Girls team takes third to advance; Rigo Vasquez qualifies as an
individual
Gilroy – San Benito and Gilroy both did the Tri-County Athletic League proud Saturday at the Central Coast Section Cross Country Championships at Toro Park.
The Haybalers qualified their girls for the state meet in Fresno for the first time as they finished second behind Carlmont. And Mustangs‚ sophomore Kathleen Miller came up with the race of her life as she finished fourth overall to qualify as an individual for the competition that will take place Nov. 25 at Woodward Park.
“We got rated fifth in our division and 15th overall, and that got the girls all fired up,” said Jess Morales, the San Benito boys coach. “They figured let’s go out and show them what we’re all about.”
Carlmont’s Justine Fedronic was first in 18:24. Fifth-place finisher Courtney Allen posted her personal best of 19:12 to pace the “Balers girls. Freshman Annmari Rich was 11th in 16:28, followed by Laura Villasenor, 19th in 20:12; freshman Kristina Vasquez, 20th in 20:14; and Alison Meyer, 27th in 20:47.
“I was really happy with the way the girls ran,” said San Benito girls’ coach Josh Morales. “The girls stepped up big time to make it to state. Our top 6 girls all PR’d.”
Overcast skies dissipated as the girls got prepared to run their race. Miller was as prepared as anyone, qualifying for her first state meet.
“She ran so smart,” Gilroy co-coach Cathy Silva said. “The way she started and finished was awesome. She was sixth going into the last 800 and passed two girls at the end.”
The Mustangs, who finished sixth overall, also got strong running performances from freshman Paty Hernandez, 17th in 20:07; Brandie Rodriguez, 30th in 20:51; Christine Bobula, 52rd in 21:43; and Anne Donahoe, 74th in 22:55.
San Benito’s boys missed out by seven points of qualifying for the state meet. Carlmont finished with 32 points, Bellarmine Prep had 84 and the ‘Balers were at 91.
San Benito senior Rigo Vasquez, however, did qualify as an individual as his 16:07 time was good for fifth overall. Others who scored for the ‘Balers were Eddie Trujillo, 11th in 16:28; Lance Villasenor, 18th in 16:53; Andrew Yacavone, 28th in 17:06; and Frankie Rivera, 33rd in 17:12.
“We did well,” Jess Morales said. “I’m proud of all the guys who ran. They showed a lot of heart. They put in the work and were together as a team.”
Like the Gilroy girls, the Mustangs’ boys finished sixth overall which “was what we expected as a team,” Cathy Silva said. “It was a great way to end our season.”
Alisal’s Diego Estrada was the boys’ winner in 15:41.
Derek Pesta at 16:55 in 22nd place and Jaime Reyes at 16:58 in 24th place led the GHS boys. Other Mustangs scorers were Juan Velasquez, 48th in 17:32; Agustin Serafino, 56th in 17:44; and Manual Cazas, 68th in 18:02.
“Nobody left anything out there,” Silva said.
Silva also paid the ultimate compliment to San Benito as she summed up the performance of the GHS runners.
“We told our girls to mark the Hollister girls because we felt a couple could run with them,” Silva said. “Hollister proved they’re still the muscle in our league.”
The Anzar boys team took fifth in the Division V race. Colin Parsons was the top Hawk finisher at 20th with a mark of 18:44. Other scorers for Anzar were Miles MacKinnon, 22nd in 18:58; Jeffery Gong, 28th in 19:15; James Jelavich, 31st in 19:26 and Tony Morales, 33rd in 19:32.
