Hollister girls finish fourth in CCS Track & Field finals

At Saturday’s Central Coast Section Track and Field finals at Gilroy High, Hollister had a Baler bonanza and it was primarily in the girls field events. Golda Demby won both the shot put and the discus. Hannah Vincent won the triple jump and finished second in the long jump. 

Overall, the Hollister girls finished in fourth place in CCS.

Demby won the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 8 inches. It was the second straight CCS title for the Baler junior. She outdistanced Nicole Steiner of Los Gatos, who tossed the hard round ball 41 feet, 10.5 inches. Far back in third was Angela Avozie of Everett Alvarez at 37 feet, 1 inch. 

As the top six awaited the awards presentation at the May 18 competition, Demby and that pair made a friendly joke about how the top three slots all went to public school athletes, as the next three were from private schools—Archbishop Mitty, St. Francis and Sacred Heart Prep. 

Hollister’s Natalie Tonascia also reached the final, coming in ninth at 33 feet, 7 inches.

“You come in ranked, you’ve got to execute,” Demby said. “I did my best; it was on my fourth or fifth throw. I’m really grateful to win. Taking first, I came here and got my job done.”

Earlier on the breezy afternoon, Demby captured the discus title. She whirled and unleashed the plate 139 feet, 7 inches, to beat Brielle Moseley of Silver Creek, who recorded a throw of 138 feet. Maya Ifo Desai of Mitty was back in third at 129 feet, 4 inches. Avozie was fourth at 118 feet, 10 inches.

“The discus was a mess,” Demby said. “I barely won it with my last throw by a foot. Before that throw, I talked with my coach Art Soza. I put all my force into it. I told myself I have to execute. It was amazing.”

Early in the afternoon, Vincent finished second in the long jump. She had the same 18 feet, 1.5 inches leap as winner Ellie McCuskey-Hay of St. Ignatius but placed second based on the next longer jump of the six they both attempted. 

Hollister’s Emma Franks jumped 17 feet, 2.75 in the prelims but only 15 feet, 3 inches in the final and landed in 11th place.

In the triple jump, Vincent, the defending CCS titlist, claimed first again, launching herself 37 feet, 10.5 inches. Daniela Hughes of Los Altos came in second, at 37 feet, 1.5 inches. Franks was sixth at 36 feet.

“The triple jump went OK for me,” Vincent said. “I didn’t get a PR. My first was my best; on the others, I kept missing the board. The long jump went pretty well. I kept on improving. My third jump was best. But it’s short of my PR at 19-2.”

Both Demby and Vincent will compete in both events at the CIF State meet in Clovis. Preliminaries are on May 24, and the finals are May 25. 

Both athletes have made it to state in the past. Demby threw 37 feet, 2.5 inches for 12th in the state in the shot put last year. Vincent competed in the triple jump and did the hop, step and a jump in 36 feet, 1.25 inches for 12th in the state.

“I like it there,” Vincent said. “The environment, the crowd. I definitely hope to place. The top nine get medals.”

Other Baler competitors at the CCS finals included Jasayla Mariscal, who finished ninth in the 800 meters in 2:20.36, and the boys 4×400 relay team that crossed the line in eighth in 3:27.54.

In the girls team totals, Hollister recorded 41 points, behind only Mitty with 63 points, Los Altos with 56 and St. Ignatius with 44. A strong performance indeed.

And now for Demby and Vincent, the CIF State meet remains. The huge Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High in Clovis will be packed. The track and field events will be supreme competitions with the best from all parts of California. Demby and Vincent have been there before and are familiar with the atmosphere.

“It’s a mental game there,” Demby said. “Everyone there is good. I’m very excited to go.”