will it be Gilroy, whose new-found team spirit drives them toward success? And what about Live Oak – always a force to be reckoned with?
And the private schools – Palma and Notre Dame – will they perform up to the expectations?
“I think this season’s league championship is going to be competitive as ever between San Benito, Salinas, North Salinas and Palma,” said Gilroy head coach Jeff Myers. “They are all great teams and they will all be ready to run their top individuals. I don’t think it will be tarnished at all with Salinas being prohibited from CCS.”
In Gilroy, team chemistry is a-stirring.
“With our excellent coaching staff, most of whom went to Gilroy themselves and the group of kids we have I am really enjoying all the team spirit and chemistry,” Myers said. “We are getting better as each week goes by, and we take each meet as it comes. This program was dead last year but now we are giving it back a pulse.”
On the boys’ side, the team boasts strong competitors in most of our events, Myers said. Bobby Best is driving the throwers, Arnulfo Vasquez is leading distance runners, Steven Heisey is pushing Gilroy’s sprinters and Miles Amodeo is looking strong in the hurdles.
The Boys Varsity team is 1-1, while the girls are 0-2.
“Our strong athletes for the girls are jumpers Meagan Mcavoy and Kathleen Miller, as well as Carly Kennedy who throws and vaults. We even have two young sprinters that are very good, Arianna Vera and Amanda Krucger,” Myers said. “Our goal for the season is to get better in all the events, because when individual events get better it helps the team win. We would also like to finish above five-hundred points for the season.”
Salinas High School was penalized from competing in post-season competition for a year for having athletes attending SHS that should have attended other schools.
“I think this year is going to be a lot tougher in league,” said San Benito girls’ head coach Julio Trinidad. “League is going to be Salinas – all the bitterness they have right now will build up and carry them, especially toward us, their biggest rival. They are going to bring everything they have and make sure they beat us. If they can’t win in CCS, they will make sure the least amount of red-and-white athletes’ (SBHS) possible get to go to CCS. It’s going to be really tough; it’s a whole new kind of cut-throat game.”
For the Balers, whose boys and girls teams are undefeated, this is a growing season with new coaching staff as well as a new vision and goals that were laid out at the beginning of the season.
“Being that this is my first year as a head coach, it’s kind of one of those things I wish had been molded before I took over, but I am out there and it’s my time to step up and be the big guy, so that’s what I am doing, being the big guy,” Trinidad said. “The paperwork, I am not going to lie, it’s stressful but when we rack up some wins that makes it all worthwhile. This is a progressive season and we had a rocky start against Gilroy which was a little scare but it has only been getting better since then.”
The girls varsity team defeated Gilroy by one point, in its first dual meet of the season.
“We have some great girls out there, with Jackie Perrien and Morgan O’Laughlin in the throwing; Carly Brigantino is really doing well in the vault and going to step it up in the sprints,” Trinidad said. “Plus, Huston Morse, Jamila Saqqa and Amanda Boyd as our female captains really drive the team. Those girls are the go-to-girls on the track; they really motivate and push the team to succeed. All three of those girls really know what it is to be a Baler.”
On the boys team, veterans and rookies alike are stepping up and filling the gaps for the Balers. Seniors Kyle Bambrick, Tod Merrigan, Jeff Weltz all lead the team in their respective events, while Austin Schmidt, and Rigo Vasquez represent the underclassmen.
“We are doing pretty good this year, with two dual meets under our belt, one of which was more than likely our biggest dual meet of the season – we are doing well,” said Baler boys head coach Iran White. “We have a really young team, but our younger kids are beginning to really step up, and it shows. That is why we had the ability to beat Palma.”
White’s goal this season is simple: Make it to the post-season and take as many athletes as possible to the state meet.
In Morgan Hill, the Acorns are working with what they have.
“Our team is where I had expected them to be. I had hoped for a bigger turnout of athletes, but we are working with what we have,” said head coach Dean Raymond. “We have Cobbie Jones running long distance and we hope to take her to state like she has done the past three years, and Dustin Muhn is promising in the sprints.”
All of these teams have what it takes to win the league title, but with changes and high tensions, it should be neck and neck until the end – a photo finish.
