Gilroy High School

Jose Hernandez, Gilroy High School’s girls varsity soccer head coach for the past nine seasons, will not return next winter.

The 2012 high school sports season will be a little different for schools in Gilroy and Hollister. After more than two years of discussion, the 2012 season will be the first in an equity league between the former members of the Tri-County Athletic League and the Monterey Bay League.

With their Tri-County Athletic League first team selections, senior Casey Lester and freshman Lauren Castro top a list of seven Gilroy High softball players to receive year-end awards.

Dear Reader, So, I thought, ‘Hey, why don’t I set up an online vote for Senior Athletes of the Year?’ It isn’t unheard of. However, I did not contemplate the energetic response the endeavor received.

Gilroy High’s Bubu Garcia was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 39th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Senior Bubu Garcia was voted the Gilroy High baseball team’s lone Tri-County Athletic League first-team representative - the third straight such distinction for the shortstop. In addition to Garcia, five other Mustangs received year-end accolades.

While senior classmates were busy rehearsing for tonight’s Gilroy High graduation, Jourdan Soares and Sarina Sandoval were on the road to Buchanan High School in Clovis – the site of the 94th annual CIF State Track and Field Championships.

Ever since missing a spot on the podium at last year’s Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships, Gilroy High senior Sarina Sandoval – the program’s record holder in the shot put – has had the number 40 flashing through her head.

The Gilroy High softball team didn’t frown when it received its No. 12 seed into the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs.

First-year Gilroy High football head coach Brian Boyd saw last Monday’s opening of spring practices as the ideal time to raise the stakes for the roughly 40 athletes who gathered around him.