If only there was an actual river at the Baler River Course, the
home site of the San Benito cross country team. Temperatures topped
104 degrees during Monday’s Tri-County Athletic League meet against
visiting Alisal, leaving those competing harriers to traverse five
kilometers through the dry and dusty San Benito River bed.
HOLLISTER
If only there was an actual river at the Baler River Course, the home site of the San Benito cross country team.
Temperatures topped 104 degrees during Monday’s Tri-County Athletic League meet against visiting Alisal, leaving those competing harriers to traverse five kilometers through the dry and dusty San Benito River bed.
A post-race run into the river — any river — would have been the perfect antidote to Monday’s excessive heat.
“We haven’t had this kind of heat in a long time,” said San Benito senior Jose Castillo, who clocked a first-place time of 17:26 Monday to pace the Balers to an easy 18-37 dual-meet victory.
The Baler girls, anchored by Vanessa Estrada’s first-place finish in 21:04, followed suit with a 22-33 win over the Trojans.
“It doesn’t affect us that much,” Castillo added of the heat, “but we don’t prefer it, either.”
Although times were noticeably slower than compared to the team’s performance at the Stanford Invitational from Saturday, the Baler boys still managed to earn the top four spots Monday with Sergio Alcala (17:42), Omar Vasquez (17:48) and Said Hernandez (18:17) each crossing the finish line before a Trojan was able to do the same.
Eddie Guzman (18:59), who was battling illness, finished eighth to round out the Balers.
“It was a little hard, but we just pushed to finish the race. That was it,” Alcala said. “We work hard for it and we’re getting there.”
Estrada felt, along with the heat, that times were slower Monday due to the recent Stanford meet, where the San Benito sophomore led the Balers with a 19:31.9.
On Monday, she recorded a 21:04.
“I think it was because of Stanford. The heat was all right, but it wasn’t that bad,” she said. “I think we were OK (on Monday), but I know we could do so much better.”
San Benito’s Megan Pape pulled out of the race with an apparent knee injury during Monday’s dual, but the Balers still managed to find five harriers to cross the finish line.
Maura Forbush followed Estrada with a second-place finish in 21:42, while Cynthia Trujillo (23:24) and Dayna Casillas (23:29) finished in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Molly Lamanna (23:47) rounded out the scoring for San Benito with an eighth-place finish.
Said Estrada, “We’re getting closer to where we want to be. We’re not there yet.”
Stanford Invitational
Boys
Teams (Top 5 Only)
1, Arcadia, 45; 2, Bellarmine, 264; 3, La Costa Canyon, 373; 4, Lees Summit North, 388; 5, Campolindo, 433; 38, San Benito, 1,247.
Individuals (San Benito Only)
1, A. Moussa, Arcadia, 14:37; 50, J. Castillo, San Benito, 16:04.1; 218, S. Alcala, San Benito, 16:47.9; 303, O. Vasquez, 17:04.0; 368, E. Guzman, 17:15.5; 430, Sa. Hernandez, San Benito, 17:28.5; 467, S. Velarde, San Benito, 17:36.3; 519, St. Hernandez, San Benito, 17:44.6.
Girls
Team (Top 5 Only)
1, Jesuit (Portland, Ore.), 198; 2, Granite Bay, 247; 3, Mira Costa, 317; 4, Glacier Park, 343; 5, Great Oak, 377; 72, San Benito, 2,136.
Individuals (San Benito Only)
1, C. McAlister, Arcadia, 17:15.4; 107, V. Estrada, San Benito, 19:31.9; 350, M. Forbush, San Benito, 20:46.7; 593, D. Casillas, San Benito, 21:58.00; 647, C. Trujillo, San Benito, 22:14.8; 673, M. Pape, San Benito, 22:19.9; 728, M. Lamanna, San Benito, 22:39.9.
