San Benito's Courtney Allen didn't lap the competition in the 1,600-meter race at Friday's Tri-County Athletic League Championships held at the Garcia-Elder Sports Complex in Gilroy, but then again, she didn't have to.
A comfortable victory in five minutes, 20.38 seconds was more than enough to keep all challengers in the rear view, and it was also representative of the manner in which many of the Haybalers competed at the league finals, as the girls won their second straight TCAL title and the boys reeled off their seventh in a row. Both victories were achieved with relative ease, as the girls tallied 121 points, 12 more than the second-place Salinas Cowboys, and the boys crushed all-comers with 154 points, 80 more than the Cowboys' male counterparts who also finished in second.
"I wanted the intensity level to be higher in the 1,600 because I dedicate more time to the event," said Allen, who also scored valuable points for her squad by taking third in the 800 and second in the 3,200. "It feels really good (to win) because as a team we're all really good athletes and we mix really well together."
San Benito coaches Laurie Cottrell and Iran White were both happy to see Allen put it all together at the end of a season that has been marked by peaks and valleys.
"The last month or so she's really started to come on," White said. "The last month I've seen a real change in her, a real positive change."
"She was running to win it," Cottrell added.
Allen wasn't the only one.
Sprinter Ryan Shorey (50.14) won the boys 400 and Kelsey Russell (13.04) took the girls 100, while Austin Schmidt (15.20) and Evan McFadden (15.33) finished first and third, respectively, in the 110 high hurdles. McFadden edged Gilroy's Peter Guenther by .02 seconds for the third-place finish, securing the junior a slot in the Central Coast Section Semifinals, which will be held at the Gilroy High campus Saturday. Only the top two TCAL placers from the girls' side and the top three from the boys' side automatically advance to CCS, unless a qualifying mark was achieved earlier in the season.
"We were expecting [Schmidt and McFadden] to make it," Cottrell said. "The thing about them is they're competitors and they push each other."
Other San Benito winners in individual events included discus thrower Sarah Yoldi (115-04) and a trio of pole vaulters in Natalie Becker, Meghan Delatorre and Monique Bishop, who all cleared 8-06. The 'Balers also had the top three finishers in the boys' long jump (Schmidt, Jamil Taylor and Chris Koroluk, respectively), second in the girls' shot put (Lila Yoldi, 36-11 1/4), second in the girls' 400 (Melisah Cortez, 61.93) and the second-best in the triple jump with Josh Bryant (41-03). The boys' relay teams qualified for CCS by taking third in the 4x100 and second in the 4x400, Frankie Rivera captured second in the 1,600 (4:37.05), and Bryan Gonzalez (12-00) and Josh Godbout (11-0) took second and third in the boys' pole vault, respectively.
In total, San Benito had nine CCS qualifying marks set on the girls' side and 18 on the boys'.
"We did come here undefeated (in league), but as a coach you're always worried (about living up to expectations)," Cottrell said.
Coach White said the victories came through a balanced approach.
"We're making a real point to make sure we don't take anything for granted," he said. "The reason we win is because we perform (up to expectations)."
SAN BENITO - 100 - 1, K. Russell, 13.04; 6, S. Coelho, 13.62. 200 - 5, M. Bishop, 27.76. 400 - 2, M. Cortez, 61.93; 7, C. Emilio, 65.47. 800 - 3, C. Allen, 2:24.43; 8, A. Duarte, 2:32.97; 10, V. Farias, 2:37.34. 1,600 - 1, C. Allen, 5:20.38; 4, A. Duarte, 5:35.98; 6, V. Farias, 5:42.26; 9, D. Casillas, 5:54.28. 3,200 - 2, C. Allen, 11:54.94; 6, D. Casillas, 12:49.29. 100 Hurdles - 6, E. Dungy, 17.63; 7, L. Villagomez, 17.73; 8, A. Banuelos, 17.81. 300 Hurdles - 7, E. Gonzalez, 50.74; 9, E. Dungy, 52.29. 4x100 - 3, San Benito, 50.91. 4x400 - 4, San Benito, 4:15.80. High Jump - 4, E. Dungy, 4-10; 6, L. Ademek, 4-06; 7, M. Garrett, 4-04. Pole vault - 1, N. Becker, 8-06; 2, M. Delatorre, 8-06; 3, M. Bishop, 8-06; 4, S. Coelho, 8-0. Long jump - 5, K. Russell, 15-0; 7, L. Ademek, 14-07 _. Triple jump - 7, E. Gonzalez, 31-013/4; 9, C. Freitas, 30-03 _. Shot put - 2, L. Yoldi, 36-11 _; 7, S. Yoldi, 32-10. Discus - 1, S. Yoldi, 115-04; 3, L. Yoldi, 101-01; 9, J. Temperino, 84-04.
BOYS - 1, San Benito, 154; 2, Salinas, 74; 3, Palma, 73; 4, Gilroy, 56; 5, North Salinas, 54; 6, Everett Alvarez, 53; 7, Alisal, 32.
SAN BENITO - 100 - 5, C. Koroluk, 11.46; 8, M. Cook, 11.66. 200 - 2, R. Shorey, 22.70; 7, J. Taylor, 23.41. 400 - 1, R. Shorey, 50.14; 4, N. Soza, 52.24; 5, S. DeVries, 52.28. 800 - 5, A. Smith, 2:02.87; 7, I. Bambrick, 2:04.20. 1,600 - 2, F. Rivera, 4:37.05; 4, J. Castillo, 4:40.31; 5, E. Guzman, 4:43.00. 3,200 - 5, F. Rivera, 10:13.81; 6, J. Castillo, 10:15.59; 7, E. Guzman, 10:21.46; 21, TJ Dawson, 12:16.59. 110 hurdles - 1, A. Schmidt, 15.20; 3, E. McFadden, 15.33; 8, M. Flores, 17.00. 300 hurdles - 2, A. Schmidt, 40.03; 9, E. McFadden, 43.82. 4x100 - 3, San Benito, 43.48. 4x400 - 2, San Benito, 3:26.49. High jump - 3, J. Taylor, 5-10; 7, M. Flores, 5-08; 8, W. Evans, 5-06. Pole vault - 2, B. Gonzalez, 12-0; 3, J. Godbout, 11-0. Long jump - 1, A. Schmidt, 21-02; 2, J. Taylor, 21-01; 3, C. Koroluk, 20-11; 8, J. Bryant, 19-01 _. Triple jump - 2, J. Bryant, 41-03; 3, C. Koroluk, 41-02; 9, W. Evans, 37-09. Shot put - 3, W. Jacobson, 46-09 _; 6, M. Murphy, 42-08. Discus - 2, F. Martinez, 141-02; 9, M. Murphy, 119-03.
CCS SEMIFINALS
The Central Coast Section Semifinals will take place Saturday at the Garcia-Elder Sports Complex at Gilroy High School. Field events will begin at 9:30 a.m. and running events will begin at 11 a.m.
San Benito had nine CCS qualifying marks set on the girls' side and 18 on the boys'.
They are as follows:
GIRLS
Kelsey Russell - 100
Melisah Cortez - 400
Courtney Allen - 1,600, 3,200
Natalie Becker - Pole vault
Meghan Delatorre - Pole vault
Monique Bishop - Pole vault
Lila Yoldi - Shot put
Sarah Yoldi - Discus
BOYS
Ryan Shorey - 200, 400
Frankie Rivera - 1,600
Austin Schmidt - 110 hurdles. 300 hurdles, Long jump
Evan McFadden - 110 hurdles
4x100
4x400
Jamil Taylor - High jump, Long jump
Bryan Gonzalez - Pole vault
Josh Godbout - Pole vault
Chris Koroluk - Long jump, Triple jump
Josh Bryant - Triple jump
Wade Jacobson - Shot put
Frankie Martinez - Discus
Josh Koehn Josh Koehn is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at jkoehn@svnewspapers.com.
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