Junior Jesse Rice finished in second place in the 400-meter race
during the Central Coast Section track and field finals at San Jose
City College Friday and advances to the California Interscholastic
Federation state championships in Sacramento as the lone San Benito
High School representative.
SAN JOSE –– Junior Jesse Rice finished in second place in the 400-meter race during the Central Coast Section track and field finals at San Jose City College Friday and advances to the California Interscholastic Federation state championships in Sacramento as the lone San Benito High School representative.
As a team, the Baler boys team finished eighteenth in CCS with 11 points.
Rice earned eight points in the 400 meters, Jonathan DiSalvo earned two with his fifth-place finish in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and Jonathan Rivera earned one point with his sixth-place finish in the 1600-meter run.
Jamie O’brian finished seventh in the 300-meter low hurdles, Amanda Boyd finished eighth in the 800 meters and Siljef Tabancay finished eighth in the long jump.
“All of the athletes who ran here tonight really work hard,” said Baler coach Jennifer Logue. “And I am very proud of all six of them.”
Rice ran a 49.39 in the 400 meters to finish second. The race was a Rice classic. His start this time was faster than usual, but at the 100-meter mark, he found himself deep in the pack.
“At 200 meters, I saw David (Jackson from Sacred Heart Prep) come up to me on the inside, and I knew I had to finish very strong,” Rice said. “And, Luke (Lippencott from Palma) was still far ahead of me on the outside. But I felt so good, so strong, that I was able to do it,”
Jackson had about a 10-yard lead going into the turn.
“He took off with 175 meters to go and ran his 200-meter pace until the end of the race,” said boys coach Iran White. “I’ve seen his determination since he was a freshman.”
Rice finished third as a freshman in the 400 meters Frosh/Soph Monterey Bay League championship. Last year, he finished third in the varsity Tri-County Athletic League championship in the same event.
“His hard work paid off, and those of us who have worked with him all year knew that going to the state championship was possible,” White said.
Rice improved by three seconds from his freshman to sophomore year and by more than two seconds this year.
“Jesse ran a great great race,” said North Monterey County track coach Gus Ibarra, “He will do well next week.”
Ibarra saw two of his athletes make it to state, but none were ranked as high as Rice, who is creeping up on a San Benito High record in the event.
O’brian, a junior, came within an eyelash of making it to the state championship. She was third going over the final hurdle in the 300-meter race. But, with about a four-yard lead over the runner in fourth place, she hit the hurdle and fell hard.
“Jaime just clipped it with the toe on her back foot,” said Tabancay, a hurdler himself.
“I feel so sad for her,” Logue said. “She has come close all three years of making it to the state finals.
O’brian set the school record in the 300 hurdles by more than a second this year.
Boyd finished eighth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.44 despite not much experience in the event. She had a 65-second first lap, but was edged by Live Oak’s Cobbie Jones at 61 seconds. Boyd’s 2:19.98 in the prelims a week ago was one of the faster CCS times this year.
“My 65-second first lap was way too fast for me, but the other girls were still far ahead,” Boyd said. “I just died at the end of the 800 meters. My legs were dead. I was really disappointed at how poorly I did tonight. But, I’ll be back at practice on Tuesday, getting ready for next year.”
Boyd, a sophomore, said she plans to work out with several of the boys this summer to get ready for next year.
“We will see great things from her next year,” Logue said.
DiSalvo, a senior, ran a personal record of 40.32 in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles to finish fifth. He ran an almost perfect race and was third with two hurdles to go. But he stumbled slightly over one of the hurdles and saw his chance of making it to state crumble as Scott Robinson of Santa Clara passed him.
DiSalvo and Rice will next race in Australia in early July.
Rivera, a senior, ran a 4:20.60 in the 1600 meters to finish sixth. He led the first lap of the race by running 65 seconds. His second lap was also a 65. His third lap was a 66, and his last lap a 63.
Siljef Tabancay jumped well in the long jump finals all day, with a best jump of 20 feet, 11 inches.
“He had a 23 footer at the end,” said jump coach Kaplansky, “But he scratched by this much,” holding his fingers about 1/10 an inch apart.
With longing eyes, Tabancay watched the 110-meter high hurdles from the infield area where he was competing in the long jump, and DiSalvo watched from the other side as he was beginning to warm up for his event.
Both Tabancay and Disalvo came close to making it to CCS in that event (Tabancay was leading in the league finals but hit the last hurdle).
When L.J. Lumpkin from Palma and Brandon Powell from Live Oak finished third and fourth respectively, Tabancay walked over to the medal stand and shook their hands.
Chad Tungate and Rice were members of the championship Frosh/Soph 400-meter relay team two years ago as freshmen.
The other Tri-County Athletic League athletes going to Sacramento are Raquel Butler from Gilroy in the 400 meters, North Salinas’ Ronnie Drummer in the 100 meters and 200 meters, Lumpkin from Palma in the 110-meter high hurdles and Jones in the 800 meters. North Salinas’ boys 4 by 110-meter relay team is also advancing.
The North Salinas boys team finished fifth with points from Drummer and the relay team, and the Gilroy girls team finished 16th with Butler’s points in the 400-meter and 200-meter dash.
Drummer, whose 10.55 100-meter time is the second fastest in the state, is favored to win a medal in both his events.
Rice and Butler also have a good chance to advance to the finals. Those who finish in the top eight Friday night compete in the finals on Saturday. The state track and field championship will start at 6 p.m. Friday in Sacramento.
