Sports

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.

Kayla King received her first yellow card when she was 4. She hasn’t let up ever since. The San Benito High senior continued her aggressive ways and stayed dedicated to soccer, and all of the hard work paid off when she verbally committed to play for Jacksonville University, a Division I program in Florida.

When a San Benito High athlete gets hurt, Danielle Techner is first on the scene. Techner, 29, is the school’s athletic trainer and teaches four sports medicine classes. Techner is present at every home sports event; if there are multiple games going on at the same time, Techner attends the contest that has “the most contact level.”

San Benito High wrestling coach Steven Salcedo had plenty of reasons to be excited after the team hosted the Fehlman/Baxter Tournament on Dec. 12. The Haybalers went 3-2 in the six-team tournament, with each team facing off in a dual format. San Benito recorded wins over College Park-Pleasant Hill, North Salinas and Ripon while dropping matches to Atascadero and Clovis.

Shraee Harrison knows there’s some decent talent on the San Benito High boys basketball team. That’s why the 6-foot-3, 200-pound forward said he feels confident the team can turn things around despite being 0-5 entering the Palma Tournament on Thursday.

The Gavilan College men’s basketball team continues to show improvement in year two under coach David Kaplansky. The Rams (3-6) recently won back-to-back games, beating Ohlone-Fremont 69-58 on Dec. 4 and Merced 82-71 on Dec. 8. The victories came off the heels of a four-game losing streak.

A year ago, the Anzar High boys basketball team had one of its best seasons in recent memory, finishing 13-12 and earning a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs. But things are fluid at the high school level, especially at a small school like Anzar, where change is constant.

The San Benito High boys soccer team didn’t exactly enjoy its time in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division last year. The Haybalers tied with Salinas for last place in the MBL’s upper division a year after they won the lower Pacific Division. San Benito enters its second year in the Gabilan expecting to show it belongs with the league’s elite teams.