Gilroy
– Julio Trinidad couldn’t stand the wait.
”
This is the longest wait of my life,
”
the San Benito girls track and field coach said as he waited by
the scorer’s table at Gilroy High on Friday for the final results
to be calculated.
Gilroy – Julio Trinidad couldn’t stand the wait.
“This is the longest wait of my life,” the San Benito girls track and field coach said as he waited by the scorer’s table at Gilroy High on Friday for the final results to be calculated.
When the results were finally read, Trinidad raised his arms at the announcement of the Haybalers winning the girls Tri-County Athletic League title, 148.33-138.33 over Salinas, and the rest of the team erupted in celebration.
“This is something we’ve had our eyes on,” Trinidad said. “We put Hollister on the map today. We’re officially a big-time track program.”
The boys also took home the TCAL title – topping Palma 152-140 – to earn their sixth straight league crown. After both teams celebrated briefly on the infield, they all took a final victory lap around the track.
“This is the most uncertain we’ve been,” said boys coach Iran White, whose seen his team win the title in each of his four years as coach. “We’re just building on what (former coach) Randy (Logue) and everyone before us built.”
Rigo Vasquez had the most impressive performance of the day, earning two league titles and adding another second place finish.
He cruised in the 1,600 meters, winning with a time of 4:28.11. In that race, teammate Eddie Trujillo made a late push to take third in 4:32.10 and earn the final Central Coast Section qualifying spot.
“I was just trying to go my own pace and just keep an eye on where (the other runners) were,” Vasquez said. “It feels good to have my teammate going with me (to CCS).”
Vasquez followed that up with a win in the 800 meters with a time of 1:59.87. Jake Johnson grabbed third at 2:01.23 to join Vasquez at CCS. In the 3,200 meters, Alisal’s Diego Estrada demolished the previous meet record of 9:58.41 with his time of 9:24.66.
Vasquez rallied late in that race to take second, also breaking the previous record with his time of 9:51.16.
Courtney Allen also had a big day, taking charge on the third lap to take first in the 1,600 meters with a personal best and meet record time of 5:08.61.
She added a third-place finish in the 800 meters, a fourth-place in the 3,200 and ran on the second-place 4×400 relay team.
“I felt really good,” Allen said of her performance in the 1,600. “I didn’t feel tired on the third lap. … I didn’t care if I PR’d, I just wanted to win the TCAL championship.”
Lauren Villasenor improved on her second-best qualifying time and earned the league title at 400 meters with a mark of 60.35.
“That was awesome,” Villasenor said of her win. “All I did was didn’t let anyone pass me on the inside.”
Villasenor went on to add a fourth-place finish in the 200 and fifth-place finish in the 100.
The ‘Balers girls were dominant in the throwing events, with Lila Yoldi setting a meet record of 36-6.5 while winning the shot put. Morgan O’Laughlin easily took home the discus title with a toss of 118-11. Sarah Yoldi was second in that event at 106-0.
Freshman Monique Bishop cleared 8-6 in the pole vault to earn the league title in that event. Justine Hunter had solid finishes in each of her three events, taking second in the triple jump to qualify for CCS, third in the long jump and fourth in the high jump.
Ellen Dungy qualified for CCS by taking second in the high jump. She also took third in the 300 meter hurdles. Lilli Villagomez earned a second-place finish in the 100 hurdles to also advance to CCS.
Austin Schmidt was not far behind Vasquez in terms of impressive performances. He earned one league title – taking first in the 110 hurdles – and added second place finishes in the 300 hurdles and long jump to qualify for CCS in three events.
“I just have to have good endurance,” Schmidt said of his keeping busy. “A lot of work goes into it.”
Josh Schroder, as expected, won the title in the boys pole vault. After easily clearing heights of 14-0, 14-6 and 15-0, he took three attempts at breaking the meet record of 15-5 set last year by San Benito’s Todd Merrigan, but came up short.
“I wanted that,” said Schroder, who advanced to the CIF State Championships last year along with Merrigan. “I knew I was going to win league – I just wanted that record.”
Ryan Shorey qualified for CCS in four events.
He was third in the 200 meters and second in the 400 and was on the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams that finished among the top three to advance.
In the high jump, Anthony De La Cerda lost out in a jump off against Salinas’ Derrick Toney, but his clearance of 6-0 was good enough for second and he moves on to CCS.
Other CCS qualifiers for San Benito include: Chris Koroluk (third in 100 meters), Evan McFadden (third in 110 hurdles), Jamil Lee (second in high jump).
The CCS semifinals are May 19 at San Jose City College with the finals taking place May 25 at Gilroy.
Note: Former San Benito star runner Amanda Boyd saw two of her TCAL championship meet records fall Friday. Allen took over the record in the girls 1,600 with her time of 5:08.61, breaking Boyd’s 5:12.59 that she set last year. Salinas’ Shannon McVannel took over the record in the 3,200 meters with a run of 11:30.47, besting Boyd’s 11:40.51.
