Hollister High’s Isidro Trujillo nudged his way to the front of
the pack 100 yards into Saturday’s Tri-County Athletic League cross
country championships at Toro Park.
SALINAS – Hollister High’s Isidro Trujillo nudged his way to the front of the pack 100 yards into Saturday’s Tri-County Athletic League cross country championships at Toro Park. Trujillo proceeded to break away from the pack to capture the 3.0-mile varsity race in a time of 16:19, one second ahead of his personal best for the course.
Trujillo’s dominant performance meant that a Baler has won the varsity boys title seven straight years – Patrick Hernandez (’01), Frankie Renteria (’00), Ben Morales (’99, ’98), Cuco Chavez (’97, ’96). Renteria and Hernandez are running for Hartnell College, while Chavez and Morales are running at Cal State Sacramento.
Trujillo, a senior, defeated Salinas junior Vikram Patel by seven seconds.
“I had a good finish,” said Trujillo. “I felt strong at the end.”
“Isidro made the commitment at midseason to win the title,” said Baler assistant Jesse Morales, father of Ben Morales. “He had to give up adult soccer on the weekends and focus on cross-country. I wanted either Jonathan (Rivera) or Isidro to win it. I didn’t care who.”
Rivera (16:31), a junior, outckicked Live Oak sophomore Billy Wong (16:31) for third in a photo finish.
“That made it fun,” said Rivera. “They said my shoulder was ahead of his at the wire.”
The Balers placed second in the team competition, however, losing to the deep Cowboys 32-52. Baler head coach Randy Logue noticed the improvement.
“Last time we raced Salinas we lost 17-84,” said Logue. “That’s quite an improvement over the course of the year.”
After Patel, the next four Cowboys placed 6th through 10th to secure the victory.
Next Baler up was Josh Vasquez, who was 10th in 17:33. Vasquez is only a sophomore. Kyle Fowles, a junior in his first year of running, placed 15th at 17:42. Sophomore Victor Hernandez was 19th at 17:58, while Jeff Spencer, just a freshman, placed 21st at 18:07.
The Balers’ Corey Ferguson led a mythical championship at the frosh-soph level, placing second with a time of 18:59. The Balers totaled 33 points. Other Baler included Diego Sanchez (4th-20:05), Robbie Brooks (6th-20:17), Cody Diller (10th-21:25), Devin Leisinger (11th-21:26) and John Dixon (13th-21:56).
The Baler junior varsity boys were second behind Salinas 34-39. Top Baler was Patrick Hansen, who was second at 18:19. Kyle Ferguson was fifth at 18:28 with Albert Sandoval (6th-18:51). Others included Adrian Perez (9th-19:13) and Eli Contreras (17th-19:52).
The Balers will train for the Central Coast Section championships, which will be held at Toro Park on Nov. 16. The Balers will race in Division I. Logue feels the experience at Toro will help his team.
“This will be the seventh time we’ve raced it,” said Logue. “This is a hard-working, dedicated group of kids. We’re looking forward to another chance at Toro.”
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