Overall Male Winners | |||||||||
Place | Name | City | Bib No | Age | Overall | Time | Pace | Time Back | |
1 | Billy Nelson | Springfield OR | 785 | 24 | 1 | 30:20 | 5:03/M |
| |
2 | Brian Medigovich | 813 | 21 | 2 | 30:28 | 5:05/M | 00:08 | ||
3 | Jameson Mora | 892 | 25 | 3 | 30:48 | 5:08/M | 00:28 | ||
4 | Ryan Lucker | Bakersfield CA | 776 | 22 | 4 | 32:43 | 5:27/M | 02:23 | |
5 | Johnny Sanchez | Fresno CA | 647 | 16 | 5 | 32:48 | 5:28/M | 02:28 | |
6 | Ernesto Rojas | Fresno CA | 645 | 23 | 6 | 33:31 | 5:35/M | 03:11 | |
7 | Oscar Fuentes | Bakersfield CA | 497 | 19 | 7 | 33:53 | 5:39/M | 03:33 | |
8 | Nick Cramer | Tucson AZ | 784 | 24 | 8 | 33:56 | 5:39/M | 03:36 | |
9 | Andrew Ariey | Bakersfield CA | 795 | 18 | 9 | 34:15 | 5:43/M | 03:55 | |
10 | Zach Holt | Bakersfield CA | 380 | 17 | 10 | 34:17 | 5:43/M | 03:57 | |
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Top Ten Men at Rock to Pier 09
Top Ten Women at Rock to Pier 09
Overall Female Winners | |||||||||
Place | Name | City | Bib No | Age | Overall | Time | Pace | Time Back | |
1 | Jill Boaz | Los Osos CA | 745 | 42 | 25 | 38:12 | 6:22/M |
| |
2 | Katie Kunz | Fresno CA | 515 | 20 | 38 | 39:18 | 6:33/M | 01:06 | |
3 | Meghan Marvin | Clovis CA | 834 | 15 | 59 | 41:17 | 6:53/M | 03:05 | |
4 | Julia Uyttewaal | San Luis Obispo CA | 444 | 17 | 61 | 41:36 | 6:56/M | 03:24 | |
5 | Mary Cooper | San Luis Obispo CA | 491 | 51 | 63 | 41:44 | 6:57/M | 03:32 | |
6 | Megan Little | 717 | 20 | 65 | 41:58 | 7:00/M | 03:46 | ||
7 | Kathleen Uyttewaal | San Luis Obispo CA | 445 | 15 | 68 | 42:11 | 7:02/M | 03:59 | |
8 | Lina Nunez | Bakersfield CA | 522 | 21 | 69 | 42:17 | 7:03/M | 04:05 | |
9 | Mimi Petersen | 910 | 15 | 71 | 42:41 | 7:07/M | 04:29 | ||
10 | Lindsay Gray | Clovis CA | 214 | 15 | 72 | 42:53 | 7:09/M | 04:41 | |
Friday, July 10, 2009
Junior Olympic championships coming to town

The state's track stars of tomorrow are coming to Bakersfield this week when the USA Track and Field brings its Region 14 Junior Olympic Outdoor Championships to town.
The event starts today at Cal State Bakersfield. Today will be mostly preliminaries and the schedule runs from 4 p.m. until about 8.
The competition then shifts to Liberty High School for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's action goes from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday -- all finals -- from 8 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m.
There are five age groups competing, from junior (born in 1991 or '92) to Bantam (born 1999 or later). The top three finishers in each event at each age class qualify for the USATF National Junior Olympic Outdoor Track & Field Championships, July 28-Aug. 2 in Greensboro, N.C.
Admission is free for all three days.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
What are the odds?
The standing for the overall points race for the BTC summer series have been posted HERE and 105 athletes have completed at least two races. Interestingly, my son (Christopher) and I are tied for 19th place with 133 points! Of course, he is 20 minutes faster then me.
Leading the points race is Brad DeWitt with 18 points (15th & 3rd), my buddy Robert Scales is in second with 30 points (6th & 24th) followed by Scott Van Matre with 41 points (9 & 32). I predicted that both Robert and Scott would place high.
Now we will have to see if the above can get one more high finish in without exceeding their handicap.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Now We Are Cooking!
You knew it was coming and by the lower turnout for the third installment of the BTC summer series, summer has arrived. The heat and summer vacations reduced the field size (about 300) and the speed of the field too.I decided to walk the entire way and I saw many who should of followed in my footsteps. The heat really zaps many people and plays havoc with their pacing.
Race 3 - 6/30/09
Former Driller Zach Holt ran the same time as Oscar (18:18 / 27:55). Zach is training for his first marathon this month in San Francisco and will be running for BC this fall. In 22nd, was a current Driller, Emily Shuford who ran 24:17 / 28:32. Other former or current Drillers were:
- 32nd - Scott Van Matre (26:07 / 28:57) who is David's little brother and a future Driller.
- 43rd - Joel Cardoza (21:17 / 29:15) a former Driller.
- 50th - Chris Anderson (21:06 / 29:33), my son who will be attending UCSB this fall.
- 131st - Sarah Baker (25:46 / 31:19) who is a two time SEYL cross country champ for the Drillers.
- 134th - David Van Matre (21:14 / 31:21) who will be leaving Cal Poly SLO for his Mormon mission this fall.
- 175th - Maggie Baker (29:06 / 32:31) who is Sarah's speedy little 11 year old sister. Their mom ran 29:43 / 33:45 because the puppy would not go any faster.
- Clocking the fastest new runner time was Andrew Ariey who ran 17:40. He plans on running for Cal Poly SLO this summer with state champ Chris Schwartz.
In 34th place was senior Jessica Huizar of Ridgeview whose team won a valley xc title last fall. Other Ridgeviewers were:
- 78th - Brandon Magno (So) (20:17/30:08)
- 95th - Alex Garcia (Sr) (17:52/30:29) helped his team go undefeated in duals and won an SWYL crown in 2008.
- 119th - Robby Baker (Sr) (17:37/30:59) qualified for the state meet in xc last fall. His mom, Danette came in 56th (33:59/29:41).
- 171st - Tino Romero (22:56/32:21) graduated this year
- 117th - Santiago Lazarit (19:34/30:56)
- 129th - Lucia Garcia (25:42/31:18)
- 129th - Sophia Garcia (26:09/31:20)
The fastest time of the night was posted by former Golden Valley and BC runner Cesar Mireles who ran 16:44/29:59 which is a very good time considering the heat and the very crowded homestretch. Another speeedster was David Bacus in 17:25/29:35 and CSUBers Eddy Lee 17:45/30:29 and Ryan Lucker 17:40/30:31.
Speaking of CSUB, former Road Runner great and wife of CSUB coach Robert Boyles, Pam Boyles came in 79th in a time of 22:21/30:15. Other CSUBers included:
- 136th - Erica Silva ran 24:14/31:21
- 222nd Renee Rugnao ran 43:42/40:08 despite missing her start time.
- New runner Lina Nunez ran 21:50
- New runner Judith Mata ran 24:02
Best Scratch Times As of Race 3
1 Robby Baker 16:37.5
2 Cesar Mireles 16:44.0
3 Ryan Lucker 17:09.0
4 Eddy Lee 17:16.0
5 Alex Garcia 17:23.0
6 David Bacus 17:25.0
7 Curtis Kelly 17:28.0
8 Roberto Quintero 17:38.0
9 Andrew Ariey 17:40.5
10 Ismael Arzola 17:49.0
- Brooklan Rosales 20:56.0
- Kate Patrick 21:03.0
- Cecilia Lopez 21:17.0
- Ashley Barton 21:33.0
- Lori O'Lin 21:37.0
- Lina Nunez 21:50.0
- Pam Boyles 22:06.0
- Connie King 22:49.0
- Erica Silva 22:53.0 23
- Birinder Aujla 22:54.0
Monday, July 6, 2009
July 11, 2009, Mt. SAC Cross Country Clinic Agenda

There will be two series offered at today’s clinic featuring one presentation from each series being offered at every
session during the day.
Track 1: Beginning Series. This series is designed for the beginning or inexperienced coach. It is recommended
for coaches with five years or less of experience. Topics include the basic physiology of training a high school distance
runner, how to construct a season long training plan, how to recruit and build your team, and all the things you need
to know as a head coach to stay one step ahead of the CIF, your AD, and the principal.
Track 2: Advanced Series: This series is designed for the experienced coach who understands the basic physiology
of training distance runners and who already has organizational and recruiting skills. Speakers will be presenting
sessions that are specific and assume a common level of knowledge and a common vocabulary specific to the sport.
Time Session Topic Location
8:00 - 8:40 Registration and Lunch Sign-ups Building 9C
8:40 - 9:00 Opening Welcome and Clinic Directions 9C - Stage
9:00 - 10:10 Beginning Series
101 Specific Tips for Building and Maintaining a Successful Cross Country Program Tim O’Rourke Building 12 - 1
Advanced Series
Chevette to Corvette----The Evolution of a Back-to-Back State Championships Tim Butler 9C Stage
10:20 - 11:20 Beginning Series
Basic Physiological Components to Creating a Training Schedule Reeves & Tokar Building 12 - 1
Advanced Series
How to Build A Cross Country Team into a Cross Country Program Lalo Diaz 9C Carpet
Or Buchanan's Training for the 2008 State Cross Country Meet to Close the Gap
On Tim Butler's Fantastic Dana Hills Team Simpson & Weaver 9C Stage
11:30 - 12:30 Beginning Series
Rules, Dates, Signatures, Forms: Staying One Step Ahead Of Your AD, Principal & the CIF Tim Hunter Building 12 - 1
Advanced Series
Developing Quality In Numbers Tim Butler 9C Stage
Health & Training
Basics For Which Every Coach Should Be Prepared Bill Ito 9C Conference
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch: Clinicians will be available throughout the lunch hour in the area outside 9C for informal discussions.
Mike Sherwood from the company “XC Stats” will be giving away free T-shirts and demonstrating his product from 1:00 – 1:30 in Building 9C Stage
1:30 - 2:30 Beginning Series
How To Create Your Team’s Training Schedule For This Cross Country Season – Part 1 Reeves, Tokar & Hunter Building 12 - 1
Advanced Series
How to Fight Over-Training by Balancing a Successful Cross Country Season Followed
By an Equally Taxing/Successful Track Season Lalo Diaz 9C Carpet
or
Evolution of Training: What Worked and What Did Not Over the Years--The Most
Important Pieces of the Puzzle in Building a Competitive Team Simpson & Weaver 9C Stage
Health & Training
Hands On Session: Injury Prevention for High School Cross Country Runners – Part 1 Bill Ito 9C Conference
2:45 - 4:00 Beginning Series
How To Create Your Team’s Training Schedule For This Cross Country Season – Part 2 Reeves, Tokar & Hunter Building 12 - 1
Advanced Series
Panel Discussion With The Coaches of the Three Finest
Boys Teams in the State in 2008 Butler, Weaver, Simpson, Diaz Building 9C Stage
Health & Training
Hands On Session: Injury Prevention for High School Cross Country Runners – Part 2 Bill Ito 9C Conference
4:00 Turn in Your Completed Evaluations and Receive Your Certificate of Completion and Y230 2our Free LA84 Foundation Cross Country Coaching CD!
Great LA84 XC Clinic Saturday, July 11 at Mt. SAC

Wouldn’t it be great if you could sit and talk with the coaches of the three best boys cross country teams in the state?
Well, this Saturday you will have just that opportunity.
The LA84Foundation will host a free cross country clinic that will feature Tim Butler, coach of Dana Hills—2008 Division 1 State Champions, Lalo Diaz, coach of Loyola—2008 Division 2 State Champions, and Marty Simpson and Brian Weaver, coaches of Buchanan—2008 Division 1 State Runner-ups.
Each of these great coaches will be presenting two hours of individual presentations at the clinic outlining their training and team building; furthermore, they will all participate in a panel discussion where coaches will have the opportunity to ask additional questions.
The LA84 clinic, which is absolutely free for all coaches and interested adults, will be held at Mt. SAC College on Saturday, July 11. You can pre-register, see the full clinic agenda and time schedule, and get directions at our web site… www.LA84Foundation.org.
Not only will these great coaches be presenting in the Advanced Section of the clinic but there will also be a full agenda of Beginning Level sessions, as well as even more sessions on Health, injury prevention and treatment, so you can bring all the coaches on your staff.
If you have any other questions, you can contact Devin Elizondo at the LA84Foundation ( email: delizondo@la84foundation.org or phone 323-730-4600 ) or our cross country clinic director, Tim O'Rourke ( email: torourke@emuhsd.k12.ca.us or phone: 626-253-0693).
Monday, June 29, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Bakersfield Californian 2009 All-Area boys track 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
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
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
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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
Thursday, June 11, 2009
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,
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
Sunday, June 7, 2009
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.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Boys 1600 Relay - Centennial 11th & Ridgeview 22nd
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
Thursday, June 4, 2009
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
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
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
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?