Jess Morales said it was an eye-opener.
Despite being ranked in some polls at No. 6 in the Central Coast
Section, the San Benito boys cross country team finished fourth
Saturday at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships in
Salinas.
SALINAS
Jess Morales said it was an eye-opener.
Despite being ranked in some polls at No. 6 in the Central Coast Section, the San Benito boys cross country team finished fourth Saturday at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships in Salinas.
Morales is hoping last weekend’s performance at Toro Park is a learning experience and a wake-up call for the Haybalers, which earned a second chance with a trip to the Central Coast Section Championships in two weeks, nonetheless.
“That rating doesn’t mean nothing if you don’t produce,” the San Benito head coach said.
The Lady Balers, meanwhile, finished fourth behind Alisal.
“It doesn’t do us any good to come out here and race like we did,” Morales added. “The big thing is what are the guys gonna do about it at CCS.”
Compiling 74 points, the Balers finished behind Alisal (66), Gilroy (65) and league champion Salinas (32).
“We need to get our thing together,” said junior Jose Castillo. “We need to get pumped up.”
Castillo recorded a 16:34 and finished third overall to lead the Baler boys on the three-mile Salinas course, but he too was disappointed with his performance on Saturday.
“I wasn’t sore. I wasn’t hurting. I just couldn’t push it,” Castillo said. “I was just tired and I didn’t get the time I wanted.”
Castillo stayed with the lead pack throughout the race, which included Alisal’s Diego Escobar and Salinas’ David Perez and Max Bell. But with Perez and Bell finding another gear toward the end of the race — the two Salinas harriers finished in 16:10 and 16:12, respectively — Castillo found a second wind in the last 800 meters to overcome Escobar.
“I started to pick it up on the last 800 — that’s where I took off,” said Castillo, who defeated Escobar by four seconds. “The last 800 is where I woke up.”
Junior Eddie Guzman said his legs “gave out” while climbing one of Toro Park’s steep hills. The Baler harrier battled a knee injury earlier this season, but suffered hamstring problems on Saturday.
His time of 17:04, which placed him 12th overall, was about 40 seconds slower than what he wanted, he said.
“I was feeling good. It was just that top of the hill where I felt like I didn’t have my leg anymore,” Guzman said. “It just kind of gave out on me.”
Despite the setbacks, San Benito’s fourth-place finish was only nine points out of second place, while the senior-less team will return next season in full.
Sophomore Omar Vasquez finished 16th in 17:39, while freshman Ricardo Esqueda crossed in 20th place at 17:55. Junior Sergio Alcala rounded out San Benito’s top five with an 18:05, good enough for 23rd place.
The Baler boys advance to the CCS Championships on Nov. 14 at Crystal Springs in Belmont, and will be joined by the Lady Balers as well, which finished in fourth place with 75 points, just five points behind third-place Alisal (70).
Notre Dame, behind Nina Anderson’s league-best 18:52, was third overall with 56 points, while Gilroy posted its third straight TCAL championship with a league-low 35 points.
“This is what we expected,” San Benito head coach Josh Morales said. “I was hoping to come in second or third, but we came in fourth.”
Rachel Shimabukuro led the Lady Balers to a fourth-place individual finish after she recorded a 19:30, despite not running at the Salinas course since the Early Bird Invitational in September.
“I haven’t run here in so long,” she said. “I was trying to get [Nina Anderson] on the first mile and a half, but I died on the hills. The hills is where they got me.”
Morales traveled to Toro Park last week to conduct practices, but Shimabukuro was unable to attend due to her work schedule. The senior harrier believes her absence from the Toro Park practices certainly had an affect.
“They practiced the hills,” Shimabukuro said. “I was doing track workouts, which is good for speed, which was good for the first mile.”
Junior Dayna Casillas was ninth overall at TCALs Saturday, clocking a 20:31, while Jessica Cook finished 19th in 21:23. Michelle Duarte (21:28) and Alyssa Bautista (21:31) rounded out San Benito’s top five in 21st and 22nd place, respectively.
Only the top two teams from CCS advance to state, with the five individuals not on those qualifying teams advancing as well.
“It’s just basically getting prepared, getting pumped for every race,” Morales said. “It’s about executing. They do it in practice, but they need to do it in races.”
——
Boys Results
Individual
1, D. Perez, Salinas, 16:10; 2, M. Bell, Salinas, 16:12; 3, J. Castillo, San Benito, 16:34; 4, D. Escobar, Alisal, 16:38; 5, T. Williams, Gilroy, 16:41; 6, F. Salvador, Alisal, 16:44; 7, B. Tena, Salinas, 16:49; 8, M. Negrete, Alisal, 16:51; 9, C. Soratos, Salinas, 16:53; 10, J. Velasquez, Gilroy, 16:56; 11, A. Cobarrubias, Gilroy, 17:01; 12, E. Guzman, San Benito, 17:04; 13, C. Gobell, Salinas, 17:12; 14, C. Ortega, Salinas, 17:13; 15, T. Scaglione, Palma, 17:37; 16, O. Vasquez, San Benito, 17:39; 17, D. Apuzzo, Daniel, Gilroy, 17:41; 18, R. Valencia, Alisal, 17:44; 19, E. Ruano, Everett Alvarez, 17:53; 20, R. Esqueda, San Benito, 17:55; 21, M. Soria, Palma,18:01; 22, J. Gabino Ramirez, Gilroy, 18:04; 23, S. Alcala, San Benito, 18:05; 24, C. D’Arrigo, Palma, 18:06; 25, C. Chen, Palma, 18:09; 26, J. Rendon, San Benito, 18:12; 27, G. Cuevas, Guillermo, North Salinas, 18:14; 28, D. Pina, North Salinas, 18:15; 29, E. Villanueva, Gilroy, 18:16; 30, L. Vargas, Alisal, 18:17; 31, V. Salvador, Alisal, 18:18; 32, J. Becerra, North Salinas, 18:26; 33, S. Camcam, Palma, 18:28; 34, F. Cervantes, Everett Alvarez, 18:42; 35, F. Lee, North Salinas, 19:03; 36, K. Majewski, Palma, 19:08; 37, J. Alvarado, Alisal, 19:11; 38, A. Chiquito, Everett Alvarez, 19:23; 39, G. Murillo, Everett Alvarez, 19:26; 40, C. Martinez, North Salinas, 19:30; 41, J. Corner, Palma, 19:43; 42, O. Pelayo, North Salinas, 20:56; 43, J. Kuykendall, Everett Alvarez, 22:27.
Team
1, Salinas, 32; 2, Gilroy, 65; 3, Alisal, 66; 4, San Benito, 74; 5, Palma, 118; 6, North Salinas, 162; 7, Everett Alvarez 173.
Girls Results
Individual
1, N. Anderson, Notre Dame, 18:52; 2, A. Alarcon, Gilroy, 19:12; 3, S. Silacci, Gilroy, 19:12; 4, R. Shimabukuro, San Benito, 19:30; 5, K. Palassou, Salinas, 19:51; 6, M. Ruelas, Maritza, Gilroy, 19:53; 7, P. Hernandez, Gilroy, 20:06; 8, D. Salvador, Alisal, 20:12; 9, D. Casillas, San Benito, 20:31; 10, N. Sandoval, Notre Dame, 20:33; 11, G. Belmontes, Alisal, 20:36; 12, R. Uriostegui, Alisal, 20:38; 13, S. Mudahar, Notre Dame, 20:39; 14, M. Vollstedt, Notre Dame, 20:53; 15, V. Alcala, Everett Alvarez, 21:01; 16, B. Salvador, Alisal, 21:06; 17, B. Rodriguez, Gilroy, 21:13; 18, A. Johnston, Notre Dame, 21:14; 19, J. Cook, San Benito, 21:23; 20, R. Lopez, North Salinas, 21:27; 21, M. Duarte, San Benito, 21:28; 22, A. Bautista, San Benito, 21:31; 23, M. Meza, Alisal, 21:32; 24, A. Hill, San Benito, 21:34; 25, A. Portal, Alisal, 21:41; 26, N. Raygoza, Everett Alvarez, 21:52; 27, C. Villalobos, Salinas, 21:58; 28, S. Blalock, Salinas, 22:24; 29, J. Lopez, Alisal, 22:32; 30, H. Land, Salinas, 22:35; 31, K. Chin, Salinas, 22:48; 32, S. Ramirez, Salinas, 22:54; 33, K. Packwood, Everett Alvarez, 23:00; 34, C. Collett, Gilroy, 23:02; 35, R. Castro, Everett Alvarez, 23:27; 36, K. Vasquez, San Benito, 23:27; 37, C. Barajas, North Salinas, 23:27; 38, A. Alcibar, Everett Alvarez, 24:20; 39, E. Pedraza, North Salinas, 24:32; 40, L. Ackerman, North Salinas, 24:37; 41, K. Jennings, Notre Dame, 25:27; 42, A. Donahoe, Gilroy, 25:51; 43, K. Brandon, Everett Alvarez, 26:00; 44, A. Fragoso, North Salinas, 26:09.
Team
1, Gilroy, 35; 2, Notre Dame, 56; 3, Alisal, 70; 4, San Benito, 75; 5, Salinas, 121; 6, Everett Alvarez, 147; 7, North Salinas, 180.
