A little more than 10 months removed from a one-point loss in the Tri-County Athletic League championship to Notre Dame, girls track and field coach Bob Rawles was insistent that the championship was in the past and it was a new year.
Regardless of how hard the Balers try to forget that one-point defeat, the season started Thursday with a familiar foe: Notre Dame.
In a “cob-web shaking” meet – both the boys and girls track and field teams won in commanding fashion over the TCAL’s private schools Palma and Notre Dame.
For the girls, the victory was a precursor to greater things this year – and a nice revenge from last May’s TCAL defeat, Rawles said.
The girls team lost only a few point-scoring athletes from last year and expects to compete at every meet and in this year’s TCAL championship, Rawles said. Thursday’s victory and the showing at the K-Bell Invitational at Westmont High School on Saturday were just the beginning of the year.
“The other night I put together a sheet on whether we were good, or were we great, or were we average or do we need some help in that event,” Rawles said. “There was only two events that we were going to need some help in and we have girls already stepping up to help us. I told the girls that I was super excited and I wanted it to be a fun thing for them. I wanted them to have pride in running Hollister track – a great tradition.”
He continued: “But really underneath it all, I kind of really wanted to win. I’m just super excited for being at the helm again because it’s just a great group of girls to work with.”
With no real issues, Rawles will proudly display the team’s depth at each meet, he said. San Benito will need great production from its long-distance running team – including last year’s top scorer Vanessa Estrada – and its throwing team – led by state-hopeful Krystal Alnus.
“She is going to be able to take care of business,” Rawles said. “She is an outstanding thrower and we expect her to go to state and a have a great, great year.”
Alnus has even higher expectations for herself: Breaking the school’s record for both the discus and shot put, she said. Alnus also expects the school’s second TCAL championship in her four years.
“I’ve been working hard on it since my freshman year,” she said. “For my team, I want to win us the TCAL title. We had it my freshman year – we fell short my sophomore and junior year. We have a lot of hard workers so I know if we pull together we can do it.”
It’s important that the older athletes help the younger athletes achieve that success, team captain Darian Maroney said.
“I put my effort in, you put your effort in,” Maroney said. “We try to do a lot of bonding, like a sister program with them. This season we have younger girls and we bring a treat to help them get motivated. We are very open with them if they need to talk. We usually do a pump-up speech to get them going.”
In the team’s league opening meet with Notre Dame, the team did just that.
Estrada placed first in the 800 meters (2:20) and 1600 meters (5:09) to help the Balers to a 86-38 victory. La Nae Stevens (13.44) and Savanna Wilson (13.88) took first and second in the 100 meters and long jump.
And Alnus took first in the discus (124-06) and shot put (35-06) for the Balers.
At Westmont’s K-Bell Invitational, Estrada finished first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16.54. She also placed second in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:05.24. Alnus fired an invite-best 119-00 in the discus throw.
The boys, however, have their own set of issues. Gone are league-champions Jason Roascio, Scott Medina and Enrique Ramos. In their place is a team that’s nearly 50 percent new, head coach Iran White said.
“Last year, we had a really strong team and we lost a lot of those guys,” White said. “But the young guys were nipping at their heels a little bit. They are not quite on that level yet, but we are hoping that throughout the year they can get to that level and build to next year.”
The team might not have the same high-level, talent but it could have more talent at different levels, White said.
“I would say this year, we are not going to be as strong as we were last year – maybe a little bit more well rounded,” White said. “By the end of the year, we will be in position to have another successful team. As far as the league goes, we will be one of the stronger teams in the league.”
To be successful, White will rely on his senior returnees, including all-league sprinters David Kret and Taylor Lothman. The two seniors, who competed on the 4×400 relay with Roascio and Medina, are now the leaders of the team – something they are still trying to get used to.
“It’s a really young team and – especially without Jason and Scott – me and Taylor really have to step up,” Kret said. “It was always us following them because they were the leaders. But we have been working for this position. Me and Taylor just need to step it up.”
The biggest issues so far this year has been warming up for Kret and Lothman.
“I was just asking Taylor before the 400, ‘when do you warm up?’ Kret said. “He said, ‘when Jason and Scott warm up.’ So now we have to make that decision for ourselves. We have to keep track of time. There is a lot more to do and follow. It’s not difficult but it’s different from what we are used to. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous at first.”
As a team, the Balers’ Lothman, Kret and a slew of long-distance runners, including TCAL cross-country champion R.J. Collins, will need to do well for the Balers to earn a second league title in a row.
“We are expecting a good season out of them,” White said. “They are older and they are working hard and stepping up their game. We are expecting good things out of them.”
Against Palma, the older athletes did step up in a 96-44 victory. The San Benito boys team finished in first place in 10 different events.
Collins placed first in the 800-meters and 1600-meter events. And the combination of Lothman and Kret placed first and second in both the 400 and 200 meters. Lothman and Kret combined with Benjy DeVries and Christopher Cook to win the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:34 – seven seconds faster than Palma.
In the discus throw, Jack Power (123-05), Zack Szyndrowski (120-11) and Erik Rivera (115) finished in the top three.
At Westmont, Kret finished in second place (50.58) in the 400 meters, followed closely by Lothman with a time of 51.06.
Benito continues its season Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Gilroy High School.
