boys win sixth title in a row
Since losing to Salinas High in a home dual meet at the start of
the season, the San Benito High School boys cross country team had
been chomping at the bit for another shot at the Cowboys.
The Balers finally got their chance in last Saturday’s Tri
County Athletic League championships at Toro Park in Salinas
– and the Balers made the most of it by edging Salinas to
capture their sixth league title in a row.
boys win sixth title in a row
Since losing to Salinas High in a home dual meet at the start of the season, the San Benito High School boys cross country team had been chomping at the bit for another shot at the Cowboys.
The Balers finally got their chance in last Saturday’s Tri County Athletic League championships at Toro Park in Salinas – and the Balers made the most of it by edging Salinas to capture their sixth league title in a row.
“It was very good. We were waiting for this all year. We lost to Salinas and had an up and down year, but we finally put everything together and ran together as a team,” said San Benito High coach Jess Morales. “With CCS coming up next, we are peaking at the right time.”
The Central Coast Section meet takes place on Nov. 10 at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
While the Baler boys took the title home, the San Benito girls’ squad wound up finishing third behind Salinas and league champion Gilroy – but it was still high enough of a finish to earn a trip to the section meet.
“This race was the best race that our girls put together this season,” said Coach Josh Morales. “Hopefully, we can run a good race next week at Crystal Springs too.”
Leading the way for the Baler girls was the strong performance by junior Courtney Allen, who was the first female to cross the finish line in the TCAL championship with an impressive time of 19:01.
The next runner from the girls’ team to cross the finish line was Vanessa Farias, who posted a time of 20:30 on the 3.1-mile course to finish ninth overall. The remaining Baler runners to cross the finish line were Kristina Vasquez, who finished ninth with a time of 20:57. Elizabeth Moreno came in 22nd with a time of 21:39. She was followed by Dana Casillas, who took 26th with a time of 21:56. And just four seconds behind Casillas in 27th place was Baler runner Brandi Callanta.
“Coming into this season we weren’t looking so good so to finish this high was a big surprise to everyone,” Morales said.
Another pleasant surprise for Morales’ girls’ squad was seeing three underclassmen runners from the JV team put up times that bested a few players on the varsity team, which is a sign that the defending champion girls’ varsity squad’s challenges may be short-lived.
Although the Baler boys captured the league championship, the first individual to cross the finish line in front of the huge crowd at Toro Park last Saturday was Alisal’s Diego Estrada, who posted a time of 15:20 over the challenging course.
The first person to cross the finish line in a Baler uniform was freshman Eddie Guzman, who finished fourth overall with a time of 16:48.
Three seconds behind Guzman in fifth place was Baler runner Adrian Rodriguez. He was followed by junior Frankie Rivera, who took seventh with a time of 16:58. Baler junior Lance Villasenor finished in eighth place with a time of 16:59. The last runners from San Benito High to finish were Eric Rodriguez (17:25, 17th place), Curtis Wright (17:36, 20th) and Jose Castillo (18:01, 26th).
“It took us a while to get it together this year but we finally did,” Jess Morales said. “We didn’t really have a team leader this year so that made it a little harder to put it together because no one really took charge of this team. Hopefully, we can keep it going at CCS. Right now, I’d have to say the favorites are Carlmont, Bellarmine, Evergreen Valley, Serra and then us, followed by Salinas.”
