Sports

The Christopher girls tennis team was feeling the pressure before Thursday's match against Notre Dame, but was able to quickly settle down and get down to business. 

SAN JOSE — Gavilan nearly pulled out a Coast Conference football victory over the host San Jose City College Jaguars, only to fall short 27-26 in a big-play, big-miscue afternoon.

CASTROVILLE — North Monterey County may have prepared for Brandon Boyd’s rushing attack, but they seemed to have no answer for him as a kickoff returner.

GILROY — Rayshon Mills is king on and off the field.

MONTEREY — Gavilan coach Spencer Gilford had just two words for his team following Saturday’s game: Stay focused.

GILROY — Christopher’s game against Everett Alvarez may have been its toughest one thus far — not only on the field, but off it as well.

WATSONVILLE — The Mustangs aren’t bucking around.

With the game scoreless entering the second half, the Gilroy field hockey team knew it had to come out with a fire — and they did just that. The Mustangs scored three goals in the second half to top Presentation 3-1 at home Wednesday.  Katrina 'KC' Carter led the team with two goals while Emma Leach added one her own and an assist. Taylor Sillaci also had two assists in the game.  "The team is looking better," Mustangs coach Adam Gemar said. "We've set some reachable goals for our forwards, outside and inside mids and our def(ense) as well  — it seems to be that we're starting to reach those goals. The Mustangs will play at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Live Oak for their last home game of the season. The team will honor its seniors for with a pregame ceremony.  GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Cougars blanked by 'Balers Christopher was on a two-game winning streak, but San Benito quickly put an end to that. The Haybalers topped the Cougars 3-0 in straight sets at Christopher Tuesday. The loss drops CHS to 11-12 overall and 4-5 in league play. Stats from this game were not immediately available. The Cougars will play at 6:30 p.m. today at Salinas.  CROSS COUNTRY Gilroy boys finish first at Center Meet III The Gilroy boys varsity team blew away its competition, finishing 27 points ahead of the next best team at the Center Meet III at Pinto Lake Wednesday. The boys finished with a score of 38 ahead of runner up Palma who had 65. Christopher finished sixth with 132 points. The girls team took third with 64 points, just behind Christopher who had 62 points. Watsonville took first with 54 points.  The Mustangs featured four runners in the top 10, including Sean Kauffman who finished fourth in a time of 17:13.8. Kairo Barrose took sixth (17:25.4) with Jonathan Viveros right behind him in seventh (17:29.4). Jose Tony Barrados finished ninth in 17:52.3. Christopher's Hector Lopez finished 19th in 18:24.9. On the girls side Jamie Boutte was the first Gilroy-area runner to cross the finish line. The Christopher runner finished second in 20:07.6, right ahead of teammate Natalie Filippi who took third in 20:07.6. Vicky Fox took seventh for the Cougars in 21:07.1  Monica Ruelas was first across for the Mustangs, taking fifth in 20:43.3. Karla Lozano took 11th in 21:48.6 and Jackelyn Gomez Gonzalez was 12th (22:15.6). Bianca Johnson finished with a time of 23:04.1 that was good for 18th place. GIRLS TENNIS Mustangs fall to N. Salinas in last home match  The Gilroy girls tennis team won the most matches it has all season, but it was enough to lift it past North Salinas. The Mustangs lost 3-5 to the visitors Tuesday in their final home match of the season.  No. 4 Carissa Jackson won her match 7-5, 5-7, 10-8 for the lone Mustangs' singles win.  The No. 1 team of Nicole Holder and Caitlin Filice-Hollar won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 while the No. 2 team of Mya Esquivel and Victoria Rodriguez won 6-3, 7-5.  Gilroy (0-9) is at the tale end of its schedule and will play its second to last game at 4 p.m. today at Monte Vista Christian. 

It was smooth sailing for Gavilan Wednesday as the team cruised to its fifth straight victory. The Rams shutdown the visiting Skyline 25-14, 25-19, 25-19 at home to maintain a perfect 5-0 conference record and improve to 15-6 overall on the season.  Lilly Martinez had a career high 10 kills in the game to lead the team. Jessica Stofer and Tasmin Apple each had seven kills a piece while Savanna Hartman added six and Ryan Asp and Andreinna Castaneda each had five.  It was business as usual for Sabina Gerard who dished out 32 assists before handing over things over to Lissette Pedraza who finished the match with four of her own. Karina Daniels led Gavilan on defense by picking up 16 digs. Daisy Valladares had 10 and Gerard added nine. The trio in addition to Hartman each had two aces in the game.  Gavilan will be back on the court at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Canada College in Redwood City. 

The inaugural Cougar-Q BBQ Tri-tip Dinner Fundraiser will be held Nov. 9 by the Christopher High Athletic Boosters.