Tijerra Lynch caught people by surprise in her first year of cross country last season. In most cases this year, she just couldn't be caught.
The Ridgeview junior continued her transition from an 800-meter specialist to one of the top girls cross country runners in the area with another series of dominant performances.
Lynch took first in eight invitational events, captured the Southwest Yosemite League crown and then out-dueled Bakersfield High’s Sarah Baker to win the Kern County Championships at Hart Park in a personal-best time of 18 minutes, 20 seconds. She placed third at the Central Section Division III Championships with a 19:06 and had the best local time in finishing 48th at the CIF State Championships in 19:05.
“She’s got a lot of talent; it’s not just any one thing,” Ridgeview cross country coach Adam Setser said. “She’s got a good kick, but I think Tijerra can sustain a fast pace for a longer period of time than most girls. And, she’s pretty good dealing with the pain, and that’s a huge part of it.”
All told, it was a season worthy of being named The Californian’s All-Area Girls Runner of the Year for the second straight season.
“I’m normally never happy or satisfied, but this season I felt I really accomplished all my goals,” Lynch said. “Except for breaking the top 20 in the state, other than that I feel I had a really good season.”
Not bad for someone that started running cross country as a way to stay in shape for track season.
“I discovered I’m a lot better at it,” said Lynch of running cross country. “And after last year, my heart started leaning more toward cross country.”
That love has helped motivate Lynch to whatever it takes to improve.
“She’s never satisfied,” Setser said. “She was hoping to get under 19 minutes at Valley or State, and neither race really developed the way she had hoped. She was really disappointed, and I had to remind her that she improved by over 20 seconds from the year before.”
That improvement and her willingness to modify her running to help the team has really impressed her coach.  That was evident at the County and SWYL meets, where the team’s strategy was for her to slow the pace to help her teammates stay closer to the other leaders.
“She motivates other girls to always push themselves and continue to get better,” Setser said. “But what really impressed me was her willingness to be a team player, not get out there and be a frontrunner … and that’s hard to do. She wants to be out there and be the best, especially in front of the home crowd, but she was willing to hang back for the team. That’s big.”
Now as she prepares for track season, Lynch is already looking ahead to what she hopes will be a fantastic senior cross country campaign.
“People say that I set outrageous goals for myself,” said Lynch, who is shooting for a section title and a top-20 state finish next year. “But I don’t feel that way. I just tell everyone that I have high expectations that I’d like to reach.”