Sports

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.

It wasn’t that long ago when the San Benito High wrestling team regularly competed for Central Coast Section championships and had individuals vying to reach the CIF State Meet. First-year coach Steven Salcedo believes the program can get back to its once coveted position as one of the elite teams in the section.

The San Benito High girls soccer team opened the season with a 2-0 non-league loss to Leigh on Dec. 1. Despite recording just two shots on goal in the second half, the Haybalers showed flashes of potential that gave fourth-year coach Becky Bonner-Leland plenty of reason for warranted optimism.

A year ago, the San Benito High boys basketball team had a season to forget. The Haybalers finished 6-18 overall and 3-9 in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division. Only Seaside had a worse mark in the Gabilan. A rash of injuries and other issues exacerbated San Benito’s problems, making for a long season.

Despite returning just one starter from a team that finished second in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division a year ago, San Benito High girls basketball coach Mitch Burley expects good things for the upcoming season.

In just its fifth year as a program, the Tri-County Rebels Peewee football team reached the pinnacle of its sport—winning the Monterey Bay Youth Football League(MBYFL) Super Bowl. The Rebels did so by defeating the Salinas Colts 14-8 in overtime on Nov. 21 at Rabobank Stadium.

The San Benito High football team had a chance to measure itself against one of the best teams in Northern California on Friday in a Central Coast Section Open Division I playoff semifinal at San Jose City College.

A year ago, David Kaplansky took over a Gavilan College men’s basketball program that had finished 1-22 the previous season. It’s apparent the former San Benito High coach has steered the Rams in the right direction.

When things didn’t work out for Omar Vasquez at Colorado Mesa University last spring, it looked as if his running career was over. The former San Benito High cross country and track standout competed for Colorado Mesa’s track team in the 2015 season, but for various reasons the college wasn’t the right fit.