High School Sports

Tristian Medina is hoping to make up for lost time. The San Benito High senior showed plenty of promise as a sophomore two years ago, when he lost in the heavyweight division finals of the Monterey Bay League Championships before going 2-2 in the Central Coast Section Championships.

After 22 years, Chris Cameron announced on Tuesday that he has resigned as San Benito High’s football coach. Bryan Smith, who has been the team’s offensive coordinator since 2007, has been named the new head coach for the upcoming 2016 season.

With winter break almost over, the San Benito High and Anzar High sports teams are revving up to begin their respective league seasons. The San Benito boys basketball team opens up Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division play at North Monterey County on Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.

When Angel Jimenez and Andrew Huaracha played their final football game for Anzar High on Nov. 7, the emotion was palpable. The seniors love the game with a passion, so it’s no surprise both players shed plenty of tears afterward.

When Austin Perez suffered a second torn anterior cruciate ligament during her sophomore year—her second in three years—it would’ve been easy for her to give up athletics permanently.

As Michelle Serna prepared to take the stage to give an eight-minute speech for a TEDx Talk event in San Francisco on Oct. 29, she felt fully prepared. After all, the Anzar High senior had rehearsed her speech so many times that “it didn’t feel special anymore.” However, Serna still felt a rush of adrenaline in the moments before her speech.

The San Benito High boys soccer team knows no one expects it to finish among the top three teams in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division, which would earn it an automatic berth into the Central Coast Section playoffs. That’s just fine to the Haybalers, who won the third-place game of the prestigious Homestead Cup Tournament last Saturday.

The Anzar High girls soccer team came close to earning a Central Coast Section playoff berth last season. Although second-year coach Tony Rosa said the odds are stacked against the team this year to making the postseason, he likes the makeup of the squad.

Andrew Barragan has rarely met a challenge he didn’t like. On Thursday, he was given a monumental one as he was named the new softball coach at San Benito High. The Haybalers softball juggernaut won nine Central Coast Section Division I championships under former coach Scott Smith, who was not retained this past season after 14 years on the job.

Chris Borland and Dr. Bennet Omalu are right. Within America’s football-infatuated culture—I’m as guilty as anyone—we are all dangerously wrong.