Prep Roundup: Sept. 30

The Gilroy area cross country teams had much to smile about after their first Center Meet of the season. 
Both the Gilroy boys and girls varsity teams took second, while the Christopher girls tied for third at the meet Wednesday at Toro Park. The boys finished second with a score of 47 to Palma’s 30. The girls’ score of 71 put them just a point behind Watsonville (70) to finish as the runners up. 
The Gilroy boys were led by Kairo Barroso who took fourth with a time of 18:25, cutting 30 seconds off his time to finish fourth. Right behind him was teammate Sean Kaufman who finished fifth in 18:33. Kaufman’s time was 32 seconds faster than his previous. 
Monica Ruelas was the first across for the Mustang girls, finishing fifth in 22:12. Several Mustangs were able to cut time off their finishes including Karlita Lozano who finished 12th, took 47 seconds in a time of 23:47. Bianca Becerra (23rd) took 48 seconds off her finish, coming in at 24:54. Bianca Johnson took 45 seconds off to finish in 24 minutes even and finish 15th and Courtney Pipkin came across the finish line in 24:32 (20th) to take 30 seconds off her time. 
“Due to the windy conditions Coach Art and I were not expecting time improvements,” Coach Catherine Silva said in an email. “We were hoping to remain steady, but the athletes are always amazing us with their performances.” 
The Christopher girls tied with Monte Vista Christian for third place with both schools scoring 80 points. Natalie Filippi finished fourth for the Cougars in a time of 22:10. Vicky Fox was sixth, crossing the finish line in 22:23.
On the junior varsity side, Christopher finished first in the boys race with a score of 35 while Gilroy was third overall with 67.
Hector Lopez finished first for the Cougars in 19:27, followed by teammates Brandon Ellenberg in third at 19:35 and Sawyer Ciccone in 19:52.  Gilroy’s Jesus Sanchez took second in 19:31, cutting 21 seconds off his previous time.
Librada Lopez took first in the girls race for the Mustangs, who took second by a score of 36, in a time of 25:29. 
The Frosh-Soph Gilroy boys finished first in their race, sweeping the top five spots. Jonathan Viveros took first (19:22), Jacob Una Dia was second (19:44), Julian Flores finished third (20:10), Eddie Vargas took fourth (21:06) and John Angkiango was fifth (21:42). 
The Mustangs and Cougars will be back in action at 5 p.m. on Oct. 9 to compete in the Center Meet II at Pinto Lake. 
VOLLEYBALL
Cougars fall to Balers
The Christopher girls volleyball team was swept 3-0 by San Benito in a Monterey Bay Pacific League matchup Thursday on the road. 
The Cougars (6-3 overall, 1-1 in league) lost 9-25, 13-25, 10-25 to the Haybalers. Olivia Tabron led the team in kills with 6, while Cheyanne Dela Merced led in assists with 14. Michelle Toves had 14 digs for CHS.
Christopher will host Salinas at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.