Hollister High track and field defeats Palma as PCAL competition nears end

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As the track and field season heads into its final stretch, Hollister High athletes are focused on defending their string of Pacific Coast Athletic League titles. The girls’ team, undefeated in league competition since the COVID-19 pandemic, is aiming for its fifth consecutive league championship. The boys’ team is seeking its fourth league title in the past five years.

The strengths of the Baler program were on full display in the April 16 home meet victory against Palma High School, with 24 boys and 19 girls besting a total of 65 personal records.  

“Palma is our rival,” Hollister High Coach Ryan Shorey said. “And, you know, your rival always brings out your best.  We are absolutely trying to beat each other, but we’re going to do it right, with respect. It was a great competition against another very well-coached team.”

The Baler girls’ team won by an impressive 79-49 score, with the boys winning by a score of 74.5-61.5.

The win was all the more impressive considering the large number of seniors who graduated off the team last year, including many perennial Central Coast Section finalists and four-year varsity athletes, including state-qualifier Hannah Vincent.

“We had a really big shift this year, “ Shorey said, “when we lost the core of the team. There was a little bit of concern that it was going to be a rebuilding year, but that’s not at all how it’s panned out.”

Notable victories this year include first place in men’s and women’s varsity at the 50th Watsonville Wildcat Relays, first place for boys at the Pacific Grove invite, and, according to Shorey, some “great performances” at the West Coast Relays at Buchanan High School. 

The teams have also won every dual meet in the league except for a loss by the varsity girls against Salinas High, which Shorey attributes to coaching errors rather than athlete performance. 

“We just misplaced where certain athletes were competing at the wrong level,” he said, “and ultimately it cost us. Fortunately, it does not change the season’s overall outcome. As long as we win at the Gabilan Championships on Friday, May 1st, we’re going for that league title.”  

While saying the teams’ performances against Palma were “above what we had expected,” a victory for the boys was in doubt until the last two events, the 4×400 relay and the discus. 

“It was close,” Shorey said. “It wasn’t until those results came in that we were sure we actually won. It was kind of classic Baler, where we’re going to do our best and make sure we get what we need to get done to get that victory.”

Shorey said a slight wind helped the sprinters, who turned in strong performances. Jacob Jackson stood out, running his first high school 100m and winning in 11.01 seconds. He also clocked a 200m in 21.94 seconds—his first time under 22 seconds.

Henry Hernandez, placed second in the Gabilan division behind Jackson, ran his first varsity 400m in 51.4 seconds in his debut track season.

Shorey said that five of the girls ran an impressive 100m, all coming in under 13 seconds. He also singled out Anna Kaplansky, whose 12.38-second time in the 100m is one of the “top times ever in school history under all conditions.”

Other standouts, according to Shorey:

• Kaplansky and Paige Pearson ran under 26 seconds in the 200m for the first time
• Hernandez, Prienna Chavez, and Zamaya Rivera  had personal bests in the 400m
• The boys’ 4×100 ran their season best at 43:45
• Isayah Day-Vingara broke 16 seconds in the 110m hurdles with a 15.85
• Isabelle Rodriguez gained two feet in the shot put at 28’’ 9″ and eight feet in the discus at 78′ 9″

Two athletes, according to Shorey, came close to beating school records: Paige Pearson, who ran 25.98 in the 200m, close to the freshman/sophomore record of 24.73, and Jacob Jackson, who had set a goal of breaking the boys 200m school record of  21.80, and ran a tidy 21.94. 

Shorey attributes this year’s strong showing to the school’s size and the large number of students who tried out for the team.

“It has certainly upped our game,” he said. “I mean, we have athletes who would be the top kid in some other schools, but on our squad, they’re number three, four, five, just because we are so deep and so talented.”

The season was set to conclude with a duel away meet against King City High School on April 22, followed by the PCAL Gabilan Division finals on May 1, hosted this year by Hollister High School. 

 Men’s Varsity Wins 

100m: Jacob Jackson, 11′01” – PB

200m: Jacob Jackson, 21.94 – PB

400m: Henry Hernandez, 51.46 – PB

800m: Andrew Parra, 2:05.91

1600m: Andrew Parra,  4:28.74 -PB

3200m: Luis Pérez Prieto, 10:43.43

4x100m Relay: Jacob Abi Najm, Alexander Sugiura, Rhonin Sanchez, and Jacob Jackson, 43:45

4x400m Relay: Jacob Abi Najm, Henry Hernandez, Maximiliano Sanchez Abonce, and Jacob Jackson, 3:35.35

Discus: Carter Campbell, 130’02’ – PB

Triple Jump: Boston Tavares, 39’ – PB

Women’s Varsity Wins 

100m: Ana Kaplansky, 12.38 – PB

200ms: Ana Kaplansky, 25.54 – PB

400m: Prienna Chavez, 1:01.49 – PB 

800m: Prienna Chavez, 2:31.96

1600m: Lauren Schaal, 5:48.40

3200m: Prienna Chavez, 12:59.98

4x400m Relay: Lianni Preciado, Prienna Chavez, Olivia Calvillo, and Ana Kaplansky, 4:13.90

Triple Jump: Taylor Evans, 31’07

PB = Personal Best

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