San Benito-Palma track

 Few dual meets create anxiety for coaches, an adrenaline rush for the athletes.
 This one does.
 The two track powers will get reacquainted today at Palma, much like they have the last five years -- undefeated with an eye on the Gabilan Division team title.
 Of course, as we learned last year, the outcome of this meet is not a precursor to what will occur in six weeks at the league finals.
 In fact, during the Chieftains run of five consecutive Gabilan Division titles, they have fallen twice in dual meet competition to San Benito, including last spring.
 While April is often where coaches hope to see athletes begin to drop time or increase their marks in the field events, May is the month when you want to be peaking.
 Clearly there are battles worth watching, such as the 400 relay, were two-tenths of a second separate the two powers. That's a 10-point swing for who ever wins that event.
 While Palma appears to have an edge in the sprints with Emilio Martinez, Isaiah Blanco and Kevin Telford, the Balers are deep in the hurdles with Anthony Delgado and Isaac Regalado.
 While the vertical events in the field favor San Benito, the horizontal jumps point towards Palma, as does the discus, where Drew Dalman is among the CCS leaders at 151-4.
 What has crippled Palma in the past in its duals with the Balers has been a lack of production in the distance events. That has changed with the emergence of Sam Lavorato and Thomas Padilla.
 If this meet comes down to the 1,600 relay, an advantage to the Balers, who have run 3:27.32. But Palma has not run its top four 400 sprinters in the race to date.
 And it may not until the league finals.