When the San Benito High boys cross country team made the CIF State Championships two years ago, coaches Ryan Shorey and Leanna Morgan had a feeling the girls team wouldn’t be that far behind. Their intuition proved to be spot on.
The girls got close last season, finishing fourth in the Central Coast Section Division I race. The CCS only gets to send two of its girls Division teams to state, and the Haybalers were a distant 26 points behind second-place Monta Vista. However, at the one-mile mark, Shorey noted the team was ahead—they just couldn’t maintain that pace against a superior Monta Vista squad.
This year could be a different story. San Benito returns five of its top six runners off last year’s league championship-winning team in junior Elli Kliewer, junior Samantha Cortez, sophomore Mariah Changco, sophomore Hailey Cross and senior Brianna Martin.
“We are in a position now to accomplish what we’ve set out to do,” said Shorey, who is the co-coach along with Morgan. “The girls have been striving for this, and now this is our best chance to do it.”
That’s because the Balers return tons of talent, including Kliewer, the defending Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division champion. A year ago, Kliewer was the team’s third fastest runner for most of the season until she hit another gear about a month before the league finals.
No one saw it coming—not even the coaches—and now the stakes have been raised for the junior standout.
“It’s exciting to see what Elli will be able to do with another year of training,” Shorey said, noting the fact that Kliewer opted to play volleyball in her freshman year. “And we’ve got a lot of other young runners who are looking to make their mark, too.”
Cortez has shown the ability to run strong times in times of duress. Willing to run through pain, Cortez took second in the MBL Finals and 19th in the CCS Championships last season. Changco, the younger sister of recent Balers standout Elijah Changco, is already making a name for herself after an outstanding freshman season.
Changco finished third in MBLs and 24th in the section finals. Cross is another outstanding, hard-working running talent who made a strong impression a year ago. The sophomore had a personal-record of 20 minutes, 17 seconds over a 3.0-mile course and finished 29th in the CCS Championships.
And then there’s Martin, who had a breakout season in 2015. Martin’s confidence rose after taking first in one of the team’s home meets, and Shorey said she’s also blossomed into a strong team leader. Monique Barocio, Adriana Perez, Santana Rodriguez and Ariel Mendez are likely candidates to compete for the sixth position, which is vital for tiebreaker purposes.
“There’s a lot of work we still need to do obviously, but we all expect stellar things from the girls this year,” Shorey said. “League should be straightforward—outside of something crazy happening like everyone getting injured or something like that.”
The boys are in a transition year, having graduated two of the program’s top runners in recent memory in Changco and Juan Gutierrez. However, the Balers return senior Nolan Sanchez, who is coming off a tremendous track season. A year ago, Sanchez showed plenty of mettle on the hills. Sanchez, whose strength is at the intermediate sprint distance, finished ninth in the MBL Championships last season. All but one of the eight runners who finished ahead of Sanchez graduated, meaning if Sanchez improves his times, he’ll likely be one of the favorites to win the league title.
Senior Angel Cortes is the only other returner who was a regular in the starting lineup a year ago. The rest of the lineup is filled with tons of potential. It includes a trio of sophomores in Elliot Ruiz, Nico Tapia and Joseph Loredo, along with junior Arturo Chavez. Shorey said other runners expected to make a contribution include Angel Contreras and Erik Servin.
“The future looks great because we have young guys kicking butt,” Shorey said. “It’ll be tough to win league this year, but we’re not counting ourselves out of it. The young kids are coming up, and I’m really pleased with the seven to eight freshmen who have come out at some point this summer.”
Shorey and Morgan are both excited to have Courtney Allen as an assistant coach this season. Allen, of course, was a four-year standout in cross country and track at San Benito before doing both sports for four years at UNLV.
The Balers kick off the season on Sept. 3 with their second Dry River Run Invite, a 2.0-mile course along the back of Andy Hardin Stadium. In addition to the high school grade races, the middle school and Open Public races are USA Track and Field certified.
The Open Public Race is welcome for all former Balers and any running enthusiast in the area. It goes off at 7:30 a.m., followed by the girls and boys middle school races at 8:30.
The Open Public and middle school races are free, but donations are gladly accepted. The high school races—which are separated by grade level—starts at 9 a.m. To register, go to athletic.net and find the 2nd Annual SBHS Dry River Run MS/Open, or contact Leanna Morgan at (831) 637-5831, ext. 288, or lm*****@sb***.us.
