Cross-country teams have sights set on Central Coast Section
titles
When it comes to cross-country running, nobody in the Tri County
Athletic League does it better than San Benito High.
Last Saturday at Toro Park in Salinas at the TCAL championships
the Balers made it a perfect trifecta by capturing the boys and
girls varsity titles as well as winning the Avis Kelly trophy for
the second season in a row.
Cross-country teams have sights set on Central Coast Section titles
When it comes to cross-country running, nobody in the Tri County Athletic League does it better than San Benito High.
Last Saturday at Toro Park in Salinas at the TCAL championships the Balers made it a perfect trifecta by capturing the boys and girls varsity titles as well as winning the Avis Kelly trophy for the second season in a row.
The Avis Kelly trophy is awarded annually to the one school in the league that is recognized for having the best overall cross country program from the freshman levels all the way through varsity.
“It was very exciting to win that award,” said Baler boys varsity coach Jess Morales. “Last year, we won it for the first time because Salinas had an ineligible player. And they won it the three years before that. But this year we kicked the door down and got it. We earned it.”
The girls team won the league championship by a slim 38-39 margin over Salinas while the boys squad captured its fourth league title in a row by a dominant 43-78 margin over second-place Alisal. Both Baler teams finished the season with a perfect 7-0 record in league meets. It was the first time in six years that both the San Benito High boys and girls team won league.
While most schools would be thrilled just to pick up a league championship, the Balers are hoping for more as they prepare themselves for the upcoming Central Coast Section Championships, which will take place on Nov. 11 on the same three-mile long Toro Park course.
A top two finish at CCS would qualify the Balers for the state meet the following week – which is always the goal for the perennial powerhouse program.
“We wanted to get things going for league finals,” Morales said. “All season long we work to get where we are right now. We’re happy that we won league again but the real beginning of the season starts right now. This year it’s going to be tough to make it to state. I’ve been coaching for a while now and I know that we are going to have to buckle down and focus if we want to go to state.”
Morales’ concerns for the boys squad stem from the fact that his team, although they won league, posted slower times than normal. Some of that can be blamed on the unseasonably high temperatures that hovered in the mid 80s.
“It was really hot. The kids complained a lot about their throats being really dry. It was really dusty too,” he said. “The times weren’t too good. Now we need to sit down and figure out if we want to work hard enough to make it to state.”
Whether the Balers work hard or not, making the state meet isn’t going to be easy as the top two ranked teams in the section, Carlmont and Bellarmine, will stand in their way.
Currently, the San Benito High boys team is ranked fourth overall in the section and No. 2 amongst Division I schools. The girls squad holds the No. 3 ranking in Division I and is No. 7 overall.
At the league championship Alisal’s Diego Estrada captured the individual title in the boys varsity division courtesy of his time of 15:41. Not far behind Estrada was Baler senior Rigo Vasquez. Vasquez posted a time of 16:10.
The next Balers to cross the finish line for the boys varsity squad were Adrian Rodriquez, whose time of 16:38 was good for fourth place.
Baler sophomore Erik Rodriquez finished ninth with a time of 17:22. The last two Balers to cross the finish line were sophomore Lance Villasenor, who posted a time of 17:47 and senior Eddie Trujillo, who came in at 17:49.
Normally one of the top runners in the section, Trujillo’s time would have been surprising for anyone who didn’t know that he was battling a knee injury that kept him out of many practices and meets the past few weeks.
In the girls varsity meet Salinas’ Shannon McVannell won the individual title with a time of 18:59. She was followed by the top Baler girls runner, Courtney Allen, who came in with a time of 19:42.
The remaining Balers to earn points for the girls team were Lauren Villasenor, who finished sixth. She was followed by Ann Mari Rich, who was just six seconds behind Villasenor in seventh place.
Junior Sandy Meza finished ninth and Baler runners Dana Balsey, Kristina Vasquez and Alison Meyer finished 14th, 16th and 20th, respectively.
“I’m extremely happy with our team,” Baler girls varsity coach Josh Morales said. “This is the first time in two or three years that we won league. We finally pulled it off. Now we’re going to try and make state. It’s going to be a close battle for second at CCs between Monte Vista and us. Carlmont is the No. 1 team. They are really fast but we could beat Monte Vista and go to the state meet.”
Only the top two teams at CCS earn trips to the state meet.
