Tennis team upends Alvarez; tracksters beat Palma and Notre
Dame; boys volleyball falls to Gilroy
Hollister
The San Benito boys golf team shot a 196 to finish in second place at the Tri-County Athletic League Tournament on Thursday at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club in Hollister.
Palma finished first with a 192, as Chieftain Chris Castello medaled the round with a 33 on holes 2-10 of the the par-36 Gabilan Course.
Salinas was third with a 213, Gilroy was fourth with a 217, Everett Alvarez finished fifth with a 251 and Alisal rounded out the TCAL in sixth with a team score of 260.
Although San Benito has finished in second in each of the four TCAL Tournaments this season, their performance on Thursday – falling just four strokes short of the Chieftains – is a drastic improvement from their previous league meet.
On April 2 at Laguna Seca, the ‘Balers shot a 208 and finished 20 strokes behind Palma.
‘Baler Will Cross shot a 1-under 35 and Nathan Winn carded an even 36 to lead San Benito. Justin Palmquist shot a 40, Derell Aton a 42, Joey Amaral a 43 and Marcus Synegal a 45.
“I’m proud of my three freshmen,” coach Sal Felice said of Winn, Cross and Palmquist. “Especially Justin (Palmquist). It’s a lot better than he’s been playing. It’s more of what I expect from Justin.”
San Benito will play in another TCAL Tournament on Tuesday at the Salinas Fairways Golf Course. Tee time is 3 p.m.
SAN BENITO BOYS TENNIS
Watsonville and Hollister
The San Benito boys tennis team defeated host Monte Vista Christian 5-2 Tuesday, and followed that victory with a close 4-3 edge over Everett Alvarez Thursday at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club in Hollister.
Tuesday’s win for the ‘Balers brings them above .500 for the first time March 5, as San Benito is now 6-4 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
On Thursday, though, San Benito’s win over Alvarez avenged a previous loss from earlier this season to the Eagles.
In singles, No. 1 player Derek Panger beat PJ Vargas 6-1, 6-2, while Eagles No. 2 Peter Ngoi defeated ‘Baler Mark Tobias 2-6 6-4 (11-9).
San Benito’s Austin Pan won his match 6-3, 6-7 (10-5) over Richie Contraras, and teammate Conner Bray beat Michael Jung 6-2, 6-1.
In doubles, DJ Nielson and Jon Rudolfs lost to Alvarez’ John Nguyen and Branden Moriyama 6-7 (6-8) 4-6. No. 2 doubles team Joe Frusetta and Tony Culler also lost to Eagles pair Daniel Chung and Rainier Nanquil 5-7, 3-6.
San Benito’s No. 3 pairing of Jade Kimura and Thomas Parcell won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 over Michael Castro and Irwin Del Valle.
“The kids did a good job today,” assistant coach Brian Kimura said. “It was close – kind of a nail-biter.”
Of Pan’s third-set tiebreaker, Kimura said he told Pan that “we’ve got to take this.”
“And he took it,” Kimura added. “That was really good.”
On Tuesday against Monte Vista Christian, the ‘Balers had an easier time disposing their opposition with a 5-2 win.
In doubles, it was a clean sweep for San Benito, with Nielson and Rudolfs beating David Chang and Shouji Chang 6-0, 6-1. The No. 2 team of Frusetta and Culler also won, beating Sun Il Huang 6-1, 6-4, while Jade Kimura and Michael Labuguen teamed up to defeat Tony Mininni and Yu Tan 6-0, 6-1.
In singles, Panger won his match against Zach Nissen 7-5, 6-4, while Tobias did the same, beating Peter Lee 0-6, 6-2 (10-5). Pan fell to Ha Le at No. 3 singles with a 6-7, 1-6 loss, and Bray also lost to James Klindt 6-3, 2-6 (11-13).
San Benito will host Palma Tuesday at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club. Match time is 3:30 p.m.
SAN BENITO TRACK AND FIELD
Hollister
The San Benito Lady ‘Balers took two of the top three spots in 12 of the 16 events against Notre Dame Thursday, and easily defeated the visiting Spirits 115-21 in Hollister.
“The girls performed very well today. They had expectations and they met them,” girls coach Laurie Cottrell said.
San Benito’s Kelsey Russell managed to clock a personal record of 12.94 in the 100 meters and finish in first place, just ahead of teammates Sophie Coelho (13.33) and Monique Bishop (13.57).
“Every week she continues to improve,” Cottrell said.
San Benito had clean 1-2-3 sweeps in the one mile, two mile, shot put, discus, pole vault and triple jump events.
Not to be outdone, the San Benito boys track team defeated Palma 88-48.
“We took a lot of first and thirds, a lot of first and seconds,” boys coach Iran White said. “Palma beat us last year and it was my first loss as a coach. We wanted to win and completely put that loss behind us from last year.”
Josh Bryant set a PR in the triple jump with a leap of 43-04, while teammate Chris Koroluk finished second with a jump of 41-7 1/2.
Palma finished first in only five events, as San Benito easily avenged last season’s loss.
“We knew they were a strong team,” White said. “We beat a good team today.”
Both the boys and girls JV teams lost 48-88 and 60-74, respectively.
San Benito will compete at the Don Bell Quicksilver Classic in Leland Saturday. First race is at 9 a.m.
TOP THREE PLACERS
GIRLS
One mile – 1, C. Allen, SB, 5:41; 2, V. Farias, SB, 5:53; 3, A. Durate, SB, 5:55. 100 hurdles – 1, L. Villagomez, SB, 17.50; 2, A. Banuelos, SB, 17.88; 3, C. Michaels, ND, 18.17. 400 – 1, A. Thompson, ND, 1:04.81; 2, M. Cortez, SB, 1:05.52; 3, C. Emilio, SB, 1:07.25. 100 – 1, K. Russell, SB, 12.94; 2, S. Coelho, SB, 13.33; 3, M. Bishop, SB, 13.57. 800 – 1, V. Farias, SB, 2:39; 2, A. Durate, SB, 2:41; 3, A. Busch, ND, 2:42. 300 hurdles – 1, L. Villagomez, SB, 52.34; 2, C. Villapanedo, ND, 52.40; 3, E. Gonzalez, SB, 53.41. 200 – 1, A. Thompson, ND, 28.34; 2, M. Lassaga, SB, 28.36; 3, K. Medina, SB, 28.72. 4×100 – SB, 52.90; 2, ND, 53.23. Two mile – 1, C. Allen, SB, 12.15; 2, D. Casillas, SB, 13.14; 3, A. Durate, SB, 13.26. 4×400 – 1, SB, 4:23; 2, ND, 4:28. Shot put – 1, L. Yoldi, SB, 35-4; 2, S. Yoldi, SB, 33-5; 3, JT Temperino, SB, 29-0. High jump – 1, E. Dungy, SB, 4-10; 2, L. Ademek, SB, 4-10; 3, C. Michaels, ND, 4-4. Discus – 1, S. Yoldi, SB, 100-5; 2, N. Becker, SB, 93-6 1/2; 3, L. Yoldi, SB, 86-10. Pole vault – 1, N. Becker, SB, 8-6; 2, M. Bishop, SB, 8-0; 3, M. Delatorre, SB, 8-0. Triple jump – 1, C. Allen, SB, 30-1; 2, C. Freitas, SB, 29-2 1/2; 3, L. Ademek, SB, 29-0. Long jump – 1, K. Russell, SB, 14-8; 2, A. Busch, ND, 14-3; 3, F. Bonano, ND, 14-2.
BOYS
4×100 – 1, SB, 44.89; 2, PAL, 45.33. One mile – 1, T. Johnson, PAL, 4:38; 2, F. Rivera, SB, 4:46; 3, G. Johnson, PAL, 4:51. 110 hurdles – 1, E. McFadden, SB, 15.65; 2, AJ Layson, PAL, 16.07; 3, M. Flores, SB, 16.63. 400 – 1, R. Shorey, SB, 51.94; 2, J. Bonano, PAL, 53.19; 3, N. Soza, SB, 54.38. 800 – 1, M. Huntington, PAL, 2:05; 2, T. Johnson, PAL, 2:06; 3, A. Smith, SB, 2:08. 300 hurdles – 1, A. Schmidt, SB, 41.85; 2, E. McFadden, SB, 42.21; 3, AJ Layson, PAL, 42.38. 200 – 1, R. Shorey, SB, 23.01; 2, J. Bonano, PAL, 23.63; 3, M. Cook, SB, 23.64. Two mile – 1, T. Johnson, PAL, 10:25; 2, F. Rivera, SB, 10:25; 3, J. Castillo, SB, 10:27. 100 – 1, C. Koroluk, SB, 11.35; 2, M. Cook, SB, 11.50; 3, C. Farotte, PAL, 11.57. 4×400 – 1, SB, 3:59; 2, PAL, 4:01. Discus – 1, F. Martinez, SB, 129-4 1/2; 2, S. Dozier, PAL, 123-8; 3, S. Stephens, SB, 120-7 1/2. Triple jump – 1, J. Bryant, SB, 43-4; 2, C. Koroluk, 41-7 1/2; 3, M. Calder, PAL, 39-11. Shot put – 1, S. Stephens, SB, 44-3 1/2; 2, W. Jacobsen, SB, 44-0; 3, S. Dozier, PAL, 41-2. High jump – 1, J. Taylor, SB, 5-10; 2, M. Flores, SB, 5-8; 3, C. Senadente, PAL, 5-8. Pole vault – 1, A. Bassi, PAL, 11-0; 2, J. Godbout, SB, 10-6; 3, P. Ballesteri, PAL, 9-6. Long jump – 1, M. Calder, PAL, 20-2; 2, C. Koroluk, SB, 20-2; 3, J. Taylor, SB, 20-1.
SAN BENITO BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Gilroy
After winning four straight matches in the Tri-County Athletic League, the San Benito boys volleyball team dropped their second straight match Thursday to the Gilroy Mustangs 25-18, 13-25, 25-22, 25-19.
San Benito is now 4-4 in the TCAL, 6-13 overall.
“One team we couldn’t beat last year was Alisal. This year, it’s Gilroy,” coach Luis Espinoza said. “They’re beatable. It just didn’t happen for us tonight.”
Erik Rodriguez led the ‘Balers with 15 kills and Roy Powell added 10. Adrian Rodriguez had 36 assists, while David De La Cruz supplied 26 digs.
“We didn’t play that bad, just some little mistakes,” Espinoza said. “We just happened to play a team that was just as good as us.”
San Benito will look to rebound this weekend at the Charger Classic in Leland.
The ‘Balers will open Saturday against Mitty, and are slated to play Nevada Union and Mount Madonna as well.
The match against Mitty will take place at 9 a.m.
