A twist of fate led to a stellar track and field career for
Hollister High’s Steve Bianchi. Bianchi went out for the boys golf
team as a freshman and didn’t make the team. His older brother,
Paul, advised Steve to try out for the track team.
A twist of fate led to a stellar track and field career for Hollister High’s Steve Bianchi. Bianchi went out for the boys golf team as a freshman and didn’t make the team. His older brother, Paul, advised Steve to try out for the track team.
Steve took his brother’s advice, cleared 5-2 on his first day dabbling with the high jump, and didn’t look back. As a senior, he placed fourth in the triple jump at the Central Coast Section meet on May 30 with a leap of 45-7. Recently, Bianchi was named Most Valuable Performer on the Baler track team.
It was his versatility and talent as a track and field athlete, along with his gritty effort on the gridiron as a free safety, which earned Bianchi the honor of being named the Free Lance Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Hollister High’s 2002-03 school year.
In the classroom, Bianchi has a total GPA of 3.39 up until the current semester, which ranks him 84th out of his class size of 500. He scored a 550 on the Verbal on his SAT’s and a 610 in Math. Bianchi will attend Division III Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon this fall and will compete on the football and track and field teams for the Pioneers.
“They lost three seniors in the secondary from last year,” said Bianchi. “They’ll need some people there.”
Future decathlete?
Don’t be surprised if Bianchi evolves into a decathlete in the near future. At the Tri-County Athletic League meet at Hartnell College on May 17, he placed first in the triple jump at 45-10 3/4, second in the long jump at 20-9 1/2 and third in the high jump at 6-0. He also anchored the Balers’ 4X400-meter relay team which clocked 3:30.23 for second place. All told, Bianchi scored 24 points as an individual and contributed eight more points with his work on the relay. That makes a total of 32 of the Balers’ team total of 174 points.
His performance was not unexpected. As a junior at the then Monterey Bay League meet, Bianchi won the high jump at 6-4, took first in the TJ and was second in the LJ. And at this year’s Top 8 Meet at Los Gatos High, which featured some of the top tracksters in CCS, Bianchi placed second in the high jump at 6-2 and placed fifth in the triple jump at 44-0 3/4 while competing simultaneously. And, for much of the year, he ran the anchor leg on both Baler relays.
That’s versatility personified.
“The team votes for MVP and the way we do it is we ask the kids if we had one person to send to another school who represents Baler track and field, who would it be? Steve won hands down,” said Randy Logue, the boys
head track and field coach. “He’s always real positive and leads by example. He’s a great kid and a hard worker. We’ve had him run the 100 and 200 in year’s past. He’ll do anything to help the team.”
At the CCS semis on May 24, Bianchi PR’d in the triple jump with a mark of 45-11 1/2. At the CCS finals, he led after the first round at 45-7, the same mark he ended up with. The mark was still standing for third place entering the final round, but Julian Eison of Westmoor pulled out a 46-1 on his final jump to nose out Bianchi for third and a trip to the CIF State Track and Field Meet. It was a disappointment for Bianchi, who went to state as a junior after placing second in CCS at 45-8.
“Those guys just jumped better,” said Bianchi. “At least they beat me and it wasn’t because I didn’t jump well. It was disappointing not to go back to state.”
“Steve learned an important lesson in life,” said Bob Bianchi, Steve’s father. “One loses in life more than one wins. It’s good he learned to deal with adversity at a young age. He handled it well. I’m proud of him.”
Steve can always take with him the memory of participating at the state meet at Cerritos College as a junior. He wasn’t at Andy Hardin Field anymore.
“It was a little overwhelming,” said Bianchi, who went 43-10 and failed to qualify for the next day’s finals. “I was nervous. There were 2,000 to 3,000 people there. The stands were packed.”
Knocked out, but persevered
Bianchi didn’t remember much at all after being knocked unconscious in the Balers’ second football game of the year last fall against Wilcox. He came up to stop a Chargers ballcarrier, spun off him, then immediately collided with strong safety P.J. Galvan, who came in full-speed and a head of steam.
The next time Bianchi woke up was the following day.
“I was on the couch in my living room. I don’t remember anything from the Wilcox game,” said Bianchi. “Not a thing.”
But Bianchi, after sitting out the next week in the Balers’ 21-21 tie against Alvarez, was back at free safety for the Balers’ loss to Seaside. To his credit, he kept the starting position the rest of the year and – despite missing a game and a half – ended up third on the team in tackles with 66.
Injuries plagued Bianchi throughout his prep football career. As a junior, he suffered a broken collarbone. It was the second year in a row he had broken his collarbone, having done it when he was a sophomore when he fell off a bicycle. His ‘getting off the canvas after being knocked down’ attitude impressed Baler head coach Chris Cameron.
“Steve really battled back from injuries during his football career,” said Cameron. “That showed me he wanted to play. He worked hard in the off-season. He was always there. I could depend on him. And mentally, he’s what we’re looking for in a football player. He knew all the check-offs and knew what we ran against different formations. He was a smart football player and always gave it his best.”
“Steve gave everything he got,” added Baler defensive coordinator Tod Thatcher. “He was great for the program. He had a solid senior season and had a great work ethic.”
Hard to believe, but Bianchi prefers football to track and field.
“I’m better in track, but I like football better,” said Bianchi, who played on the kickoff coverage team last season. “It’s full-speed and I like to hit people. Against North Salinas, I had a couple of good hits on kickoffs.”
Wild side
There is a wild side to Bianchi. His main hobby is snowboarding.
“I like jumping and racing down hills at Dodge Ridge,” he said. “I like riding the rails. I haven’t broken anything yet, but I almost did.”
Thankfully, for the Baler track and field team, he stayed healthy enough to help lead them to the T-CAL title this season. Now, as one of the top triple jumpers and all-around track and field athletes in the CCS, Bianchi begins his new expedition at Lewis and Clark College.
He already had a productive journey at Hollister High, even if he didn’t play golf.
