GILROY – In three Tri County Athletic League meets this season,
sophomore Athena Alarcon finished first in each. Although that
streak ended Monday, Alarcon crossed in second to help lead the way
for the GHS girls varsity cross country team to defeat Salinas and
Alisal in a tri-meet at Christmas Hill Park.
GILROY – In three Tri County Athletic League meets this season, sophomore Athena Alarcon finished first in each. Although that streak ended Monday, Alarcon crossed in second to help lead the way for the GHS girls varsity cross country team to defeat Salinas and Alisal in a tri-meet at Christmas Hill Park.
Alarcon posted a 3-mile time of 19:33, just seven seconds behind the first-place runner.
The Mustangs’ top-five runners finished in second through sixth place to easily obtain a 20 to 35 win over Alisal and a 15 to 40 win over Salinas to push the girls’ record to 6-0.
Savannah Silacci, with her 19:58 time, and Maritza Ruelas sprinted to the finish line together with Silacci edging Ruelas in the end.
“I am very happy,” Silacci said. “My goal this year was to break 20 (minutes) and this is the second time I have done that this season.”
Senior captain Paty Hernandez was a second behind Silacci and Ruelas wrapping up her final home race as a Mustang with a 19:59. Brandie Rodriguez rounded out the herd of Mustangs who finished within a minute of one another with a 20:30.
“That’s the way it should be,” head coach Cathy Silva said with a gratifying grin on her face after the girls’ race.
The boys, who also boasted a 4-0 league record heading into their meet, didn’t fair as well as the girls, losing to both the Cowboys and Trojans.
“We knew that they were going to have stiff competition coming into this race,” Silva said. “They ran well. They are back in the sixteens again, which is good. “As long as their times keep improving, we are happy.”
Junior Tim Williams was the Mustangs top performer and finished seventh overall with a 16:50. Senior captain Juan Velasquez put together a solid race, easing across the finish line with 16:55.
“They are really fast teams, and they are really good, but there is nothing you can do,” Velasquez said. “I’m bummed out we lost. This is like a wake-up call. It’s not over yet.”
The TCAL tournament is less than two weeks away (Oct. 31) and both teams have put themselves in the mix as contenders for the league title and a trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“We still need to practice hard,” Velasquez said. “We have to keep training and not give up. We have a great shot to qualify for CCS. We are a top team, but Salinas is really good. We just have to give it out best.”
On the girls side the TCAL title is theirs for the taking.
“We are definitely hoping to win at TCALs,” Silacci said. “We are really used to Toro Park, so we kind of know what to expect.”
