Although the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in Belmont is
known for its up-and-down start, San Benito’s Rachel Shimabukuro
experienced an up-and-down finish.
Clocking an 18:51 at the Central Coast Section Cross Country
Championships
— a personal record for Shimabukuro — the senior harrier keeled
over after the race and was forced out of the line in order to be
tended by a paramedic.
BELMONT
Although the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in Belmont is known for its up-and-down start, San Benito’s Rachel Shimabukuro experienced an up-and-down finish.
Clocking an 18:51 at the Central Coast Section Cross Country Championships — a personal record for Shimabukuro — the senior harrier keeled over after the race and was forced out of the line in order to be tended by a paramedic.
“The paramedic had to take me and give me a bucket,” Shimabukuro said.
The “horrible” experience afterward quickly turned into a passing thought once Shimabukuro heard her time, however.
“I broke 19 for the first time,” Shimabukuro screamed. “My coach said if I broke 19 (minutes), I’d get to keep the varsity warm-ups.”
Whether San Benito girls head coach Josh Morales is willing to relinquish a pair of varsity warm-ups remains to be seen. But Shimabukuro, who finished in eighth place overall in the Division I race, will at least have another opportunity to don the red-and-white warm-ups at the CIF State Cross Country Championships in two weeks.
“I just took it the last 200 meters,” Shimabukuro said. “We went out to Gavilan (College) and did a lot of hill repeats. I was taking that into account and I wasn’t half as tired as I usually am.”
Leading a Lady Baler squad that earned a surprising fourth-place finish at CCS — they finished fourth at the TCAL Championships earlier this month — Shimabukuro will be San Benito’s lone representative at the state meet, scheduled for Nov. 28 at Fresno’s Woodward Park.
The Baler boys, meanwhile, garnered a strong sixth-place finish out of 16 teams in Division I.
“They ran way better than TCALs,” Morales said. “And [Shimabukuro] ran awesome. She ran an 18:51, which is a really good time for someone in their second year of running.”
As for the warm-ups?
“Possibly,” Morales said.
San Benito compiled 129 points to narrowly finish one spot ahead of Evergreen Valley (134), but behind Gilroy (63), Carlmont (42) and section champion Gunn (39), the latter two of which will represent the CCS at state.
The 2.95-mile course at Crystal Springs tends to tire out a majority of the pack right from the start. With a steep downhill sprint during the first 400 meters, harriers can often get boxed in toward the back, or simply run out of gas when the race loops around back up the hill.
“For me it was pretty hard,” said Lady Baler Dayna Casillas. “Just going downhill, I get claustrophobic.”
The San Benito junior said the hill repeats at Gavilan certainly helped on Saturday. With a goal of breaking the 20-minute mark, Casillas recorded a 19:56 to finish 24th overall — a personal record.
“I’ve just been training hard the last couple of weeks and I really put my mind to it — I wanted to break 20 minutes,” Casillas said. “Those (hill repeats) helped a lot because the hills are really similar.”
Teammate Amanda Hill finished just 12 seconds behind Casillas in 30th place, Vanessa Estrada was 33rd in 20:27, and Jessica Cook rounded out the scoring in 50th at 20:58.
The Baler boys “stepped it up” to finish sixth overall at CCS after taking fourth in the TCAL earlier this month. Although San Benito was unable to push anyone through to the state meet, the senior-less squad is expected to return in full next year.
“I’m really proud of our guys. No one beat us in our league except for Salinas,” San Benito boys head coach Jess Morales said. “This is the real team right here.”
Led by David Perez, who earned the individual title in 15:14, the Cowboys finished third overall with 113 points behind Bellarmine (59) and section champion Carlmont (34).
“But everyone’s coming back,” Morales added. “I’m glad the guys put it together mentally. We stepped it up today.”
The Balers were paced by junior Jose Castillo, who was disappointed afterward with the 16:13 he recorded. The San Benito harrier finished in 21st place overall, but clocked a 15:52 earlier this season at Crystal Springs.
“I tried to pick it up, but I couldn’t take a deep breath,” said Castillo, who was battling a cold three days prior to the race. “I tried to push it, but my body, I couldn’t take it.
“It felt like I was suffocating. Today just wasn’t my day.”
Teammate Eddie Guzman noted the difficulty breathing on Saturday as well, but the junior Baler recorded a 16:19, nonetheless, a personal record of about 30 seconds.
“It was a faster pace and it was cold,” Guzman said. “It was a little more work to breathe because it was cold.
“I just took the downhills really fast to get in that front group. Eventually, everyone fell back and you have more room.”
Guzman finished in 26th.
Meanwhile, sophomore Omar Vasquez was 37th overall in 16:35, while junior Sergio Alcala wrapped up San Benito’s scoring with a 44th-place finish in 16:40.
“I was just trying to keep up with Jose and Eddie,” Vasquez said. “But the hills messed up my breathing.
“Next year we’ll be a stronger team, and hopefully we’ll go to state.”
