Jones wins second straight TCAL title; Acorns boys take third
place in league
Live Oak High junior Cobbie Jones won the girls’ Tri-County Athletic League Championship Saturday at Toro Park, qualifying for the Central Coast Section finals for the third straight season.
The Acorn boys team came in third place with a score of 68 behind Palma (59) and league champion Hollister-San Benito (41) and will also be competing in the section finals in two weeks, also at Toro Park.
Billy Wong led the Acorns with a fourth-place finish with a time of 16:21. A last-second surge at the end of the race propelled him past Gilroy’s Arnulfo Velasquez. Haybaler Josh Vasquez moved ahead to win the race with a strong finish the final mile.
“Billy was hoping to do a little better,” said coach Dean Raymond. “He beat Hollister and Palma early in the year.”
Senior Jon Kamei also had a strong performance as the second Acorn placer, finishing eighth with a time of 16:40.
Jones finished 20 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Baler Amanda Boyd.
“I wanted to PR,” Jones said. “It was tough because I was running by myself for the most part. It was a lot of fun, and the conditions were great for the race.”
Jones said she was looking forward to running with Boyd next year in both of their senior seasons.
“It has been great running with her,” Jones said. “We’ll be pushing each other next year.”
Jones will have her work cut out for her before CCS.
“Cobbie will be challenged in the two weeks,” Raymond said. “I am sure she will be up for the challenge. She is a good runner, but even great runners want to be greater.”
In addition to Jones, Live Oak junior Lisa Herrera, who is running her first year in cross-country, will also be representing the Acorn girls in CCS after finishing with a fourth-place time of 19:35.
“We’ve definitely made progress this year,” Raymond said. “I would have loved to see the girls team make CCS again. Hopefully we will continue to build on this.”
Other individual qualifiers included:
- Salinas’ Jeremy Waltz, who finished second in the boys race in 16:14, Palma’s Robert Maher, who was third in 16:16, and Gilroy’s Velasquez, who ended up fifth overall in 16:22.
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On the girls’ side, Hollister-San Benito’s Boyd, second in 18:52, and Jamie O’Brian, who was fifth overall in 19:51, along with North Salinas’ Brenna Bauer, who was sixth overall in 20:19.
Meanwhile, Morgan Hill’s Wes Buntman, a sophomore at Monte Vista Christian, also made the CCS finals by finishing fifth in the Monterey Bay League championships on Saturday at Toro Park.
Buntman finished his race in 16:28.
