For Jess Morales, the first Hollister Earthquake Invitational on
Saturday was more than just a cross-country race – it was his
career-long baby. The three-hour event was something he wanted to
create since he started coaching cross-country at San Benito
High.
HOLLISTER
For Jess Morales, the first Hollister Earthquake Invitational on Saturday was more than just a cross-country race – it was his career-long baby. The three-hour event was something he wanted to create since he started coaching cross-country at San Benito High.
And Saturday, he couldn’t keep those emotions down.
“It was … it was just great,” Morales said breaking down. “My whole family was here helping me out. The community here was great.”
The invitational attracted 10 teams from around the area including Leland, Palma and national-power Madera South, but it was San Benito and the school’s Baler River Course that stole the show.
Spectators could, and did, watch nearly the entire race from afar, as runners rounded the dirt track located behind Andy Hardin Field and the school.
And they had some great races to watch. The highlight of the day belonged to the boys varsity race that brought Madera South and San Benito High into a head-to-head battle.
Screaming out to a fast start, the Balers led by sophomores RJ Collins and Steven Velarde and senior Said Hernandez paced the race with as many as four runners at the top of the pack. Through the first mile of the race, the top runners, which included five Balers, were running at a below-five minute mile clip.
It was around mile two, though, when a pair of Madera South runners and Leland’s Richard Ho started to pull away.
Using a burst of speed, Ho surpassed the cluster of San Benito runners to take a lead he would never relent. Ho finished with a time of 15:52 – more than 30 seconds faster than the best San Benito runner. Two Madera South runners placed right behind Ho but the team’s next runner didn’t finish for another minute.
San Benito, though, stayed together. Five Baler runners finished in spots five through nine to give the Balers a win in their first invitational. Velarde led the way for the Balers finishing with a time of 16:27.
Hernandez was right behind him, finishing only two seconds later at 16:29. Ricardo Esqueda (16:39), Omar Vasquez (16:42) and Collins (16:49) all finished before the next Madera South runner.
“That’s what you want to do in cross-country,” Hernandez noted. “You stick together. Steven (Velarde) felt really good so he started moving in and we just stuck with him and worked as a team. We did what we wanted to do – win it.”
And it was that attitude that allowed the Balers to win the team championship despite not having someone finishing in the top four of the race.
“I started off in the back but I started to do better so I told the guys, ‘lets go, lets go and come with me,'” Velarde said. “And we stuck together.”
It was the team unity that allowed San Benito to pull away with the race.
“It’s very important because when you’re out there by yourself you have no one encouraging you to go on,” Velarde said. “And to have people there, it gives you motivation to keep on going.”
The girls team also did well for the Balers – thanks to Vanessa Estrada who finished second.
Estrada kept pace with winner Nikki Hiltz for most of the race – until the last mile where the Aptos runner pulled away. Estrada finished nearly 20 seconds behind the first-place finisher with a time of 18:11.
“First of all, Nikki is a good competitor, I have to say. I like to race her because she pushes me,” Estrada said. “She shows me what I do wrong. Today I realized, okay, I know the mistake I made and I know what I can do to do better. In my mind, I want to P.R. (personal record), I want to try to be the best. I want to be the best.”
The Balers though finished with five runners in the top 16 to finish in a 28-28 tie with Madera South for first place. Maura Forbush (20:17), Amy Quinones (20:17), Anjelica Collins (21:26) and Molly Lamanna (21:38) all scored for San Benito.
The two good showings by the school’s varsity squads only made the celebration that much better for Morales and the runners.
“It feels great to be a part of the first one,” Estrada said. “We worked so hard to get this here. And we know what we can do better next year to make this even a better event.”
But for Morales the event was a relief. It finally gave him a chance to give people a better opportunity to watch San Benito’s cross-country team. And next year it’ll be bigger.
“We want 30 teams next year,” he said. “This was great, but we want it to get better next year.”
This week’s San Benito Score:
