By Marc David SPorts Editor
It was a busy weekend away from home for Gilroy varsity teams.
The boys water polo team traveled to Watsonville for a tournament and came way with second place. The field hockey team had mixed results at the Willow Glen Invitational. The volleyball team placed sixth of 16 teams at the St. Ignatius Invitational in San Francisco. The cross country teams competed in the North Monterey County Early Bird Invitational at Toro Park.
WATER POLO
Coach Tom Clark was pleasantly surprised at the second-place finish of the Gilroy boys team, which was edged by San Lorenzo Valley 10-7 in the finals.
Senior Austin Gubrud had a big tourney for the Mustangs with five goals in four straight matches.
Eric Boe and Brad Scherck netted three goals each as GHS beat San Lorenzo Valley B 19-5 in the opener. Daniel Shields tallied five goals as the Mustangs defeated Santa Clara 11-6. Eddie Malick had five goals as Gilroy beat Sobrato 17-2.
“I was very happy with the way we played,” Clark said. “It was a good start for us.”
FIELD HOCKEY
Adam Gemar described the Willow Glen Jamboree as a “learning experience” for Gilroy.
Despite not having Erin Magill, who was on an official college visit, the Mustangs came up just short to powerhouse Archbishop Mitty, 1-0. GHS bounced back Friday to edge Live Oak 1-0 as Russhelle Preeshl scored.
The Mustangs scored just one goal in three Saturday matches, but didn’t allow any. Amanda Vasquez’s goal was the difference in a 1-0 win over Lynbrook. GHS battled Leland and Willow Glen to scoreless ties.
GHS came up on the short end of a 4-0 loss Monday to Mitty. The Mustangs’ junior varsity lost 3-0.
“I am happy we got to play Mitty at the beginning of the season,” Adam Gemar said. “It showed our weaknesses as well as our strengths. At this point, they are better coached. We came in unprepared.”
But the Gemars promise to re-vamp the offense to add more punch to the attack.
VOLLEYBALL
Gilroy got off to a fast start in pool play, defeating Mercy-Burlingame 25-23, 25-23, and coming from behind to beat Burlingame 21-25, 25-23, 15-13. The Mustangs finished 2-1 in pool play when they lost to host St. Ignatius 25-9, 25-10.
Competing then in the Gold Division, GHS lost to Bishop O’Dowd 25-12, 25-15, before beating Terra Linda 25-5, 25-16 in the consolation bracket. The Mustangs finished by losing to Sacred Heart Cathedral 25-9, 25-16.
“It was a long day, but I was happy with how we did,” coach Sue Grogan said. “We left Gilroy at 6:30 a.m., and played our final match at 8 p.m. Getting into the Gold Division was great for us.”
Gilroy’s Caitlin Chisholm was named to the all-tournament team.
CROSS COUNTRY
Gilroy’s girls finished eighth of 24 in the frosh-soph division. The Mustangs were led by Kathleen Miller, who was seventh in 20:27. Brandie Rodriguez (28th) clocked 22:37 and Christine Bobula (34th) 22:46, both of which were personal bests, for GHS.
Derek Pesta had an outstanding run for the junior boys. His 16:56 was not only a PR but good for 14th of 235 juniors and 40th of 941 runners overall.
Boys divisions were divided into classes. Matt Sosa’s 19:25 was good for 29th of 239 among freshmen, and Jaime Reyes’ 17:48 was 26th of 271 among sophomores. Both were personal bests for the GHS runners.
Fifty-two schools competed in the invitational. Many will return Saturday for the Chieftain Invitational at Toro Park.
