Schwartz runs down his dream
| Thursday, May 21 2009 10:05 PM
Last Updated Thursday, May 21 2009 10:05 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Foothill High School friends and fellow athletes lined up to congratulate elite runner Chris Schwartz after he signed his letter of intent, Thursday afternoon with Cal Poly SLO.
Casey Christie / The Californian Foothill's elite runner Chris Schwartz was quite happy during his letter signing with Cal Poly SLO, Thursday at Foothill as fellow athletes, coaches, friends and family watched.
Casey Christie / The Californian Foothill's elite runner Chris Schwartz is congratulated by his foster mother, Martha Gonzales, during his letter signing ceremony Thursday at Foothill for Cal Poly SLO.
Five years ago, as a 13-year-old eighth grader, Chris Schwartz visited Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
"It was the first college I'd ever visited," Schwartz said. "It was like me. It's next to the beach; I love the beach. It was laid-back. It was cool."
This, mind you, was before Schwartz found a stable foster home, before he began to focus on academics at Foothill High and really before he started running in earnest.
It also, of course, was before he won a cross-country state championship, a state runner-up finish in the 3,200 meters on the track and a top-10 place at the Foot Locker national cross country race last fall.
So when Schwartz signed a letter of intent at Foothill on Thursday to attend Cal Poly, it was the end of a long pathway to the coast.
"He doesn't walk around like, 'Look at me, I'm the best,'" Foothill track and cross country coach Arron Rietz said. "He's matured. Earlier he was a little more cocky, but he's learned, especially with his personal problems. He knows that if kids have problems, they can talk to him, but he doesn't say, 'Hey, I was in foster care.' He lets his actions speak."
Schwartz has personal bests of 8:58.50 in the 3,200 -- that during the state-championship race last year -- and 14:59 in cross country. He was the first Kern County state cross country champion ever as a junior, and he won the Jim Tyack Award, given to the best boys and girls athlete in Kern County, on Monday.
All this after Schwartz grew up in a troubled home. His mother abandoned him at a mental hospital when Schwartz was 11. He then bounced around in foster homes and group homes until high school, when his life stabilized.
Now this.
Schwartz signed next to his foster parents, Robert and Martha Gonzales, and in front of a packed room of friends and teammates, plus Rietz and long-distance coach Paul Contreras.
"It feels great," Schwartz said. "I'm happy to go to a place where I really want to go."
He'll join a nationally renowned track and cross country programs at Cal Poly that typically rank in the nation's top 30.
That, Rietz said, is exactly what's needed for Schwartz, who thrives off of competition and doesn't get much of it locally.
"He's going to a place where he won't be the fastest guy, at least not at first," Rietz said. "They'll push him to be the best."
To Schwartz, this is a step on another pathway that one day he hopes will lead all the way to the Olympics.
"I want to be in the Olympics while I'm still in college," Schwartz said. "I want to be one of the fastest guys there."
Driller trio signs, too
Brushay Wandick didn't know if the day would ever come -- but there she was, in the Student Activities Building at Bakersfield High on Thursday, signing a national letter of intent to run track at Cal State Bakersfield next year.
"I knew I wanted to go to college, but it was always an academic thing," Wandick said. "But I got into Cal State, and it's good. I really like the fact that they're all about education. They want you to be a real person."
Wandick, the fifth local track athlete signed by the Roadrunners this week, won the Central Section South Area meet in the 100 and 200 last week and ran on the Drillers' winning 400 and 1,600 relay teams.
On either side of Wandick were BHS tennis player David Mossman, who signed with Biola, and Alex Mitchell, a four-sport wunderkind who is following his brother Pete to Whittier College.
Alex Mitchell started at quarterback and defensive back for the Drillers in football and is the baseball team's catcher. He also played soccer and golf. Like Pete, Alex will play both football and baseball at Whittier, choosing the Poets over a spot on UC Riverside's soccer team.
"I only made my decision a week ago," Alex Mitchell said. "If any college would allow me to play two sports, I was going for it, and what better place than where I can play with my brother?"
Mossman played No. 1 singles this year for the SEYL champion Drillers and won a section doubles title with Michael Rodriguez as a junior.
Biola's tennis team re-formed two years ago, and Mossman chose it over Azusa Pacific.
"It just seemed like the right fit," he said.
CSUB BASEBALL
Joey Mills blasted a second-inning grand slam and Martin Medina pitched seven effective innings Thursday to lead the Cal State Bakersfield baseball team to a 5-2 win at UC Davis.
This was a makeup from an early-season rainout. CSUB concludes its inaugural season with a three-game series at University of the Pacific starting today and concluding Sunday.
A walk to Jeremy Rodriguez and bunt singles by Ryan McIntyre and J.J. Henry loaded the bases for Mills, who hit his first home run of the season. Henry, who had three hits, added an RBI double in the eighth for CSUB's final run.
Medina (3-3) allowed five hits, two runs and six walks in seven innings while striking out three. Sam Jones tossed two scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season.
CSUB is 12-35 and Davis is 11-41.
BC SWIMMING
Allison Duran, the Bakersfield College women's record-holder in the 50-yard backstroke (27.3), 100 back (59.2) and 200 IM (2:13.4) has accepted a swiming scholarship to NAIA member Concordia-Irvine. Duran is a sophomore who graduated from Liberty High School.
