Gilroy varsity field hockey coach Adam Gemar called his team’s
7-0 defeat against Archbishop Mitty on Sept. 5
”
a butt-whipping.
”
Gilroy – Gilroy varsity field hockey coach Adam Gemar called his team’s 7-0 defeat against Archbishop Mitty on Sept. 5 “a butt-whipping.”
At the Willow Glen Invitational on Saturday, the favor was returned.
After dropping its first two games of the tourney on Friday, the team turned around and rolled off three straight victories against Mitty (2-1), St. Ignatius (1-0) and Bella Vista (2-0).
“We’ve never won three games in a row at Willow Glen before,” co-head coach Erin Gemar said. “We got really humbled last week and we were able to really finish strong on Saturday. It’s definitely a confidence builder after a humbling spell, and both are important to a successful team.”
“It just felt great, pretty much beating someone who has never lost,” Lindsey Valadez said, noting that the team hasn’t lost in several years. “It felt great, especially after getting our butts whooped.”
“That was the best we’ve worked together so far this season,” Samantha Saenz added.
The team will now begin league play by taking on York school this afternoon in Monterey at 3:30pm.
Cross Country
The Mustangs got moving at Christmas Hill Park on Monday, running by TCAL competition to turn in excellent early season times.
Facing runners from Salinas and Alisal, the Gilroy boys and girls varsity cross-country teams each took a victory in team play, with the girls winning both of their meets.
The girls defeated Salinas 24-31 (the lower score the better) with Jessica Hopf coming in first with a time of 19 minutes, 39 seconds. Kathleen Miller came in second with a time of 19:48 followed by a personal record for Paty Hernandez (4th,19:58). Other top finiishers were Andy Donahoe (8th, 21:29) and Brandie Rodriguez (21:34). The girls finished first through fifth when comparing their times against those of Alisal.
“It was like having two dual meets,” GHS coach Cathy Silva said. “It was us against Salinas and us against Alisal.”
Defeating Salinas, a perennial powerhouse according to Silva, was quite an achievement so early in the season.
“We haven’t dominated over Salinas,” Silva said. “We haven’t beat Salinas in 10 to 17 years.”
The boys had reversed fortunes, losing to Salinas (41-20) but winning against Alisal (24-31).
GHS’ Derek Pesta finished in 16:51, which was good for first against Salinas and second against Alisal. Runners that followed him were 8th place finisher Juan Velasquez (17:56) and Timothy Williams (11th, 18:38). Velasquez would have been seventh against Salinas and Williams would have been 10th.
“Those Salinas runners, they have a strong group that really ran well at our course,” Silva said. “But the (Gilroy) kids overall did really well. Most of them PR’d or came close to their overall best.
“It’s becoming more common,” the coach continued. “We want to see them each week, performing better and better.”
The junior varsity boys defeated Salinas 24-34.
“The reason we think this is such a big deal is because we think this is what our future is going to be like,” Silva said.
