San Benito tracksters competed at the Stanford Invitational last
weekend
PALO ALTO
Not that there is ever an opportune moment for a muscle cramp to happen, but Evan McFadden’s hip certainly picked a bad time to act up.
The San Benito High senior hurdler was in the starting blocks at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday when his hip began to cramp up, before his 110-meter hurdle race even started.
But although the injury has bothered him before earlier this season, McFadden wasn’t going to let it stop him.
“Everyone was ahead of me and I had to catch up,” McFadden said.
Dedicating the race to his grandfather, who passed away the previous week, McFadden sprinted to a personal-record 15.88 seconds for fourth place in his heat, despite his ailment.
“I dedicated the race to him. That was my motivation. That was my main motivation right there,” said McFadden, who finished behind Bishop O’Dowd’s Chad Jones (14.64), Vacaville’s Kyler Martin (14.78) and Rio Linda’s AJ Romine (15.17).
“But being at Stanford too was motivation,” McFadden added.
One of the more elite invites of the track season, the Stanford Invitational brought teams from all over, including Oregon, Idaho and Southern California, to Cobb Track and Angell Field on the Palo Alto campus last Friday and Saturday.
And although motivation was certainly not in short order, neither were the injuries. The ‘Balers were without the speedy services of Ryan Shorey (hamstring), who would have competed in three different relays at Stanford – the 4×100, the 4×400 and the 4×800.
Nevertheless, each relay held their own, with the 4×800 team of Nik Soza, Frankie Rivera, David Kret and Felipe Davila nearly running to a first-place finish in their heat.
“That was exciting,” San Benito boys coach Iran White said. “They ran really well.”
Leading the relay race into the final lap, the foursome wound up finishing third in 8:20.66.
“If I wanted to PR, this was the only way I would be able to push myself – rise to the occasion at Stanford,” said Davila, who ran the anchor leg of the race for just the second time, yet set a personal record by approximately six seconds. “They were running a faster time than what I’m capable of running right now.”
Benicia (8:17.65) and San Rafael (8:19.58) finished just ahead of San Benito in the 4×800 heat.
The 4×100 relay team, meanwhile, made up of Soza, Justin Williams, Mitchell Cook and Jason Roascio, ran to a 44.71 to take seventh in their heat.
Jesuit of Sacramento was first in 43.24.
“It’s a lot different than the 4×4, that’s for sure,” said Soza, who normally runs the 4×400 relay but filled in for the injured Shorey. “We had to step up since Shorey was out. We didn’t have the best lane (Lane 9), I guess, but we performed well in front of all the prestigious schools.”
“It was hard without Shorey,” added Cook. “But other than that, we ran a decent race.”
In other events, San Benito junior Frankie Martinez competed in the discus, where he threw a 133-08 to finish 19th in his flight (Frontier’s Matt Darr was first with a 187-11), while the boys distance medley of Rivera, Kret, Eddie Guzman and Brian Curiel clocked an 11:07.52, good enough for seventh in their heat.
College Park was first with a 10:53.03.
The boys 4×400 relay of Cook, Roascio, Soza and Williams -the same foursome as the 4×100 – took fifth in their respective heat behind a time of 3:29.38, but behind first-place Laguna Creek’s 3:24.72.
Senior Courtney Allen, who was fresh off first-place times in the 200 (26.68) and the 400 (59.23) at a league dual meet against Everett Alvarez last Thursday, started fast in Saturday’s one mile event at Stanford.
“But it was too fast,” said Allen, who finished 14th in her heat at 5:26.44.
“I came around (the first lap) and I ran 71 (seconds) and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’
“I would have used the energy for my other laps.”
There is still plenty of season left, as Justin Williams points outs, and San Benito will now throw all of its energy at Salinas on Thursday.
The visiting Cowboys will come to Hollister for a Tri-County Athletic League showdown at 3:30 p.m.
“There’s still plenty of time in the season,” Williams said. “Still a long ways to CCS.”
San Benito v. Everett Alvarez
BOYS
TEAM
San Benito 77, Everett Alvarez 49
INDIVIDUAL (TOP 3 ONLY)
100 – 1, J. Jones, EA, 11.95; 2, A. Rosa, EA, 12.02; 3, J. Williams, SB, 12.14. 200 – 1, J. Roascio, SB, 23.39; 2, A. Rosa, EA, 23.61; 3, M. Cook, SB, 24.04. 400 – 1, M. Skinner, EA, 50.95; 2, J. Roascio, SB, 52.05; 3, N. Soza, SB, 52.55. 800 – 1, D. Kret, SB, 2:07.24; 2, E. Ruana, EA, 2:07.38; 3, N. Soza, SB, 2:16.01. 1,600 – 1, E. Guzman, SB, 4:43.87; 2, F. Rivera, SB, 4:48.11; 3, E. Ruana, EA, 4:50.50. 3,200 – 1, E. Guzman, SB, 10:26.41; 2, O. Vasquez, SB, 10:50.88; 3, J. Medina, EA, 11:12.04. 110 Hurdles – 1, M. Skinner, EA, 16.39; 2, E. McFadden, SB, 16.40; 3, B. Curiel, SB, 19.19. 300 Hurdles – 1, M. Skinner, EA, 40.66; 2, J. Williams, SB, 42.85; 3, E. McFadden, SB, 43.43. 4×100 – 1, San Benito, 44.91; 2, Everett Alvarez, 45.24. 4×400 – 1, San Benito, 3:40.47; 2, Everett Alvarez, 3:47.98. Shot Put – 1, S. Stephens, SB, 44-08 ½; 2, F. Martinez, SB, 40-02; 3, M. Mamaia, EA, 37-06 ½. Discus – 1, F. Martinez, SB, 144-08; 2, S. Stephens, SB, 132-05; 3, J. Ortiz, EA, 112-0. High Jump – 1, W. Welch, EA, 5-06; 2, A. Jimenez, EA, 5-04; 3, A. Fernandez, EA, 5-04. Pole Vault – 1, E. Valencia, SB, 10-6; 2, J. Godbout, SB, 10-0; 3, C. Bantay, EA, 8-06. Long Jump – 1, W. Welch, EA, 19-09; 2, J. Jones, EA, 19-07; 3, E. McFadden, SB, 19-07. Triple Jump – 1, W. Welch, EA, 39-02; 2, J. Jones, EA, 38-0; 3, D. Franco, SB, 36-0.
GIRLS
TEAM
Scores not reported.
INDIVIDUAL (TOP 3 ONLY)
100 – 1, E. Reclusado, EA, 13.82; 2, K. Russell, SB, 13.97; 3, L. Jones, EA, 14.46. 200 – 1, C. Allen, SB, 26.68; 2, E. Reclusado, EA, 27.68; 3, C. Emilio, SB, 29.00. 400 – 1, C. Allen, SB, 59.23; 2, M. Cortez, SB, 64.11; 3, R. Castro, EA, 64.62. 800 – 1, R. Shimabukuro, SB, 2:32.36; 2, M. Duarte, SB, 2:37.93; 3, V. Alcala, EA, 2:43.04. 1,600 – 1, R. Shimabukuro, SB, 5:35.21; 2, M. Duarte, SB, 5:48.66; 3, V. Acala, EA, 5:54.97. 3,200 – 1, R. Shimabukuro, SB, 12:24.36; 2, V. Alcala, EA, 13:29.94; 3, I. Saucedo, EA, 14:06.51. 100 Hurdles – 1, N. Woodrow, EA, 18.72; 2, A. Banuelos, SB, 18.77; 3, E. Dungy, SB, 18.94. 300 Hurdles – 1, R. Perez, EA, 51.51; 2, M. Castro, SB, 51.56; 3, A. Banuelos, SB, 55.23. 4×100 – 1, San Benito, 51.36; 2, Everett Alvarez, 54.59. 4×400 – 1, San Benito, 4:18.12; 2, Everett Alvarez, 4:30.77. Shot Put – 1, K. Hanson, EA, 33-11; 2, A. Lopez, EA, 31-01 ½; 3, R. Hocog, EA, 30-07. Discus – 1, R. Hocog, EA, 96-01; 2, T. Bugarin, SB, 89-07; 3, S. Salao, EA, 81-07. High Jump – 1, M. Castro, SB, 4-10; 2, E. Dungy, SB, 4-10; 3, E. Reclusado, EA, 4-10. Pole Vault – 1, M. Lassaga, SB, 7-0; 2, G. Mina, EA, 6-06. Long Jump – 1, E. Reclusado, EA, 15-10; 2, C. Allen, SB, 15-08; 3, H. Moheyuddin, SB, 14-10. Triple Jump – 1, C. Freitas, SB, 30-07; 2, H. Moheyuddin, SB, 29-08; 3, G. Mina, EA, 27-02.
