The 13th Annual Earlybird Invitational is where it all starts.
Not only is it the first cross country meet of the 2007 season, but
it’s also the first official meet for freshmen, and the San Benito
Haybalers made sure their name was heard amongst the 52 teams that
were present Saturday at Toro Park in Salinas.
Salinas – The 13th Annual Earlybird Invitational is where it all starts.
Not only is it the first cross country meet of the 2007 season, but it’s also the first official meet for freshmen, and the San Benito Haybalers made sure their name was heard amongst the 52 teams that were present Saturday at Toro Park in Salinas.
“It’s more of a measuring stick for them,” said Josh Morales, coach of the Lady ‘Balers cross country team. “They get to see where they compete against other freshmen.”
With the meet broken down by grade, the ‘Balers and the Lady ‘Balers started their high school careers strong, with the freshmen boys taking second overall, finishing with 110 points behind Carlmont’s first-place 70.
“This generation is going to move up,” said Jess Morales, coach of the boys team. “We took second, that’s good. These guys are studs. I’m excited.”
Among the ‘Baler boys, Eduardo Guzman finished 7th overall (17:54), Luis Ruiz took 10th (18:09), Jose Castillo finished 15th (18:39), Eric Adams landed 27th (19:06) and Daniel Vasquez finished 70th (20:52). Among the freshmen boys, there were 233 total runners that recorded times.
“We’ll do better next time. We have to,” Castillo said. “We’re not going to give up.”
Added Ruiz, “We don’t plan on taking second all season. We plan on taking first.”
Aside from the Tri-County Athletic League Jamboree held last Wednesday, this was the first official meet for the freshmen. And while they took second place as a team and were awarded medals for their accomplishments, the ‘Baler frosh are hungry.
“We’re going to have to step our efforts up,” Castillo said.
Said Ruiz, “Today, we improved our times.”
“But it’s a team effort,” Castillo added.
The freshmen girls took sixth place on Saturday, with Linnea Shorey leading the way with a 31st-place finish (23:47). Lady ‘Baler Grace Tobias took 35th (23:56), Rachelle Gere finished 61st (25:32), Jessica Cook crossed in 72nd (25:56) and Jacqueline Martin took 110th (29:27) to round out the frosh Lady ‘Balers.
“All the freshmen stepped it up, so that’s a good start for us,” Josh said. “Everyone improved their times from the previous week. I think the last race was a wake-up call for a lot of them.”
“The girls are improving a lot just by running today,” Jess said.
Junior Courtney Allen finished the highest among the San Benito harriers, clocking a 19:07 and finishing fourth among junior girls, sixth overall among all girls. The time was a personal record for Allen, whose best time last season was 19:42.
Other notable runners included San Benito’s junior boys, who took third place at the Earlybird. Erik Rodriguez took 18th (17:08), Frank Rivera finished 23rd (17:17), Adrian Rodriguez crossed the finish line in 26th (17:22), Lance Villasenor nabbed 29th (17:28) and Ryan Lopez rounded out the top five in 62nd place (18:57).
The sophomore Lady ‘Balers, who took eighth with Kristina Vasquez (22:37), Annmari Rich (23:38), Chelsea Emilio (24:17), Katie Smith (26:16) and Brandi Callanta (27:22).
San Benito will look to improve upon their times on Saturday when they return to Toro Park in Salinas for the Chieftain Classic at 8am.
“We’re gonna try and get first at our next meet,” Castillo said. “That’s our goal. Now we know our competition. Time to step up our game.”
