Baler roundup for tennis, water polo and cross country
n By NATHAN MIXTER Sports Editor
Hollister – San Benito defeated visiting Watsonville 4-3 on Wednesday.
The Haybalers are 3-1 overall after defeating Seaside in Seaside on Tuesday. San Benito won 7-0, but four of the matches went to three sets.
On Wednesday, all four of the singles players won, while the three Baler doubles teams lost.
No. 1 Danielle Burke won 6-2, 6-3. No. 2 Jamie Huston won 6-2, 6-2. No. 3 Vanessa Martinez won by default after an injury. And No. 4 Jessica Trudel, who was taking over for injured Mary Von Urff, won 6-3, 6-1. Von Urff is expected to be back next week.
In doubles, Alyssa Penacho and Megan Kirk lost 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Tracy Hopkins and Kaitlyn O’Keefe lost 6-2, 6-2. And Christina Leal and Fritzie Lacdao lost 6-2, 6-4.
The next match is Monday at Aptos.
The San Benito High tennis team will be holding a car wash to help pay for new uniforms Saturday from 8am to 1pm at Gold’s Gym in Hollister.
Water polo
The San Benito girls water polo team (1-1) lost 14-2 at Santa Catalina on Wednesday.
“It was one of the best Catalina teams I’ve seen in a long time,” said coach Derek Kisling. “They should be able to challenge Live Oak this year.”
Kat Adamek and Brandy Russell scored the two goals for San Benito.
The JV team (2-0), with a strong counter attack, was able to easily win against Santa Catalina. Jamie Telles and Katie Buzzetta and Valerie Nicolaysen all had strong performances for the Balers.
The team will be at Fresno the weekend to challenge some of the best teams in north and central California.
Cross country
Despite having time to get their uniforms on after arriving late Wednesday for the Tri-County Athletic League Jamboree at Toro Park in Salinas, the Haybaler cross country team still had a strong showing.
The Balers had five of their 10 male runners place in the top 10. And three of the five are sophomores. There were 47 varsity runners total.
“Mentally it was pretty tough on us,” said coach Jess Morales. “I told them to run the first mile kind of easy then gradually pick it up. We didn’t want to really race hard. We just went there to run. We wanted to run together as a group and help each other out.”
Jeremy Waltz of Salinas finished first with a time of 17:07, and Arnulfo Velasquez of Gilroy finished second with a time of 17:10.
For Hollister, Josh Vasquez placed fifth with a time of 17:38, Alfredo Lopez was sixth with a time of 17:31. Rigo Vasquez was eighth with a time of 17:42, Albert Sandoval finished ninth with a time of 18:07, and Eddie Trujillo finished tenth with a time of 18:08.
The sixth Baler finisher was Victor Hernandez with a time of 18:58.
With 25 girls on the team, many without any experience, Morales said he is still waiting to see who will step up.
Jamillia Saqqa came in 15th with a time of 24:17, freshman Allison Meyer came in 20th with a time of 25:33, Brenda Garibay finished 22nd with a time of 25:44, Noreda Garcia finished 27th with a time of 27:07 and freshman Lilly Ann Villa Gomez finished 29th with a time of 28:23.
“They are coming along really well and I am proud of how they performed,” Moralles said. “Last year we ran some times like this but ended up being league champions. Then we started working together. They proved to me that they have all the tools it takes to be a cross country runner. Hat’s off to everyone for a good job.”
Morales said he was also impressed with some of the dedication of his younger runners like freshmen Mark Ferlier and TJ Dawson and with runners like Alexdra Valencia, Samathon Patton and Megan Garatt.
The Balers will compete in the Early Bird Invitational Saturday then will compete in the their first league meet Monday against visiting Palma and Notre Dame at Park Hill.
