Despite the Heat Some Beat Their Previous Best

79 out of 204 beat their time from before despite the heat. of course some have been trying to game the system to place high in the overall standings but quite a few just let it hang all out at every run and are unconcerned about the points race.

Some improvers this week were Gabby Lerma (photo) Of Bakersfield High who came in 26th with a time of 23:15/28:37.

Future Driller Scott Van Matre ran 25:14 but exceeded his handicap so instead of getting 36th place he was moved to 80th, His brother David (Driller 08') came in 55th with a time of 19:25/29:32.

Ahead of him was Zach Holt (Driller 09') who came in 46th in a time of 17:39/29:21. Zach is going to be runing his first marathon at San Francisco on July 26th. He is shooting for a sub three performance.

Jessica Huizar of Ridgeview came in 28th in a time of 23:59/28:49 and was followed by her coach Adam Setzer who ran 21:49/28:55 for 32nd place. The Wolf Pack's biggest supporter is Robby Baker's mother Danette and she came in 53rd in a time of 33:28/29:29.

After a cross country trip with the kids and back, Kari and Jonathan managed to improve their times. Kari cam in 44th in a time of 31:37/29:20 and Jonathan came in 50th in a time of 22:39/29:26.

Showing no mercy on friends or elders was Oscar Fuentes (East High 08' - 60th in 17:58/29:40) who chased down and passed his girlfriend Lina Nunez (CSUB - 61st - 21:31/29:41)in the last yards of the race and Andrew Ariey (Driller 09' - 75th in 17:36/29:55) elbowed his way past a former Driller Joel Cardoza (76th - 21:14/29:57) in the last yards of the race too.

South Area Musings on the 400 Relays and the 1600

The meet started of the with the Drillers winning both 4oo relays. The girls was an expected occurrence but the boys was not. The Lady Drillers have one of the top three times in the valley and are looking to make state in both relays.

400 relay--1. Bakersfield (Harriston, Torres, Wandick, Brown), 48.37; 2. Golden Valley (Shaw, Epps, Hildalgo, Olison), 50.12; 3. Liberty (Affentranger, Wilcox, J. Fitch, M. Fitch), 50.79; 4. Centennial (Alexander, Chudy, Dayanghirang, Humecky), 51.83.

It took the boys the entire season to recover from the loss of two seniors from the squad way back in March but they looked good in winning the South Area title. Their winning time was their season best and moves them into the top four in the valley just behind Ridgeview.

400 relay--1. Bakersfield (Hunt, Norwood, Anderson, Gant), 42.99; 2. Ridgeview (Purvis, Robertson, Wiley,Hobbs), 43.36; 3. Centennial (Diller, Grimes, Moore, Turkington), 43.39

In the 1600, Sarah Baker (Bakersfield 10) defended her 2008 title, last year she ran away from future CSUBer Candace Carlson (North 12), but had a much closer race this year. Baker is not expected to run the 1600 at valley despite being ranked in the top ten in the event.

She will focus on the 800, where she has a better chance to make it to state. Of course, the team title competition at valley might make the double a consideration. But her chances of a top six scoring placement is unlikely in the 1600.

In the 800, Baker might have to compete with Jordan Hasay who ran 2:10 at her qualifying meet as well as winning the 3200. In the past Jordan has only contested the 3200 at valley and the 800/3200 double would seem unlikely at valley and/or state. The 800 at state has qualifying rounds on Friday and the two events are fairly close to each other in the event schedule which goes 800, 300h, 200 and 3200.

I believe the 800 was run in preparation for the 1500 at the adidas track classic on Saturday May 16th, especially since she cruised the 3200 in a time of 11:32. Jordan is a four-time California State Champion in cross country and three-time California State Champion in the 3200m.

The local season started with a photo finish between Baker and Tijerra Lynch at the EB Invite (4x800) and the same finish happen at the South Area meet. Sarah has won everyone of these photo finishes that I have seen so far. Also making it to the valley meet were Monica Guzman (Garces 11) and Gabby Lerma (Bakersfield 10) who ran a season best for the last ticket to valley.

1,600--1. Baker, Bak, 5:24.23; 2. Lynch, Ridge, 5:24.92; 3. Guzman, Gar, 5:33.33; 4. Lerma,Bak, 5:34.70.

The boys 1600 was won by none other than Chris Schwartz (Foothill 12) who has won three South Area crowns. He also has the fastests 1600 (4:14) in the valley. He didn't have to run near that time for the win and clocked just under 4:30. He was followed by Colin Lewis (Highland 11) and Robby Baker and Brian Solis of Ridgeview. All four will be at the valley meet on Saturday May 23rd at Buchanan.