After three years as head coach of the San Benito High girls
track and field team, Laurie Chavez announced her resignation last
month and will be replaced by Bob Rawles, Athletic Director Tod
Thatcher said Tuesday.
HOLLISTER
After three years as head coach of the San Benito High girls track and field team, Laurie Chavez announced her resignation last month and will be replaced by Bob Rawles, Athletic Director Tod Thatcher said Tuesday.
The coaching change took effect last week, when Rawles was named to the position after spending two years coaching the Balers in throwing events. Rawles said he plans to retain his position as the throws coach, but will now also cover a greater scope as the Baler girls’ head coach.
Having won the Tri-County Athletic League title three times in the last four years, the Baler girls have had “great athletes and great teams,” Rawles said.
“And I want to facilitate that and keep it going,” he added.
It could be a temporary position, though, as Chavez, formerly Laurie Cottrell, stepped down in December due to family concerns.
“Track is my passion. That’s where I love to be. But it just got so hard, with raising a 2-year-old and expanding the family,” she said. “It’s just hard to commit right now.”
Previously a jumps coach for the Balers, Chavez took the reigns of the girls team in 2008, leading San Benito to a TCAL title in her first season and again in 2009.
The Balers finished fifth in the TCAL last spring, but will return plenty to this year’s squad, including Maura Forbush and Vanessa Estrada in the middle- to long-distance races, Melissa Castro in the jumps and hurdles, and Krystal Alnas in the throwing events.
Practices for the track and field team are scheduled to begin Monday at San Benito High.
Chavez said she plans to help out as much as she can in the meantime, especially early on in the season as the transition of head coaches will be new to the athletes.
“I just can’t commit to the everyday … the grind,” she said.
Rawles was more than willing to help out, whether it be just for a season or longer.
“My plan was to take it over this year, and if Coach Chavez wants to return I’d certainly give it right back,” he said. “But I’ll try to go out there and keep up the strides of the Baler track and field team that have been set long before me.”
An assistant throws coach for the Balers a year ago and also on the coaching staff for the football team, Rawles has been coaching both football and track and field for nearly 20 years, with stops in Aptos, North Monterey County, Everett Alvarez and San Benito, where he has spent the last two years as a coach for the Balers.
The track team is currently shoring up positions among assistant coaches as well, but they are expected to be ready to go by the season opener — the Willow Glen Invitational on March 5.
“We’re gonna go out there and get it done,” Rawles said.
