In two separate invitational over the weekend, the Balers showcased their high-end talent and their overall depth.
Long-distance runner Vanessa Estrada highlighted the weekend for San Benito with a second-place finish in the 3000 meters at the Stanford Invitational at Palo Alto on Friday. The San Benito junior ran a 9:53.27 to finish five second behind Scotts Valley’s Vanessa Fraser.
Estrada also finished fourth in the one mile with a time of 5:07.69.
At Stanford, Krystal Alnas placed fifth in the shot put with a distance of 33-01 and third in the discus with a throw of 119.
On the boys side, the Baler 4×400 relay team of Taylor Lothman, Gabriel Orozco-Silva, David Kret and R.J. Collins placed first with a time of 3:36.54.
Despite competing without some of its top runners and throwers, San Benito continued its good weekend Saturday at the Don Bell “Quicksilver Classic” at Leland High School.
The Balers boys team placed third overall with a score of 37 — 19 points behind winner Oak Grove. The girls finished tied with Westmor for second place with 34 points.
San Benito’s Lucas Haro placed in the top five in three of his competitions.
In his best finish, Haro placed second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.55. Brian Tobias finished at 16.96 for fourth place.
Alex Garrat also placed fourth in the high jump, leaping a distance of 5-06.
In the shot put, Zack Szyndrowski threw 45-02 to finish in fourth place. Teammate Erik Rivera tossed the shot put 42-04 to finish in sixth place.
On the girls side, San Benito dominated the jumping competitions.
Savanna Wilson (16-02.50) and Simone Cooper (15-05) finished second and third in the long jump for San Benito. Cooper, with a leap of 33-10, finish first for the Balers in the triple jump.
Overall, it was an impressive weekend for the Balers, girls track coach Robert Rawles said.
“We did a lot of good stuff against some elite competition,” Rawles said. “All of them competed really well.”
SBHS softball
Despite no seniors in the starting lineup, the San Benito softball team is still undefeated after going 3-0 during the Mission City Invitational at Wilcox High over the weekend.
San Benito opened the invitational Friday with a 7-3 win against Santa Clara.
On Saturday, San Benito allowed one run in two games, beating Prospect 5-0 and Homestead 3-1.
The Balers return to league play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against Alisal.
