San Benito sophomore sets PR by 14 seconds in winning 1,600
meters
Gilroy – Instead of being the hunted, Courtney Allen was the hunter.
The San Benito sophomore let Gilroy’s Elise Ogle set the early pace in the mile, then went to the lead at about the halfway point and never looked back in running a sizzling 5:11.60 that was 14 seconds better than she had ever run.
“That was probably the biggest PR as far as our well-established athletes,” Haybalers’ coach Iran White said.
Allen’s winning effort in the 1,600 was the highlight of an event in which San Benito athletes qualified for 32 spots in the invitational events. Allen also finished second in the 800 in 2:23.45.
But Rigo Vasquez didn’t compete because of illness, leaving a gaping hole for the ‘Balers in the boys’ distance events.
Nevertheless, there were solid efforts by a number of San Benito athletes in the invitational events. Morgan O’Laughlin finished second in the discus at 109-03; Lila and Sarah Yoldi finished third and fourth, respectively, in the shot put at 34-07 and 34-05; Austin Schmidt was third in the 300 hurdles at 41.02; and Monique Lassaga and Megan Delatorre were second and third, respectively, in the pole vault in 8-0 and 7-6; and Brian Gonzalez was third in the boys pole vault at 11-06.
In the seeded varsity competition, Sandy Meza won the 800 in 2:26.84; Ellen Dungy won the 100 hurdles in 18.32; Lil Villagomez won the 300 hurdles in 52.12; the Balers won the 4 x 100 girls race in 52.70; and they won the 4 x 100 boys race in 45.57.
Male athletes of the meet were Thomas Phillips and Steve Powell, both of Bellarmine Prep. Phillips won the 400 in 49.88 and 300 hurdles in 39.24, and also ran a leg on the Bell’s winning 4 x 400 relay team that won in 3:26.56. Powell won the shot put by three feet in 55-05 and the discus by more than 12 feet in 160-11. Female athletes of the event were Eileen Nguyen of Milpitas, who won the 200 in 25.46 and 400 in 58.14, and Jenica Hadley of Soquel, who set a record in the discus with a toss of 142-8 and won the shot put in 41-06.50.
