Lack of numbers hurts swim team; Several tracksters place first,
Golf beats Palma
Gilroy – With just five swimmers – all of whom are either freshmen or sophomores – the Gilroy girls’ swimming team had no business competing with a varsity team.
But the Mustangs did it anyway.
On Friday, the Gilroy swimmers were just three points behind North Salinas going into the meet’s final event, the 400-meter freestyle relay. If Gilroy had had enough swimmers, the Mustangs would have had the chance to come away with the win. But without a relay team to participate in the last event, Gilroy lost its second meet this season by an 83-68 margin to the Vikings.
“We’re building,” said Gilroy head coach Tom Clark. “We just don’t have the numbers.”
Though it came up short in the team race, Gilroy had several individual winners. Taking home wins were freshman Megan Collett in the 100-meter freestyle (1:00.93) and 100-meter backstroke, sophomore Jenny Ailes in the 50-meter freestyle (28.42), Melissa Davis in the 200-meter freestyle (2:23.35) and sophomore Alex Comin in the 100-meter individual medley (2:46.37). Sophomore Cassie Collom took second in both the 200 free (2:27.21) and the 100 fly (1:24.16).
“We’re doing pretty well,” said freshman Davis, who has won every 200 free event she’s entered this year. “Personally, I want to beat 5:55 for the 500 (free) because that’s top 10 (in CCS). I hope we do good at TCAL’s.”
The Gilroy girls’ team is 1-2, with its one win was against San Benito on March 3. The boys’ team, which didn’t compete in the meet on Friday, has one win (against Alvarez) and one loss (against San Benito).
The Mustangs have their next meet on Friday against Palma and Notre Dame at Hartnell College in Salinas at 5pm.
GHS Track Competes at Raymond Relays, Hosts North Salinas
The Gilroy team had its top girl sprinter, Ariana Vera, out sick and its top boy sprinter, Steven Heisey, out with a pulled hamstring when the Mustangs hosted North Salinas Thursday in a dual meet.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the Vikings are known for their strong sprinters.
The combination didn’t bode well for Gilroy’s team scores.
The North Salinas varsity girls beat the Gilroy girls 80-56 while the Viking boys took down the Mustangs 74-62. The varsity girls fell to 0-3 in TCAL dual meets. The boys dropped to 1-2.
The meet ended with some excitement; in the girls’ high jump of all places.
“The high jump ran late so it was still going on (after all the other events had ended),” said Gilroy head coach Jeff Myers. “Both teams circled around. There was so much excitement and pressure.”
Gilroy jumpers Megan McAvoy and Jaimie Silva competed with a North Salinas jumper for the top spots. Silva bowed out after clearing 4-6. McAvoy and her Viking opponent both cleared 5-0, but McAvoy ended up finishing second with more misses. The junior also took second in the triple jump, behind sophomore teammate Samantha Doo.
On the boys’ side, senior Bobby Best won the shot put with a 48-foot throw and the discus with a season best distance of 150 feet. Miles Amodeo was a three-event winner in 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and high jump, as was Arnulfo Velasquez, who swept the distance events (800, 1600 and 3200).
For the girls, freshman Kathleen Miller dominated the distance events, winning the 800, 1600 and 3200. Courtney Kennedy won the pole vault.
Last weekend at the Raymond Relays, the athletes got to compete even more tightly as a team in the all-relay meet.
“One of most enjoyable races was the co-ed throwers 4X100 relay,” Myers said. “They blew away the rest of the field.”
That team was made up of Amodeo, Deena Morsilli, Jasmine Ross and Bobby Best.
Also garnering first-place finishes were the varsity boys’ discus team of Best, Ismael Gutierrez and Chris Jeske, and the boys’ frosh/soph sprint medley team of Kris Moore, Peter Guenther, Travis Reyes and Heisey.
The varsity boys’ shot put team of Best, Jeske and Amodeo took third, as did the varsity girls’ sprint medley (Rebekah Komar, Vera, Amanda Krueger and Heather Leuchars) and the frosh/soph girls’ distance medley (Christine Bobula, Kristina Schmidt, Tianna Jones and Miller).
GHS Boys’ Golf Tied for Third in TCAL After Mid-Season Tourney
The Gilroy boys’ golf team posted its second-lowest score of the season Wednesday to finish third in the TCAL mid-season tournament at Ridgemark Golf Course in Hollister.
The Mustangs (203) finished behind first-place San Benito (200) and second-place Salinas (201), but ahead of Palma (206), which sit atop the overall TCAL standings with the Cowboys. Gilroy and San Benito are tied for third place overall.
Live Oak (fifth place) posted a 253 and North Salinas (sixth place) did not have a team score.
‘Baler golfer Chris Shackelton was the medalist with a 1-under 35 on the par-36 Gabilan course. Stephen Freeth’s seventh-place 39 led the Mustangs. Ryan Clark (40), Jami Binowski (40), Estevan Gonzalez (42) and Jordan Miller (42) also scored for Gilroy.
Boys’ Volleyball Attacks Alisal
The Gilroy boys’ volleyball team picked up its sixth TCAL win against Alisal Thursday, winning 25-16, 25-15, 25-20 on the Trojans’ home court.
Vinny DeLorenzo (12 kills, 15 digs), Ryan Chisolm (7 kills, 10 digs, 5 aces, 10 service points) and Travis Graham (6 kills, 3 aces) led the Mustang attack. Setter Gene Losongco spread around 32 assists.
Gilroy (12-5, 6-1 TCAL) sits in first place in the TCAL ahead of Monterey and San Benito, which are both 5-1.
The Mustangs play in the Leland Charger Classic today, and will take on the Harker School (9am), Branham (11am) and Archbishop Mitty (1pm).
