The buzz through the infield at Andy Hardin Stadium was that the
Hollister boys 4X400 relay team had to win in order to defeat a
battling Palma team Wednesday in a Tri-County Athletic League dual
meet.
The buzz through the infield at Andy Hardin Stadium was that the Hollister boys 4X400 relay team had to win in order to defeat a battling Palma team Wednesday in a Tri-County Athletic League dual meet.
Tamar Elbanhawy jumped to an early lead and the rest of the Balers followed suit, taking the 4X440 in a time of 3:35. Chris Pratt ran the second leg, Jessie Rice the third and Steve Bianchi anchored.
Meanwhile, the pole vault hadn’t been completed. Bill Kutz, a Hollister resident who attends Palma, won the event with a vault of 11-0. Taylor Guerra (10-0 1/2) and Ryan Sesody (9-0) were second and third to secure the meet.
Balers 74, Chieftains 62.
“This is exactly what I expected,” said Baler coach Randy Logue. “Palma gave us a dogfight (today). We were lucky to win. We had some adversity early in the meet and I’m proud of the way all of the guys came through.”
No one was more important than junior Jonathan Rivera. Rivera had a hard-earned triple, winning the 800 (2:04), mile (4:40) and two-mile run (10:21), coasting in all three events.
“I told Jonathan during the week that he’d probably have to run three events,” said Logue. “My hat is off to him.”
“I pushed myself real hard,” said Rivera. “It’s mind over matter with this wind out here. We’ll see if I’m pushed at league.”
Clay Peer, who will play football at Gavilan College this fall, PR’d in the shot put at 47-0 1/4 to win that event. He placed second in the discus behind Chris Stephens (124-8).
Bianchi won the triple at 43-5 and added a second in the high jump at 5-10. He and teammate Danny Brooks cleared 5-10 and called it a day, saving their energy for other events.
Unfortunately for the Balers, Lee Osborne, who was just cleared medically due to a heart condition, pulled a hamstring near the wire of the 100-yard dash and is listed day-to-day. Osborne had one jump in the long jump at 20-11, which stood as the winning mark.
Before the injury, Osborne talked candidly about the heart problem.
“It was a burning sensation,” said Osborne, who will play football and track on ride at Bethany College in Kansas next year. “There was an inflamation around the heart. I was scared I was done athletically.”
“Lee will get some rest,” said Logue. “We really need him. We’ll have to make some adjustment on the4X100 relay, but he hadn’t run it for us in two weeks anyway.”
The Chieftains were buoyed by the hurdling of Scott Sierra, who won both hurdles, and Luke Lippincott, who took the 220 and 400. Sierra is ranked second in CCS in the 110s and third in the 300IH. Lippincott, the former Hollister resident, is an interesting story. He also plays center field on the Chieftains baseball team, which is at Hollister today.
“I expect him to be in the 49’s in the 400-meters very soon,” said Palma assistant John Chipley. “Maybe Saturday at the Avis Kelly meet.”
Like the Baler girls, the Baler boys are banged up. Besides Osborne, Siljef Tabancay is out with an ankle injury. Justin Tungate is struggling with a bad back. Tungate, who will no longer run the 110’s, was second behind Sierra in the 300-hurdles with a time of 43.33.
Baler bits: In attendance was former Baler pole vaulter A.J. Lamb. Lamb is vaulting at Hartnell College and has a PR of 15-0 in this season. His older sister, Elzunia Lamb, is mostly long jumping at Cal and had a mark of 19-2 last week. Lamb won the state long jump for Hollister in 2001 with a mark of 20-5 1/2 under the name of Elzunia Wojcicka.
