Sports

San Benito High juniors Elijah Changco and Juan Gutierrez were standout runners in elementary school—Changco at Spring Grove and Gutierrez at Sunnyslope—while Jose Ruiz didn’t try out for the San Benito High cross-country team until his sophomore year.

Opportunities to get on the mat are hard to come by for girls wrestlers at San Benito High School and most other schools. Unfortunately, it’s a matter of too few athletes and not enough money as factors keeping the school from operating a full girls team. It didn’t push away wrestlers such as recent graduate Samantha Barrientos, who spent much of her three years in the sport – like all the other girls – competing against boys who were often naturally stronger.

San Benito carried the VFW Memorial Trophy to midfield for the ceremonial coin toss and ran right back to Hollister with it for the third straight season three hours later.

The San Benito High girls soccer team is winning by not focusing on the scoreboard. While that may seem counterintuitive on the surface, it makes perfect sense in the sports world.

Charlie Gutierez's three-run blast in the top of the seventh

Runners are made, not born.

In 2013, Chris Cook was the only athlete from the San Benito High boys’ track and field team to qualify for the CIF State Meet.

San Benito senior Kyle Skinner waited nearly four years to experience a team-based tennis playoffs. This year, thanks to a perfect 10-0 record inside the Tri-County Athletic League’s Mountain Division, Skinner and the Balers accomplished that goal.