BTC Summer Series 5k - Results for Race #2

The second race was the largest one I have every seen. There were 169 athletes doing their second race of the series and at least as many first time runners. There must have been a lot of sandbagging in the first one because 128 runners ran faster in the second race of the series.

Belinda Shull (47:07) lead wire to wire with a consistent walking pace and beat the field by almost a minute. My partner in crime, Robert Scales and I tried to place high and not burn our handicap but we failed in the later. I got 5th/41:44 and he got 6th/41:32 but we killed our handicaps in the process.

Scott Van Matre (future Driller) placed 9th/27:10 and could be one to look out for to take the overall title perhaps. Two wily veterans, Cregg Weinmann (the shoe guy) and Adam Setzer (Ridgeview coach) came in 44th/22:51 and 45th/22:54 and could be in the running for the title too.

Former Drillers, Andrew Edquist (65th/18:30) and Christopher Anderson (83rd/21:33) improved by a minute or so. Christopher (my son) won the series in 2006 and could do it again this year. In 2006, he had never run in his life and just improved throughout the summer. This year, after running a 3:16 marathon earlier in the year, he took the past two months off to focus on graduating early from high school. So the first race of the series was his first run in 2 months. So look out for him.

With so many running, I can not list everyone so I will mainly focus on our local high school and college runners:

• In 91st was David Bacus (17:50) who is often seen leading many of our local races. It appears that the handicap system works because a relative of his came in 90th and beat him by 0.3 seconds. Way to go Cassandra!
• In 94th place was Barry Jameson (26:30) who brought a whole bunch of his Taft cross country athletes to the event. Two places behind him was another coach. Former Roadrunner athlete (Kate Patrick) and now assistant cross country coach at CSUB, ran a fairly quick 21:03.
• As usual Sarah Baker (24:36) gets them at the tape. Sarah and her Driller teammate Gabby Lerma (24:38) barely beat the fastest runner of the day. Only a second seperated the three at the line. Robby Baker (Ridgeview Sr) got 106th behind Sarah and Gabby. His 16:37 was the fastest time of the day.

Besides all the young runners in the series, another reason I like the series is that it is a family affair. Sarah's sister Maggie ran 26:35 and their mom (Sally Baker) ran 26:36. Interestingly Maggie and mom didn't run against each other because Maggie (11) had to start with the new runners at 7:15. Gabby's sister Auggie (10) ran 26:39 too. So at the next race, they will all start very close together. My money is on Maggie.

Following the family theme Robby caught and beat his mom (Danette 34:18) and the Wykoff clan was MIA (cross country vacation I hear).

With the clock getting closer to thirty minutes, the field started to thin. In theory, everyone should finish when the clock strikes 30 minutes but tonight many ran faster then they had at the first one.

Clocking in under thirty were:

Bruce Deeter (115th/20:48), Cesar Mireles (122nd/16:45) who ran for Golden Valley and BC, and Brant Jones (126th/18:54) who was a valley individual and team champ for Centennial in cross country in 2007 and runs for Point Loma now.

Clocking in over thirty minutes:

Alex Garcia (136th/17:29) who runs for Ridgeview and Erica Silva (143rd/23:07) who use to run for CSUB and Highland and can now be found at the new CSUB futness center, behind her were several CSUBers. Ryan Lucker (151st/17:41), Cecilia Lopez (156th/22:23) who just graduated from North High and will be running for CSUB this fall and Connie King (167th/32:31) All of them went to the Tahoe relay the weekend before and may have been feeling the effects of that trip.

Two standout sisters from East High ran 25:15 (Sophia Garcia) and Lucia (25:23). They both were in front of the best freshman distance runner in Bakersfield this past season. Curtis Kelly (160th/19:13) of Stockdale had the second best freshman time at the valley cross country meet in 2008 and broke ten minutes in the 3200 several times in track. Lastly, the fastest woman in the first race of the series, Brooklan Rosales ran 22:18 for 158th place.

NEW RUNNERS ESTABLISHING HANDICAP:

This group was huge and as I was finishing the last half mile, they came roaring by. It was almost a stampede. In the end, CSUBer Eddy Lee was the fastest with a clocking of 17:16 and was followed by former Golden Valley and current BC runner Robert Quintero in 17:38. In fifth was Brian Solis (Ridgeview Sr) in 18:04.

East High had quite a few in the race including former Blade, Oscar Fuentes (20:23) and current Blades Camilo Mosqueda (19:26), Jose Ramirez (19:11), and Santiago Lazarit (18:38).

A couple former Drillers also ran. David Van Matre who attends Cal Poly SLO (08) ran 19:53 and Michael McCarthy (08) who attends San Jose State ran 21:15. A new Driller, Kevin Scivano ran 21:29.

Valley qualifier in the 300 hurdles and former Scotsman Ariel Hurtado ran 21:44. Former North High standout Cody Gragg (08) ran 18:55 and was barely beat by Arvin's cross country coach Brian Nelson (18:54). Cody now attends Fresno State btw.

The fastest new girl was Liberty junior Ashley Barton in a time of 22:29 and she was followed by Taft's Megan Thompson (23:12) who ran the 800 at valley this year. Ashley beat her dad Bob (29:02) by over six minutes.

Besides Sarah Baker and Gabby Lerma, the Lady Drillers had Emily Shuford run 25:45, Alejandra Ponce (26:42), Sarah Scrivano (Kevin's sister) in 29:12 and Madi Dela Huerte in 29:42.

Complete Results HERE.

Race Two Photos HERE.

The Bakersfield Californian 2009 All-Area boys track honorable mention

Honorable mention
Bakersfield: Andrew Ariey, Irving Gant, Robby Harris, Darien Moore; Centennial: Thomas Grimes, Myren Moore, Matt Turkington; Highland: Jordan Austin, Ariel Hurtado, Jake Van Zandt; Liberty: Andrew Ramay; Ridgeview: Triandous Hobson, Tynell Robertson; Shafter: Jesus Villalpando; South: Richie Maesrly; Stockdale: Bruce Jennings; Taft: Loren Kolb, Brice Royal; Tehachapi: Tyler Hemmer; Wasco: Jonathan Wimberly; West: Korey Thieleke.

The Bakersfield Californian 2009 All-Area boys track second team

Second team
Robby Baker, Ridgeview - distances
Brennen Davis, Tehachapi
Walter Hunt, Bakersfield - sprints
Matt Jones, Golden Valley- hurdles
Christian King, Centennial - hurdles
Colin Lewis, Highland - distances
Josh Meadows, Stockdale
Nolan Mearse, Frontier
Matt Sumlin, Garces - sprints

The Bakersfield Californian 2009 All-Area girls track honorable mention

Honorable mention
Arvin: Bailey Tarver; Bakersfield: Alicia Torres, Felisa Torres; Bakersfield Christian: Melissa Merrill, Sarah Hill; Centennial: Hanna Chudy; Frontier: Kassidy Ellis, Kirby Ellis; Golden Valley: Bre Bowden, Jamara Scott; Liberty: Julia Fitch, Molly Fitch, Teresa Little; McFarland: Lizet Perechica, Kathy Torres; Ridgeview: Desiree Armendariz; Shafter: Elizabeth Wittenberg; Taft: Juliana Campos.

The Bakersfield Californian 2009 All-Area girls track second team

Second team
Alana Alexander, Centennial - jumps
Asha Brown, Bakersfield - sprints
Monica Guzman, Garces - distance
Tijerra Lynch, Ridgeview - distance
Shinead McDonald, Bakersfield - hurdles
Lacie Rasley, Shafter - throws
Megan Thompson, Taft - distances
Reshana Watson, Stockdale - sprints

Over 350 Athletes!

The BTC Summer Series is my favorite running event of the year and with cool weather it is even more outstanding. With over 350 competing last night, I guess it is a lot of people's favorite event too.

I like seeing all the young athlete out there because too often our local running races are dominated by a much older crowd. Part of the reason is the younger athletes are competing for their schools during the rest of the year and do not need more races. But I big part is that the races cost too much.

Now I do not mean the race organizers are gouging everyone, it is just when you add in a t-shirt, trophies/medals, announcer, supplies and other costs, there is an overhead. Plus the race does want to raise money for it's cause. What is nice about the summer series is it is cheap ($3 for students, $4 for BTCers and $5 for others)!

Because of all these factors the race has gotten extremely popular. Another reason people like it is us slow people get a chance to beat you fast people! Interestingly, many of the first races fastest ran slower this week. If you cross the line and you see the clock over thirty minutes, you went slower than last time. On the other hand many of the slow people went way to fast (me included) and killed our handicaps.

Though not a handicap race, everyone should go to the McFarland Summer Series races this summer. The course is less than 20 miles away and is a fun challenging course. Plus the proceeds go towards supporting the McFarland High School running teams. The next race is Tuesday the 23rd and the entry fees are the same as the BTC's. To get there take the Porterville Hwy to Sherwood Ave and turn left (westward). The race is up the road a bit on the left hand side.

Nike Cool Down Party

We’re awarding NIKE PRIZES to the three schools who bring the most athletes to our FREE season-ending Nike Cool Down party this Friday, with a grand prize of $1000 in Nike product!

A big group could win a prize, but EVERYONE gets to hang out with professional Nike athletes, get a sneak peek at Nike Running product that won’t come out till this fall, watch a season highlight reel by DyeStat and dance to a DJ. More prizes in our DANCE CONTEST, plus pizza, photobooth and more than a few fun surprises.

Want to know who the professional Nike athlete guests are?! Want to meet an Olympic gold medalist? We’ll give you the details when you RSVP with your school and approximate number of athletes. Pics from last Cool Down below!

See ya there!!

Natalie & the Nike West Running Team

* * * *

The Nike Cool Down: A free party for high school track & field athletes across L.A.
THIS FRIDAY, June 19th @ 7PM. The Montalban, 1615 Vine St. , Hollywood .

RSVP by replying to this email with estimated number of students.
More info & pics from last time: http://www.myspace.com/nikerunningla
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nike-Running-LA/58269937264

43rd Annual Father’s Day Run & Walk at Fulton Mall, Downtown Fresno

43rd Annual Father’s Day Run & Walk at Fulton Mall, Downtown Fresno

Inquiries regarding sponsorship and race day volunteers are ALWAYS welcomed!

View 2008 Event Pictures & Results!

Entry Fees

Before June 12th – $10.00 for ages 9 & under; $15.00 for age 10 & over

June 12th to June 20th – $10.00 for ages 9 & under; $17.00 for age 10 & over

Race Day – $15.00 for ages 9 & under; $20.00 for age 10 & over

Entries received by June 12th are eligible for numerous prizes; winners posted in Awards Area on race day

Walk-in Registration & T-Shirt Pickup

Thursday, June 18, Friday, June 19 (11 am to 7 pm) & Saturday, June 20th (11 am to 5 pm)

Sierra Running Co., 9447 North Ft. Washington Road (northeast corner Ft. Washington & Friant) – 559.433.6750

Race Day:

For Safety & Liability: dogs/pets NOT allowed on the course and/or in the finish area

5:30 am to 6:45 am Registration & T-Shirt Pickup, Banker’s Ballroom, Fulton & Mariposa Mall

6:30 am 2-Mile Run

6:32 am 2-Mile Walk

7:00 am 6-Mile Run (30-Point Event, Valley Runner of the Year Series)

8:15 am Awards ceremony – Awards: overall for male and female in Run events (not in walk);

awards 3 deep in each age division for ALL events

Benefits: Fresno City College Rams Track Team

Email: info@proracegroup.com

Information: 559.433.6750

Race Director: Gary Bluth, Fresno City College Rams Coach

45th Annual Lake Tahoe Relay, June 13 2009

Race Preview:

2009 Race Website HERE.

2008 Noise Coverage HERE.

Over the years numerous teams have traveled to compete in this race. McFarland and Highland have sent teams and last year Bakersfield High did as well. Some local open teams have also competed there too. Most recently Bakersfield College and CSUB combine teams lead by Ryan Lucker have competed at this relay.

This year he is putting together two teams and I know McFarland will be there. Highland and Bakersfield will not be sending teams.

Boys 1600 Relay - Centennial 11th & Ridgeview 22nd

Centennial's 1,600 relay team: Finished 11th in 3:21.35. Moore handed off to Diller and the Golden Hawks had the lead after the first lap (about 50 flat for the 400). Diller handed it off to Turkington (51.11) and they were in the lead group of three. Then Grimes kept them in third. Video HERE.

Ridgeview's 1,600 relay team: Finished 22nd in 3:25.19. The Wolf Pack was in the same heat as Centennial. Lynch lead and he gave it to Hobson and they were in third place. Hobson faded down the homestretch and Ridgeview fell of the pace and finished 6th in the heat.

Preliminaries
1 Millikan /ss SS 3:17.21Q
1) Handy, Darius 10 2) Carter, Dontay 12
3) LeBlanc, Davon 11 4) Sanders, Jonathan 12
2 Lutheran (Orange) /ss SS 3:17.43Q
1) Huss, Ishia 12 2) Wilson, Damani 11
3) Brown, Terrance 12 4) Dravis, Kyle 12
3 Rancho Verde /ss SS 3:18.04Q
1) Marshall, Ramon 11 2) Hornsby, Greg 12
3) Danielsen, Ruben 11 4) Robertson, Paul 12
4 Roosevelt, E. /ss SS 3:18.44Q
1) Slavin, Tyler 11 2) Mitchelll, Josh 11
3) Anderson, Kenny 11 4) Adams, Bryan 12
5 Laguna Creek /sj SJ 3:17.58q
1) Roberson, Marlon 11 2) Hunter, Jerome 11
3) Batson, DionDre 11 4) Adams, Jeff 12
6 Steele Canyon /sd SD 3:17.73q
1) Simpson, Cody 11 2) Klarer, David 12
3) Cisneros, Joseph 10 4) Perlin, Alex 11
7 Crenshaw /la LA 3:18.78q 3:18.775
1) Allen, Dayvon 10 2) Ducre, Gregory 11
3) Anderson, Chris 12 4) Thomas, DeAnthony 10
8 Birmingham /la LA J3:18.78q 3:18.778
1) Gamboa, Hector 12 2) Humphrey, Rason 12
3) Briggs, Trajuan 11 4) Flournoy, Devon 12
9 Artesia /ss SS 3:19.57q
1) Payne, Travon 11 2) Evans, David 12
3) Frazier, Trevon 10 4) Craver, Jalen 10
10 Trabuco Hills /ss SS 3:19.73
1) Feazel, Kevin 11 2) Miela, Mickey 12
3) Oshier, Jantzen 10 4) Rozean, Chad 11
11 Centennial /ce CE 3:21.35
1) Moore, Myren 2) Diller, Jim
3) Turkington, Matt 4) Grimes, Thomas
12 Mt. Miguel /sd SD 3:22.22
1) Hille, Brandon 11 2) Cooper, Terry 12
3) Arizmendi, Patrick 11 4) Tate, Hosea 11
13 San Benito Hol/cc CC 3:22.75
1) Williams, Justin 12 2) Roascio, Jason 10
3) Soza, Nik 12 4) Shorey, Ryan 12
14 Taft /la LA 3:22.78
1) Darden, Joel 12 2) Morgan, Dale 11
3) Goodall, Antuan 11 4) Johnson, Miles
15 Vallejo /sj SJ 3:22.90
1) Chenart, Felix 10 2) Ross, Rashad 12
3) Austrie, Tyler 10 4) Searight, Dominique 12
16 El Camino /sd SD 3:23.03
1) Jackson, Dwayne 12 2) Jones, Collin 11
3) Coburn-Hinrichs, Chase 12 4) St.Laurent, Sam 12
17 Amador Valley /nc NC 3:23.52
18 San Ramon Vlly/nc NC 3:23.65
19 Buchanan /ce CE 3:23.77
1) Anyudiegwu, Uchenna 2) Johnson, Stephen
3) MeIR, Josh 4) Parker, Cameron
20 Fairfield /sj SJ 3:24.22
1) Atkins, DeSean 12 2) Hubbard, Alex 11
3) Guillory, Egypt 10 4) Singh, TJ 12
21 St. Mary's /nc NC 3:24.56
22 Ridgeview /ce CE 3:25.19
1) Hobson, Triandous 2) Lewis, Jerrid
3) Hobbs, Corey 4) Purvis, Isiah
23 Bellarmine/cc CC 3:26.12
1) Chapman, Andre 10 2) Thomason, Lee 12
3) Heinen, Taylor 11 4) Montgomery, Justin 10
24 Heritage/nc NC 3:26.13
25 Skyline /ok OK 3:26.38
1) Atkins, Patrick 10 2) Blue, Noah 11
3) Robinson, Jordan 12 4) Rucker, Darquis 11
26 Lowell /sf SF 3:27.69
1) Han, Wang 12 2) Banks, Nate 12
3) McCarthy, Shane 11 4) Mannah, Safa 11
27 Independence /cc CC 3:29.06
1) Stevenson, William 12 2) Nichols, Steven 11
3) Yao, Steven 4) Tran, Josh 12
28 Enterprise /no NO 3:31.79
1) Williams, James 11 2) Williams, Anthony 11
3) Hope, Trevor 10 4) Parsons, Eric 11
-- Dominguez /ss SS DQ DQ ran on line turn
1) Gilroy, Bladen 12 2) Dillihunt, Leon 11
3) Riley, Anthony 12 4) Grant, Kivon 12

Aquatic classes at the BRC by Lerma

Aquatic Classes Begin June 8th

Looking for a new summer fitness program and a little gravity lift? Come try out BRC’s summer aquatic classes. First week participants will enter a drawing to win equipment and other prizes. That is a little incentive to brave the early June water temperatures, but once we start moving the water is perfect. This year BRC club members can try out a class for half price on Fridays in June. That is only $3.50 a class. All classes will remain $7.00 per hour class and a$70.00 for an eleven class pass. Equipment used in class is available for sale/rent at pool-side.

Here is the summer line-up:

Shallow/Deep Cardio Resistance - Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00 am

Deep Water Cardio/Core Training - Tuesday, Thursday Evenings 7:00 p.m.

Deep Water Running - Saturday (dates to be added)

Aqua Boot Camp - Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 6:00 am
Three week long sessions - June 15, July 13, August 3

These 6:00 am classes are guaranteed to produce total fitness results and add fun to fitness.Personal aquatic training, nutrition and weight-loss programs available individual and small groups. Also, sports cross training available for teams and individuals.

Call or email Nancy Lerma with any specific questions, 326-8714 or nancy@brctennis.com

Thanks Ron Nocetti (Director-State Championship Events)

The photo to the left is one of my favorites from this year's valley meet. It is of Saylah Barserian right after she placed second in the 1600 to make the state meet and scored 8 points for her team that ended up being the valley champs.

Every year (since 2006), I have wanted to cover the state cross country and track meets but have always been turned down. 2009 was no different but at least I got a phone call this year.

Today, Ron Nocetti called me about the media credential policy. I appreciate him calling me on this hectic week for him and his coworkers. Unlike his predecessor, he is willing to explain CIF's decision and why the decision was made. He also acknowledges that it is a new era and perhaps the old media model needs some updating.

In the past, printed media and television ruled the landscape and the system was set up for them. They had the eyeballs so they deserved to be the eyes and ears of the public. Sure some little guy or gal had a local zine or something but few were ever going to see it. So the large media outlets got the limited access to the events.

But now the little guy can have a website and reach the masses. With digital photography, the little guy can compete with the media giants too. But the system in place favored the old media outlet model. The limited credentials are going to them and the little guy just gets told "No".

But after my discussion with Ron, the CIF is going to look into their credential policies and see if changes need to be made. What I really liked to hear is that they plan on having their policy clearly defined and online for everyone to see. They are going to try and minimize the grey and make things more black and white.

The rule that CIF used this year to deny me a credential was:

CALIFORNIA I INTERSCHOLASTIC FEDERATION
REGIONAL/STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
MEDIA CREDENTIAL POLICY

Unauthorized selling of photographs taken at CIF State Regional and State Championship events is strictly prohibited. In accordance with CIF contractual agreements, at no time may photographs be sold to the general public, participating schools or families of student-athletes.

Of course, they are putting the cart in front of the horse because I don't have a credential so I could not violate their policy. I was not given a chance to agreed to not sell state meet photos either. They just went on my site and saw that I did sell prints for 42 cents and assumed I would sell the state ones too.

But if I had gotten a credential, it would be very simple to not sell the photos. I just click a button and they are not for sale. But I was not given this opportunity. I was assumed to be guilty and therefore denied a press pass.

The reason for this no selling of photos policy is because the CIF has a contract with MaxPreps to be the official photographer of the CIF. Now I can guarantee you that MaxPreps did not agree to this contract because of cross country and track. They did it for the major sports coverage and got stuck with the other sports. If you go to their website it does not even list our sports! They list lacrosse but not track or cross country.

But since they have the contract, they own the exclusive selling rights of any photo taken at state track meet. They do provide a service, by taking the awards photos and some action photos but it appears, that they do the bare minimum.

But because of the contract and the possibility that I might violate the contract, I am denied a media credential. Of course, we all know that some media credentialed photographers do sell their photos to the public. I doubt they willingly violated the policy and are merely doing it as a service to their consumers.

So the biggest meet of most athletes lives will go undocumented for the most part unless they win their event. MaxPreps is not shooting every race and every lap of every race on the track (I do). They are not trying to cover as many field events as they can either.

Most of the other credentialed media is not either. They are there to cover their local star and that is about it. They will shot the athlete finishing the race and that is about it. If they take more photos, they are not seeing the light of day for the most part. They can not sell them, or put more then a couple in print and putting them all online costs money too. So they will be deleted.

I have and would shoot every race and in the longer races, I try to shoot every lap. Plus I usually try to shoot every athlete in the race too. I crop the ones I think are good but I also upload all the shots I take. Sure many are awful, okay most are awful but you never know what that throw away shot might mean to the athlete or their family. Or it might be the only shot on record of a future champion.

But because I am not a real media outlet and that I might violate their policy, I am denied a credential.

Another consideration is that they have a limited number of credentials and with the meet at Buchanan, there are even fewer passes to hand out. Plus they do not have a policy to determine who deserves to be credentialed. One suggestion, I made was giving some Friday only passes. I doubt that many of the media outlets actually cover the Friday prelims.

The CIF does keep track that the passes were picked up but does not monitor their actual use. If an organization does pick up their pass, they won't be getting one in the future. So I bet they pick them up but I doubt they are all used.

The last barrier to me getting a credential is that I do not have enough original content. Since the start, this has been an issue with the CIF and in the beginning my site was just a bunch of links. But it takes time to track down those links and make them. Plus a lot of the results were on my site because I tracked them down relentlessly. i also shared the results with other sites.

After my first rejection, I did try to write more. I started writing meet previews and recaps and believe, I am on my way to more original content. I will be the first to admit, that I would not have started this process if CIF had not said it was a shortcoming of my site. I am not a huge fan of writing and it is not easy for someone who has a B.A. in Biology to do.

Plus I have an issue with this content issue. Sure a large newspaper has a lot of original content but how much of it is track or cross country related. If you measure both of us by that standard, I win hands down.

So with the meet a few days away, I am on the outside looking in. I do appreciate Ron's candor and his promise to reevaluate their policies and possibly make changes. I wish him and his staff a smoothly run state meet and hope to some day get credentialed.

CIF Media Credential Request

THEIR REJECTION:

From: nocettir <rnocetti@cifstate.org>
To: andynoise@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 12:17:38 PM
Subject: CIF Media Credential Request

We received your application for a credential for the CIF State Track and Field Championships. After reviewing the application and visiting your website, we are unable to grant your request at this time. It appears that you sell photos on your website and we have an exclusive contract with MaxPreps as the official photographer of the CIF

MY RESPONSE:

Every year, there is a new reason. In 2007, I was told by your office that all my site was a bunch of links to information on other sites. That it was nice that I did that but I needed original content. So I wrote meet previews and meet recaps and more for the 2007 cross country season and the 2008 track season. I was again denied in 2008 (for track) because I was deemed to not be a media outlet and though my photos were nice they were on a "flickr" account.

So I continued to write and post photos of the 2008 cross country season (got rejection for a pass for the state cross country meet) and this season for track, I even wrote more. Plus I bought a better camera and opened up a pro Smug Mug account. I have even taken the time to label most of my photos on there too. Once again, I sent off a credential request and have been denied again.

All I want to do is cover my Central Section athletes that I have been covering for the past three years. I do not want to cover just the stars (though making it to state is a huge achievement) like my local paper will do. The Bakersfield Californian is a fine paper but they will cover Matt Darr, Chris Schwartz and Anna Jelmini and post a couple photos and a brief story on the meet and be done with it. I want to cover all my athletes that made it to state, like I have done at this link:

CIF State Track & Field Championships: June 5 & 6
and like I did at the this meet:

CIF Central Section Finals - 05/23/09
and many others.

"It appears that you sell photos on your website and we have an exclusive contract with MaxPreps as the official photographer of the CIF". I understand contracts etc so what if I only post my photos on flickr were they are free.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andynoise/sets/72157618705852972/

Or on Smug Mug and I make them free.

Furthmore, Maxpreps doesn't seem to care very much for track, if one goes to their main page:

http://www.maxpreps.com/california/state.aspx?state=ca&urpath=,national

They don't even list track & field as a sport on the site. The only evidence that they cover track is a couple photos on the bottom of the page. Lastly, even my own local paper sells their photos and I bet most media outlets that get media credentials do.

http://bakersfield.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=23922856&event=768052&CategoryID=40209#Tabs

So why do they get a credential and I don't?