‘Balers see where they stand among section’s best
Los Gatos – It was a night for both the youthful and the veteran ‘Baler track and field athletes to shine.
While seniors Amanda Boyd, Todd Merrigan and Rigo Vasquez all solidified their competitive positions in the CCS with top five performances at the CCS Top 8 Meet Friday night in Los Gatos, some of the newer ‘Balers, including freshman Ryan Shorey and sophomore Ashlyn Gonzales, came through with impactful performances of their own.
Boyd took fourth in the 1600 (5:08.76) and the 3200 (11:18.99) while Vasquez took third in the 1600 (4:27) and eighth in the 3200 (9:53.74). Merrigan, coming off a 15-3 personal best performance in the pole vault against North Salinas, topped out at 14-6 for third place behind the highly-regarded St. Francis vaulters Casey Roche (15-6) and Ben Sheehan (15-0).
In the boys’ 1600, Vasquez was situated back in the pack for most of the race before kicking it up a notch during the final lap to finish third.
“Rigo had a great 1600 race,” said San Benito boys’ coach Iran White. “They did a great job. We were pretty fired up to come here and have a good showing with the top guys and I think they did a good job.”
For senior Boyd, the Top 8 Meet – considered a preview to the CCS championship meet – was a milestone for the season.
“This was actually a really good day,” said Boyd, all smiles after the 3200. “After the race I go up to my coach and he was smiling. I haven’t seen that in a long time. He said ‘You’re back.’ I am back.”
The senior’s times in both events were seconds faster than her performances at last year’s Top 8, which Boyd was very happy about.
“The girls that beat me in the 2-mile, that was all they ran (today),” she said. “I ran the mile and 2-mile so I’m stoked.”
Also turning in top-five finishes was thrower Jackie Perrien, who took fifth in discus (102-3) and shot put (36-01).
“That’s pretty much right where she’s been at,” said San Benito girls’ coach Julio Trinidad. “She’s been pretty consistent.”
Shorey and Gonzales, meanwhile, ran personal bests to help both the boys’ and girls’ 4×400 relay teams to wins in their heats. The Hollister boys’ team of Jeff Weltz, Shorey, Kyle Bambrick and Randall Lopez finished fourth overall with a season-best time of 3:33.37 and the girls’ relay team of Courtney Allen, Laura Villasenor, Gonzales and Boyd, finished ninth with a 4:16.96 – a season record by eight seconds.
Not bad for inexperience. Freshman Shorey ran the relay team’s best time with a 52.0 split.
“It’s definitely different, a lot more competitive and the atmosphere is a lot better,” said Shorey about the elite Top 8 meet. “We wanted to get (a 4×400 win) so bad, so we felt pretty good about that.”
He added, “If we all cut off a second, we could beat last year’s best time.”
In Gonzales’ third time ever running the 4×400 event, she ate up track with a split of 1:03 in the third leg to put San Benito in front of Santa Teresa before Boyd took over for the final lap.
“I just tried my best, tried to get first,” Gonzales said. “I hate losing.”
Josh Schroder also had a top-10 finish in pole vault (6th place, 14-0).
