Many San Benito athletes in good position for titles
The San Benito track and field team is feeling good as it prepares for Friday’s Tri-County Athletic League championships.
The usual suspects all remain in the running for league title contention after their performances in Tuesday’s TCAL trials at North Salinas High.
“It went somewhat as planned,” girls coach Julio Trinidad said. “There were some upsets, but the main strong girls that were supposed to get in put on a good show.”
Boys coach Iran White was similarly pleased with the effort and the outlook for the finals, which begin at 3pm Friday at Gilroy.
“We have a lot of kids for each event, so that says a lot about our chances,” White said.
Among the top efforts for the girls were the performances of Courtney Allen, Lauren Villasenor and Justine Hunter.
Allen won her heat of the 1,600 and also qualified in the 800. Villasenor won her 400 meters heat and heads into Friday with the second fastest time in that event. She also qualified in the 200. Hunter was a triple qualifier, reaching the finals in the long jump and triple jump to go along with her automatic qualification in the high jump.
Lilli Villagomez and Ellen Dungy both earned a spot in the finals in the 100 hurdles. Jessica Rux and Sandy Meza join Villasenor as qualifiers in the 400 meters, with Meza also qualifying in the 800. Monique Bishop joins Villasenor as a qualifier in the 200 and Morgan O’Laughlin will enter the discus finals as one of the favorites.
On the boys side, there will be plenty of Haybaler representation in several events.
Rigo Vasquez, Eddie Trujillo and Thomas Parcell will all be a part of the finals in the mile. Vasquez also qualified in the 800 meters and will run in the two-mile, an event which does not have trials.
The 110 hurdles will be a see of red, with the maximum four of nine qualifiers making the finals in that event. Austin Schmidt, Evan McFadden, Harrison Yager and Matt Suarez will all look for strong performances. San Benito will send three guys to the starting line in the 400, with Ryan Shorey, Silas Devries and Nick Souza qualifying. Shorey also qualified in the 200.
Schmidt was a triple qualifier as he also reached the finals of the 300 hurdles and the long jump. He’ll be joined by McFadden and Steven Guerrero in the 300 hurdles and Chris Koroluk in the long jump. Koroluk was another triple qualifier, reaching the finals of the 100 meters along with Mitchell Cook and the triple jump along with Josh Bryant.
Jake Jackson and Aaron Smith will join Vasquez in the 800 with Smith recording a PR by four seconds to help him make the finals. Anthony De La Cerda, Jamil Lee and David Bryant will all compete in the high jump finals.
