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| Saturday, Oct 31 2009 11:15 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 31 2009 11:15 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Second place finisher in Saturday's high school cross country Kern County Championships, at Hart Park, Alex Garcia, left, from Ridgeview High, is congratulated at the end of the race by his father, Antonio Garcia, and little brother, Julio.
Casey Christie / The Californian Ridgeview runner, Robby Baker, comes in first as teammate, Alex Garcia, comes in second, during Saturday's high school cross country championships at Hart Park.
Casey Christie / The Californian Ridgeview runner, Robby Baker, comes in first as teammate, Alex Garcia, comes in second, during Saturday's high school cross country championships at Hart Park.
Casey Christie / The Californian Runners from Ridgeview, Stockdale and East get a good jump on the pack of cross country runners, Saturday, at Hart Park during the championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Runners from Ridgeview, Stockdale and East get a good jump on the pack of cross country runners, Saturday, at Hart Park during the championships. Robby Baker, #547, center, came in first place. and Alex Garcia, #552, second from right, finished second.
Casey Christie / The Californian Cross country runners from Foothill, left, South, Kern Valley, East and BCHS, run in Saturday's high school cross country Kern County Championships at Hart Park.
Casey Christie / The Californian Rebecca Herrin, waits at the downtown GET terminal on Chester Avenue, Saturday, on Halloween, dressed as a witch waiting for the bus to get her to work.
Casey Christie / The Californian Dee Baganha, a volunteer with the Twilight Rotary Club, plants flowers, Saturday, with other volunteers at Corinthian Gardens Health Care Center on Height Street. They were creating adaptive garden areas for people with multiple sclerosis. The project brings the outdoors to people with MS in skilled nursing, but also brings awareness about the complex issue of long-term care for persons with MS.
Casey Christie / The Californian Kim Kotrla, right, MS Society program manager works with alma Chagoya, with MS, Saturday, at the Corinthian Gardens Health Care Center. Thanks to financial donations from Bakersfield Rotary clubs, individuals and local foundations, volunteers with the National MS Society created adaptive garden areas for people with MS, including Chagoya, who couldn't wait to get her hands in the dirt to work with the flowers.
Casey Christie / The Californian Kern High School District buses are reflected in the pond at Hart Park, Saturday, before driving cross country runners home after Saturday's races.
A funny thing happened on the way to the finish line Saturday.
Running side-by-side down the stretch, Ridgeview's Alex Garcia had a small lead over teammate Robby Baker when the two took a detour into a crowd of spectators with just 50 yards to go in the Kern County Cross Country Championships at Hart Park.
Confused by a group of spectators crossing on the course, the two returned to the course a few seconds later, only somewhere in the confusion Baker was now a few yards ahead.
The Wolf Pack senior sprinted to the line first, besting Garcia by almost two seconds to win the 3-mile race in 15:01.1.
"We saw some people in the way so we took a left and it turned out to be the wrong place," Baker said. "It just threw us off and I think it changed the finish. I think I could have broke 15 (minutes). It would have been a good race if that didn't happen."
The two runners broke off from the pack early making it a two-man race until the final mishap.
"I couldn't see where the finish line was and I made a wrong turn and so did he," Garcia said. "Sometimes I die toward the end, but today I felt like I had to get out there and win and prepare for league. I think I would have had him today."
A few moments later, Ridgeview's Brian Solis used a late kick to push past Burroughs' Caleb Rosales to finish fifth, giving the Wolf Pack three runners in the Top 5 and enough points to slip past McFarland for the team title.
Ridgeview has 57 points, followed by McFarland at 66 and Stockdale with 84.
In the girls race, Tijerra Lynch stole the individual race in a showdown with Bakersfield High's Sarah Baker, but Stockdale wound up with a sweep of the varsity, junior varsity and frosh-soph team titles.
Stockdale's varsity scored 52 points, followed by Ridgeview's 67 and North with 108.
"We've been running well, but I knew there was going to be some strong teams here," Stockdale girls coach Bree Tape said. "But I never expected all three of my levels to come back with a championship. That was awesome."
Freshman Riddhi Patel finished third to lead the Mustangs, completing the course in 18:54.1. Amber Nelson joined Patel in the Top 10, placing 10th in 19:15.6
"They ran really well," Tape said. "A lot of my varsity girls PR'd today. We're peaking at the right time. If we could hold it for the next couple of weeks, that would be great."
Lynch and Baker joined six other runners in a pack through much of the race before the two broke away with about 800 meters to go.
"Our plan was to stick with the pack as long as we could and when I felt really comfortable, just go," said Lynch, whose best previous time at the track was 18:37. "We tried something at the start. Usually we start at the middle of the line, but started at the end and it was a lot easier for me to get out instead of having to bump into everybody."
The two ran side-by-side much of the way until Lynch began to pull away coming off the final hill and finished in a personal best 18:20.5 at the track.
"This is the biggest meet, other than Valley and State, to me," Lynch said. "I felt really relaxed the whole time."
Baker also set a personal best at the track with a 18:25.0, but was disappointed with her second-place finish.
"Usually we go out a little faster, but I think her game plan was to to take it slow and race at the end in the 800," Baker said. "I didn't adjust and I ran her race instead of mine."
