GHS boys cross country wins second league meet over Palma at
Toro Park
SALINAS – After getting a taste of victory for the first time in three years at home, the Mustang runners tackled the Toro Park course and came away with a 26-29 dual-meet victory over Palma to add another T-CAL notch to their belts.
Although Palma’s Robert Maher won the boys cross country race in 17:23, the next three runners to cross the finish line were all Mustangs. Sophomore Arnulfo Velasquez led the group for second place in 17:35 with senior Steven Bennett taking third in 18:05 and freshman Jose Velasquez placing fourth in 18:14.
“This was a great race for the team,” Coach Wayne Scott said. “It is the first race in my three years here that the team raced as a team. The guys were focused on their competition and knew what they had to do to give themselves a chance to win. They fought through some pain and stayed focused.They won the meet and ran outstanding times as a result.”
Also helping the Gilroy cause were Nate Barmore in eighth place and Allan Chan in ninth place. The other Mustang finishers were Darrin Amerson and Jacob Trujillo. Four of the top five runners ran personal records for the Toro Park course – including freshman Jose Velasquez, who was running in Salinas for the first time.
“This group has worked very hard the last several weeks. Opening the season with a two-point loss to a good Live Oak squad woke this team up to the fact that they could be good,” Scott said. “The focus in practice has been outstanding and is starting to pay off. They all ran 20 to 30 seconds faster than they ever ran the course before. That doesn’t happen very often for an entire team to run that well in one race. I am very happy for the team. They earned this win.”
Coach Scott – who hopes for more in Gilroy’s Oct. 2 home meet against Hollister at 3:30 p.m. – singled out Bennett and Jose Velasquez as having raced particularly well.
“When the team does this well as a group, it is hard to single out individuals. However, Steven ran his best race by far since I’ve been working with him. He lead by example today. It’s the kind of senior leadership that makes things happen,” Scott said. “Jose Velasquez ran a smart race and stayed within himself. What can you say about a freshman who is dead last at the quarter-mile mark and finishes fourth with an outstanding time. Without Jose gutting out the race, we lose.”
