High School Sports

The San Benito High track and field team can usually count on 100-plus athletes trying out for the squad every year.

Led by the return of five standouts—Erin Hepner, Heather Smith, Grace Larson, Shannon Stephens, and Hayleigh Smith—the San Benito High girls swimming team should be right in the mix for another solid finish in the Monterey Bay League.

Jake Last’s last name doesn’t correlate with his swimming aptitude. A San Benito High junior, Last is closer to first whenever he finishes a race. Last’s teammate, senior August Spurzem—or Gus as he has been called from the time he could remember—comes from a swimming family.

When the San Benito High boys tennis team finished 0-13 two years ago, coach Chris Yoder knew it would either build character in his younger players or prevent them from trying out for the squad again.

Suzette Vandenberg had pretty much made up her mind that she wasn’t going to try out for the San Benito High girls soccer team last November.

In its rich and storied history, the San Benito High softball program has had countless players who could be qualified as great at the high school level.

The San Benito High boys golf team is coming off one of its best seasons in program history, having advanced to the final round of the Central Coast Section Tournament.

HOLLISTER—In terms of rivalries, one would be hard-pressed to find a better one than Gilroy vs. San Benito baseball.

Every year, the San Benito High baseball team faces a couple of powerhouse programs in the Central Coast Section playoffs—usually from the vaunted West Catholic League—and so far, the Haybalers have been denied that elusive section championship.

At one point in the San Benito High boys volleyball team’s season-opener against Gilroy on Feb. 25, the Haybalers had five freshmen and a sophomore on the court.