Having qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships last season, Marisa Villegas and Nolan Sanchez enter the season with high expectations once again. The San Benito High seniors are the headliners for a track and field team that plans on completing a sweep of the Monterey Bay League Championships.
Villegas, who is a two-time state qualifier in the 1600-meter run—she finished second in the Central Coast Section Championships as a junior—plans on running the event in the low 4:50s. The UCLA-bound Villegas also is going to focus more on the 800 than in previous years.
Sanchez, who enjoyed a breakout junior season by setting some huge personal-records (PRs) in every event he ran, returns as one of the favorites in the section to win the 800. Sanchez has a PR of 1:54.33 in the event, and has run the 400 in a personal-best time of 50.67 seconds.
For now, however, the two standouts trying to get back to 100 percent health. As a precautionary measure, Villegas didn’t run in the Haybalers’ season-opening meet last Saturday in the Willow Glen Invite. Sanchez did compete in the event, but in the days after started suffering from shin splints.
Fortunately for the two seniors, there’s plenty of season left to make their mark.
“I just have to train harder and push a little more,” said Sanchez, who in addition to the 400 and 800 will run the 1600 periodically throughout the season.
Villegas got a head start on training for the track season after bypassing the soccer season. Villegas was a two-year starter at defender, but after she earned a scholarship to run at UCLA last fall, she knew it was time to focus all of her efforts on the track.
“I’m coming into this season ahead of where I was in past years because of the extra training,” she said. “I think I’m more prepared and conditioned to get the times I want.”
Other top returners on the girls team include Annie Breger and Camille Finley, who compete in the jumping events. Breger had top-10 finishes in both the high jump and triple jump in last year’s CCS Championships, while Finley advanced to the CCS Semifinals in both events. Another promising returner, Dakota Peebles, took fourth in the 300 hurdles in Willow Glen.
Other key returnees on the boys team include Anthony Delgado, Isaac Regalado, Peter Reikowski and Daniel Pasillas. Delgado took second in the 300 hurdles and third in the 110 hurdles at Willow Glen, while Regalado placed fifth in the high jump. Reikowski was fourth in the pole vault and Pasillas sixth in the shot put.
Newcomer Jack Breger, who played on the volleyball team in his freshman and sophomore years, didn’t take long to make an impact on the track. At Willow Glen, Breger took second in the 100 in 11.20 seconds. Now in the twilight of her prep athletic career, Villegas would love nothing more than to win a CCS title.
In late January, Villegas ran the Mission 10 Race in San Juan Bautista, averaging 6:45-minute mile pace over 10 miles. This season, Villegas plans on finishing strong in both the mile and 800. Villegas has been training with Sanchez and some of the other faster boys on the team, and it’ll give her an edge in the biggest meets of the season.
“Trying to stay with Nolan and some of the other top guys is making me better,” she said.
Sanchez acknowledged he would’ve been in superior shape had he competed in cross country in the fall. However, Sanchez opted to forego his final cross country season and is playing catch-up as a result. But Sanchez is moving forward, striving to be physically and mentally tough. Sanchez had a dream 2016 season, setting successive PRs in the 400 and 800 in the four meets leading up to the State Championships.
Sanchez has a number of goals this season, one of which includes setting the school record in the 400 (48.5 seconds). Sanchez’s lifetime best in the event is 50.67.
“I think I’m capable of reaching that by MBLs, and possibly the Top 8 (Track Classic on April 22),” he said. “I want to do what I did last year, but just a little faster. For the 800 my initial plan at first was to go 1:48. But not doing cross country took a toll on my running, so I’m still getting into prime shape. … I have to be a bit realistic, so 1:50 would be the perfect mark.”
