Courtesy of San Benito High School:
San Benito High School Athletic Director Tod Thatcher on June 5 provided the annual report on the district’s athletic programs to the board of trustees.
Haybaler Athletics had 111 coaches this year (83 male/28 female), including 69 stipend coaches. There were 24 on-campus coaches (35 percent); 37 off-campus coaches (54 percent); and 8 classified staff or subs (11 percent). Of the 42 volunteer coaches, four were on-campus, 39 were off-campus and three were classified/other.
Many Teams, New League
The athletics program features 25 varsity programs among 56 total teams. There were 24 JV and seven frosh teams this year. Thatcher reported that the new Pacific Coast Athletic League (PCAL) will begin play in the fall with 32 member schools, making it the largest league in California. It will feature five equity-based divisions. SBHS has the third-largest school enrollment (2,975) in the 134-member Central Coast Section.
Nearly a Third of Students Participate in Athletics, Most Have High GPA
There were 1,150 total student-athletes (including multi-sport athletes) this year, including 432 in the Fall, 254 in the Winter and 464 in the Spring. The 829 individual student-athletes represents 27.9 percent of the student body. Of these, there were 536 single-sport athletes (3.08 first semester GPA average); 265 two-sport athletes (3.18 GPA); 28 three-sport athletes (3.42 GPA).
Diversity, Academic Success are Hallmarks of the Program
Baler Athletics includes 42 percent female athletes, 58 percent male athletes, 61.5 percent Hispanic or Latino, 32.2 percent white and 6.3 percent other. Fall sports athletes had a cumulative 3.09 second grading period GPA, compared to 2.62 overall at SBHS. Winter sports athletes had a cumulative 3.14 GPA in the first semester (compared to a 2.67 GPA school-wide). Spring sports athletes had an average 3.03 GPA in the fifth grading period (compared to a 2.58 overall GPA at SBHS). The Fall All-Academic Team featured 164 varsity student-athletes, 27 of whom (16.6 percent) had a GPA of 4.0 or above. Girls’ cross country had the top varsity GPA (3.62) among the Fall teams, followed by field hockey (3.60), girls’ golf (3.58), girls’ volleyball (3.46), boys’ water polo (3.39), cheer (3.25), girls’ tennis (3.24) and football (2.69). The Winter All-Academic Team featured 101 varsity student-athletes, of whom 26 (25.7 percent) earned a 4.0 GPA or better. All six varsity Winter sports had a GPA above 3.0, including girls’ basketball (3.84), boys’ basketball (3.53), cheer (3.35), girls’ soccer (3.20), wrestling (3.03) and boys’ soccer (3.01). Among the 10 Spring varsity sports at SBHS, girls’ swimming had the highest team GPA (3.59), followed by boys’ volleyball (3.53), girls’ track and field (3.45), boys’ swimming (3.44), boys’ golf (3.33), softball (3.27), baseball (3.04), lacrosse (3.02), boys’ track and field (2.93) and boys’ tennis (2.51). Of the 432 Fall sports participants, just 15 were ineligible (3.5 percent). Of the 254 Winter sports athletes, 6 (2.3 percent) were ineligible. Of the 464 Spring participants, 11 were ineligible (2.4 percent).
Scholar-Athletes
The annual Scholar-Athlete Awards were presented to seniors Karina Collins, who had a 4.32 GPA and earned 8 varsity letters in her career, and Joshua Corrigan, who had a 4.24 GPA with 7 varsity letters earned.
Individual, Team Success
Haybaler varsity sports won championships in 8 out of 24 sports, including girls’ volleyball, girls’ cross country, boys’ water polo, girls’ and boys’ track and field, baseball, softball and boys’ volleyball. Three teams made the CCS semifinals (girls’ volleyball, boys’ soccer and baseball). Eight teams and an individual were CCS qualifiers (football, boys’ water polo, boys’ cross country, girls’ cross country, girls’ soccer, girls’ basketball, swimming, boys’ volleyball, Andrew Hoefling (boys’ golf). The wrestling team placed fourth in CCS and had Ricardo Gallardo place second and qualify for the state tournament. Jenna Hartman and Maribel Saucedo each placed third in CCS and qualified for state. Ten-time CCS champion Baler softball made a return trip to the championship game, falling to Gilroy in the finals. The track and field team had 12 CCS finalists including the second-place 4X400 relay team that qualified for the state tournament. Four track and field school records were broken this year: Jack Breger in the 100m, Annie Breger in the triple jump, Robert Mendoza, William Castellanos, Ivan Mendoza and Tristan Camacho in the 4X100 relay, and Anthony Delgado in the 110m hurdles.
Leaders Lauded
Thatcher also offered special acknowledgements to coaches Emily Burley in girls’ volleyball, David Ventura in boys’ volleyball and Ed Cecena and Rick Espino from girls’ tennis.
Budget Ends in Surplus
Thatcher reported on district funding and ASB revenue and expenditures, which show approximately a $13,000 surplus at the end of the year.
Coaching Opportunities
He said there are head coaching vacancies in the following sports: frosh cheer, girls’ water polo, JV boys’ water polo, frosh girls’ volleyball, JV and varsity boys’ soccer and girls’ varsity wrestling.
Caring for Student-Athletes
Athletic trainer Danielle Cote treated 295 individual student-athletes (35 percent of participants), certified 34 coaches in First Aid/CPR/AED and created emergency action plans with coaches from each sport. She also administered 1,017 concussion baseline tests in 2016-17 and 400 in 2017-18. He said 45 concussions were evaluated this year.
New Facilities on the Way
Thatcher reminded the board that new athletic facilities are set to be constructed this summer and new league championship banners have been ordered and will be posted in the Mattson Gym.
Paperwork Goes Electronic
The athletics department is changing its sports paperwork to an electronic system (see information below).
