Hollister boys make most of opportunities to capture T-CAL track
and field title by 47 points over Salinas; Baler girls feel heat
from Salinas for half the meet, but depth wins out for another
league title.
SALINAS – The most critical part of a track and field meet is the beginning. A dropped baton, false start, a sweep of an event, or even a second instead of a dope sheet third can propel a team to victory.
The Hollister High boys were the beneficiary of all of the above at Saturday’s Tri-County Athletic League track and field meet at Hartnell College and the Balers took advantage to capture the team title with 174 points. What was projected to be a duel to the death with Salinas really wasn’t. The Cowboys, who defeated the Balers in dual meet by six points, were second at 127 points.
“I thought either we would win big or Salinas would win big,” said Baler head coach Randy Logue. “I knew Wednesday at practice that our kids were ready. Taking second in the 4X100 was a good sign. Sweeping the triple jump gave us momentum. Momentum went our way early and we took it from there.”
“We have no excuses,” said Salinas coach Roger Chagnon. “The Hollister boys stepped up. The two false starts for us were critical and them sweeping the triple jump put pressure on us. Hollister really competed today.”
The top three placers advance to this Saturday’s Central Coast Section semifinals at San Jose City College. The field events start at 10 a.m. with running events at 11 a.m.
The 4X100 relay team of Armando Larez, Willie Sanchez, Chris Pratt and Danny Brooks clocked 43.99 for second place, besting a Palma team which cleaned the Balers’ clock in the dual meet. The time just missed the school record set in 1987 by .02.
“It was all because of the great handoffs,” said Logue. “They ran a great race.”
Minutes later, it was a Baler sweep in the triple jump. Steve Bianchi PR’d at 45-10 3/4 to capture the title, Right behind was Thomas Fernandez (44-7) and Larez (44-3). Larez, who has come on like gangbusters of late, PR’d by three feet.
“I’m in the clouds,” said Larez. “This is unbelievable.”
“Larez has been one of our MVP’s these past few weeks,” said Logue. “He doesn’t get a lot of the ink, but he works hard. To see him having this success is fantastic.”
The triple jump event, alone, was 24 points towards the Balers in the team scoring. The Balers kept it up in the long jump, sweeping that event for 24 more. Make that 26 points as Siljef Tabancay placed fifth at 20-7 1/2. Lee Osborne, who has been battling an injury, won the event with a leap of 21-0 3/4. Bianchi (20-9 1/2) was second, while Fernandez, another late bloomer for the Balers, was third at 20-8 3/4.
The Balers nearly swept the high jump, placing 1-3-4-6. Brooks equaled his PR at 6-4 to win it in dual against Michael Edwards of Salinas, who also cleared 6-4. Brooks, who won on fewer misses, came within a fraction of clearing 6-6 on his second attempt.
“If Brooks can go 6-4 at CCS on his first attempt, that’s as good as gold,” said Logue. “That will get him to state.”
“I’ve been working on my plant foot,” said Brooks, who was second in the league a year ago. “I want to maximize my jump at the lowest part of the bar.”
Bianchi and Fernandez each cleared 6-0, but Bianchi was given the nod for third place. Jonathan Rivera was sixth at 5-8.
Rivera, a junior, won his specialty event, the 1,600, repeating as champ. Rivera outkicked Live Oak’s Jason Alcaraz of Live Oak down the stretch to win with a time of 4:28.59. Rivera added a third in the 800 with a time of 2:01.37. Rivera will concentrate on only the 1,600 at CCS, dropping the 800.
Back to the field events, Clay Peer, on his final toss of the morning, brought home the first place medal in the shot put. Peer, who has been on fire lately, threw 52-6 3/4 to nose out favorite Brian Lopez of Gilroy, who threw 51-6. Peer’s toss was unexpected because he hadn’t thrown well on his first five heaves.
“I felt awkward (today),” said Peer. “I didn’t feel good. It was a big-time throw.”
Justin Tungate raced well in the 300-meter hurdles to take second with a time of 40.31. The Balers’ other second place finish was in the 4X400 relay. The Balers ran a 3:30.23, one of their best marks of the year. The team was comprised of Tamar Elbanhawy, Jesse Rice, Brooks and Bianchi. Rice was filling in for an injured Chris Pratt. Rice had a nice 400-meter race, placing third at 51.42, while Elbanhawy was fourth at 51.68.
“What I liked about us today was that we scored in all 16 events,” said Logue. “That’s what I look at from a coaching standpoint.”
The Cowboys, meanwhile, were stung by false starts by Andy Palacio in the 100 and Jacob Warrick in the 110-hurdles, which meant disqualification for each athlete. The DQ to Palacio was especially disappointing to the fair-sized crowd, who wanted to see the duel between Palacio and Ronnie Drummer of North Salinas. Drummer, one of the 100-meter runners in CCS, easily won the event at 11.01. Palacio’s DQ did open the door for Larez to go to CCS. Larez was third just barely in a time of 11.52, edging out Merben Woo of North Salinas (11.54).
As for the dropped baton, that was by North Salinas in the 4X100. And with Drummer running anchor, it would have been a case of ‘who knows’?
Baler bits: The Baler frosh-soph was second at 107.5 points, just getting clipped by Salinas (115.5). There were three individual champions for the Balers: Ian Whitely won the high jump at 5-6; Mason Dungy vaulted 11-0 for first in the pole vault; and Raul Marta won the 65-meter hurdles in 10.27.
Baler girls
SALINAS – For nearly half the competition at the Tri-County Athletic League girls track and field championships at Hartnell College, Hollister High had its hands full with an upstart Salinas team. The second half, though, was all Balers, who pulled away for 193 points to the Cowboys 143.
Hollister, which was also the dual meet champ, won both relays behind speedburning anchor Jamie O’brian. In the 4X400, Kory Case ran a remarkable third leg, taking the baton about 13 meters behind the leader and almost catching the lead runner at her pass to O’brian. O’brian breezed the rest of the way to complete a 4:09.04, which beat the Salinas contingent by almost two seconds. Amanda Boyd and Abby Ceja ran the first two legs for the Balers.
In the 4X100 meter relay, the team of Boyd, Ceja, Dani Andrewson and O’brian clocked a 51.46. O’brian had two individual firsts, as well. She smoked to a PR in the 400-meters at 57.79, the fastest time for a sophomore in CCS this year and the third time overall in CCS. It was a two second improvement in the event for O’brian. O’brian bettered her mark in the 200-meters, taking that in 25.48.
“I want to make it to state this year,” said O’brian, who will have the ante raised at the CCS semis this Saturday, though she should qualify in both events. “I feel great right now and want to go even lower.”
In the field events, Sarah Groman had an eventful day in her last league meet. Groman took the high jump in 5-2 and the long jump in 16-2 1/2. She was second in the triple jump with a leap of 34-1. As of now, Groman will participate in all three events on Saturday.
“It was amazing for me out here (today),” said Groman.
Meanwhile, Andrewson PR’d mightily to eclipse Groman in the triple. Andrewson went 34-6 1/2, while Jamie Flores completed the TJ sweep for the Balers with a PR of 33-6 1/2. Andrewson’s effort came off the heels of a disappointing high jump where she placed sixth at 4-8. She usually clears 5-0 at most meets.
“I used all that anger in the triple jump,” said Andrewson.
Another big PR was in the discus where Naomi Ruiz went 138-7. Ruiz already owns the best mark in CCS.
“I was throwing into a headwind and I think that helped,” said Ruiz. “I was very pleased. This is my favorite place to throw. The discus really carries here.”
Ruiz added a third in the shot put with a toss of 34-5 3/4.
Stephanie Starritt, as expected, won the pole vault with a vault of 10-6. Starritt is the school record holder at 11-0.
And Case was a bit of surprise in the 300-hurdles, winning that with a season PR of 47.08.
“I started out faster this time,” said Case. “I’ve been training harder, too.”
Case was second in the 110-hurdles at 16.97.
Finally, Ali Schmidt contributed a double for the Balers, winning the 1,600 meter run in 5:35.21 and the 3,200 in 12:37.16. It was fourth straight league title for Schmidt in the 3,200, the first Baler performer to win the same event at the varsity level all four years. Schmidt was fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:32.96. as the Cowboys swept that event. Schmidt will drop the 3,200 at CCS Saturday and may run the 800 for there might be a Salinas runner who’ll drop the event.
“It was an excellent performance by the girls,” said Baler head coach Jennifer Logue. “There were lots of PR’s. Salinas gave us a good meet. But, our girls stepped up.”
Baler bits: The girls junior varsity was third in a tight race, totaling 112 points. Live Oak was first at 144, while Salinas was second at 120. Jamila Saqqa, a freshman, won the 800-meters at 2:42.44. Saqqa was second in the 1,600 at 5:57.64.
