‘Balers follow solid weekend at Clovis with more TCAL wins
With the cross country postseason less than three weeks away, San Benito runners are nearing the home stretch in a season that they hope ends with competing at the CIF State Championships. And after back-to-back strong showings just a day apart, the ‘Balers are proving they have the capability of turning heads and holding their own with top-notch teams.
On Saturday, the San Benito varsity teams traveled to the Clovis Invitational in Fresno, a meet that included solid programs throughout the state. Among the Central Coast Section teams in attendance, the ‘Balers took first in the girls’ division and second in the boys’. San Benito followed that up with a victories against Tri-County Athletic League foes North Salinas, Alvarez and Palma/Notre Dame on Monday at Toro Park to extend their undefeated league records to 5-0.
‘Baler boys’ coach Jess Morales said the team’s performance at Clovis led to a confident showing Monday. “I think coming in (to Clovis) and doing what we did, we came back with a good taste in our mouths,” he said.
The San Benito girls enjoyed the best time among the 11 CCS finishers at Clovis, completing the Woodward Park course six seconds in front of runner-up Salinas at 101:43. Sophomore Courtney Allen led the Lady ‘Balers’ effort by finishing seventh with a time of 19:31. Lauren Villansenor (18th), AnnMari Rich (20th), Sandy Meza (26th) and Dana Balsley (31st) rounded out San Benito’s effort among the 94 runners in the section.
“We had a lot of our girls PR by a minute or a minute and a half,” said girls’ coach Josh Morales, noting the fast race and talented competition as things that will help his team improve.
The ‘Baler boys, meanwhile, took second among the 13 CCS teams at Clovis, posting a combined time of 83:22. Willow Glen won the boys’ race at 82:17. Rigo Vasquez placed fourth among the 124 section runners with a time of 15:57. Eddie Trujillo and Adrian Rodriguez finished a second apart to take eighth and ninth, respectively.
And after just one day off, the ‘Balers came back Monday to dominate in the league competition, especially in the girls’ division.
The Lady ‘Balers enjoyed perfect scores (placing the top-five runners) in defeating Notre Dame and Alvarez, and very nearly made it a three-way sweep by beating North Salinas 16-45. Allen, Rich, Meza and Villansenor took the top-four spots overall by all finishing with times just over 20 minutes.
The ‘Baler boys, meanwhile, also stayed undefeated in league competition with wins over Palma (24-31), North Salinas (19-36) and Alvarez (15-50). Vasquez again enjoyed the best day for San Benito, finishing in 16:26 for the best time of the day. Rodriguez took third overall at 17:05.
The TCAL Championships are set for Oct. 28 at Toro Park, but Josh Morales said both varsity teams have much higher goals.
“We’re going to have our hands full with Salinas,” Morales said of the Lady ‘Balers’ main threat to a league crown, “but our main goal is still to make it to State.”
With a top-two finish at the CCS Championships on Nov. 11 needed to qualify for State, Morales said he thought both the boys’ and girls’ teams have a strong shot.
“The boys are doing really awesome,” he said. “The varsity boys are in really good shape right now to make it to State, too.”
San Benito hosts Alisal in the ‘Balers’ final home meet of the season on Monday at Park Hill at 3:30pm.
