Baler swimming teams win at Salinas, volleyball loses at
Alisal
The San Benito boys varsity track team finished in second place in the field of 16 teams at the inaugural Alisal Festival Invitational track and field meet Saturday at Alisal High in Salinas, and the girls team finished seventh.
San Benito’s Willie Sanchez finished first in the long jump with a leap of slightly more than 20 feet.
He jumped his best jump early in the prelimary round, and no one in the finals came close to besting his distance. Sanchez usually competes in the 100 and 200-meter sprints and the long jump, but has also added the 4 by 400-meter relay to his arsenal.
Jesse Rice continued his improvement in the 400-meter race, recording a personal best in that event of 50.56 – one of the fastest times in the Central Coast Section.
Jamie O’brian won the 300-meter hurdles, solidifying her victory in that event from last Thursday. Jonathan Rivera won the 1600-meter race, running in the lead from start to finish.
The San Benito frosh/soph girls team came in seventh, while the boys came in 11th.
The Balers will compete in their last dual meet of the year Thursday against North Salinas at 3:30 p.m. at Andy Hardin Field in Hollister.
The North Salinas boys are led by Ronnie Drummer, who runs in the 100-meter and 200-meter races and usually runs the second or third leg of a Central Coast Section ranked 4 by 100-meter relay team.
North Salinas’ Marben Woo is also CCS ranked in the 400 meters and in the jumps. The San Benito boy’s track and field team has not lost in league competition in four events – the 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter and 1600-meter runs.
The Lady Balers will have to defeat North Salinas’ Rannia Hernandez in the 200 meter, 400 meters and long jump.
Swimming
The San Benito swim teams wrapped up their regular seasons with victories at Salinas on Friday The Haybaler boys won 108-74, while the girls won by three points, despite not having any divers and having to give up 13 points before the meet started.
“Salinas is a strong team,” said Baler swim coach Leif Nordstrom. “We were missing some guys, but we were well balanced.”
Freshman Jason Andrade, the Balers’ lone diver, has been steadily progressing this year, Nordstrom said.
“Last meet, when he dove against Salinas, he looked more confident,” Nordstrom said. “I feel good about his chances of placing high.”
The only event the boys team did not come in first was the 50 freestyle. Robbie Shattuck recorded his fastest time in the breaststroke with a 1:04.6.
“There is still room for improvement,” Nordstrom said. “He is in good position to get first in league.”
The Smith brothers took first in their events – Dave in the 100 back, Christian in the 500 free and Joel in the 100 fly.
The Tri-County Athletic League finals will be at Live Oak on Saturday at 9 a.m. The diving finals will be Wednesday.
“We will be tapering off our workout – but it will be a two-week taper,” Nordstrom said. “We will slowly drop off the yardage and focus a lot more on technique.”
Volleyballb
The San Benito volleyball team lost at Alisal 25-22, 24-26, 23-25, 15-25 on Friday.
The Haybalers (10-15, 6-6 TCAL) were without outside hitter Jonathan Crepeau, who is recovering from an ankle sprain.
Tomas Rebecchi led the way with six kills, and Nathan Thome had five.
“We played up to our potential today,” said coach Henke Mao. “We had a new lineup, and we played well, considering we weren’t at full strength.”
San Benito will be at Palma on Wednesday.
