After winning the fifth Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division cross-country meet of her career on Sept. 24, San Benito High senior Amy Quinones had to finish up some homework when she got home.
By the time she was done, Quinones couldn’t get to bed until 11:45 p.m. And because she had zero period class the next day, Quinones had to wake up at 5 a.m. It’s imperative that runners get plenty of sleep following a hard workout or race, but like many top runners, Quinones has to balance out school, running and other activities.
“Time management is really a big thing, especially in your senior year,” said Quinones, whose time of 17 minutes, 56 seconds beat second-place finisher Leah Meuter of Salinas by 14 seconds. “There are so many activities going on and you want to participate in them, but sometimes you have to sacrifice some of those activities because you have a meet the next day. But for me, it’s worth it.”
It’s that type of attitude that has elevated the San Benito girls cross-country team into one of the Central Coast Section’s best programs. Along with Quinones, the top seven runners include freshman sensation Kira Emma, sophomore Brianna Martin, junior Katherine Monteon, and seniors Gabby Alvarez, Anjelica Collins and Enedina Canales.
The Haybalers returned their top five runners from a year ago and added Emma, one of those precocious talents who seem to come along every four or five years to a tradition-rich program like San Benito.
Emma was the team’s second finisher and sixth overall in the MBL Center Meet on Sept. 24, clocking in a time of 19:34. The 2.8-mile race, which was held at North Monterey County High in Castroville, was shorter than the usual 3.1-mile distance of a high school race.
Still, Quinones said Emma’s times are roughly equivalent to the times she was running as a freshman.
“Kira is a really good role model in general, but especially for the freshmen class,” Quinones said. “The younger girls can look up to her and see the potential they can have for themselves.”
Alvarez said it’s great to have a freshman who has a strong work ethic and desire to be the best.
“It’s definitely encouraging to see a freshman come out here and work so hard,” Alvarez said. “It makes all of us want to work that much harder, and it feels great when we have someone who is going to push you hard.”
The Balers, who are the defending MBL champions, showed they’ll be a force once they get to sectionals. At the Chieftain Invitational on Sept. 11, San Benito finished fourth behind CCS powers St. Francis, Gunn and Mitty.
“It’s good to see how you compare to other teams early in the season,” Quinones said.
If things go according to plan, the team will peak right around the league championships, and maintain its high level of fitness into the CCS Championships.
“We have high expectations to win league again,” Quinones said. “We know it’ll be tough, because Salinas is very strong.”
Said Alvarez: “Just seeing all the girls working very hard, I feel we have a chance to go very far this year.”
Alvarez and Quinones are close friends, and they said the entire team does well in working together.
“It’s really inspiring to see how far we’ve all come over the years,” Alvarez said. “We’re friends off the course as well, and that helps us all out as individuals. Even if I’m feeling down, I can feel happy knowing I have teammates who will always support me no matter what happens.”
Interestingly enough, neither Alvarez nor Quinones thought they would ever excel in distance running until the summer before their freshman year.
That’s when they got to work with former San Benito coaches Jess and Josh Morales, who told them they had the potential to be strong distance runners.
“I did the 100 and 400 in middle school (Rancho San Justo),” Quinones said. “I never thought I’d be a distance runner.”
Neither did Alvarez, who ran mostly sprint distances at Spring Grove. In fact, Alvarez was never the fastest girl in her class as she rose up each grade level, but she’s become one of the best and most reliable Balers for the last three years.
In last year’s MBL Championships, Alvarez was the team’s third-best finisher, and in two center meets that season, she had overall finishes of third and fifth, respectively.
In short, Alvarez has been nothing but consistent in her prep career.
The same can be said of Quinones and her teammates, as they aim for another league title and possible berth to the state championships.
