Athletes go distance in league meets
| Thursday, May 07 2009 11:16 PM
Last Updated Monday, May 11 2009 11:15 AM
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John Harte / Special to The Californian The combined SEYL and SWYL track meet at Liberty High... The race of the meet was this thriller in the SWYL boys 100, with Ridgeview's Ronnie Wiley (left), Centennial's Matt Turkington and Ridgeview's Tynell Robertson racing side-by-side to the finish. Robertson got the win by 1/100 second over Turkington.
John Harte / Special to The Californian The combined SEYL and SWYL track meet at Liberty High... Sarah Baker of Bakersfield High was a double winner, racing to the SEYL title in the girls 1600 and 3200 races. Here she crosses the finish line in the 1600.
It took Frontier's Matt Darr just a couple of practice discus throws to know he was probably going to perform well in Thursday's Southwest Yosemite track and field championships at Liberty High School.
"I was warming up in the discus, and I had some good stand throws and one of my half-turn warm-ups just really took off," Darr said.
Those launches turned out to be a just prelude of things to come for Darr, who won both the SWYL boys shot put (60-0.75) and discus (188-05) titles with throws that far exceeded his nearest competitors.
"I thought I performed really well," Darr said. "I had a PR (personal record) in the discus, which was huge for me. I haven't necessarily been in a slump (in the discus), but it hasn't been taking off for me. In the shot put, I was less than a foot away from a PR. Having both of them in the same day is a very good double. A lot of times for me one is up and one is down. It's hard to get a good double in the same meet."
Darr wasn't the only competitor to have a big day at the event, which ran concurrently with the Southeast Yosemite meet.
Foothill's Chris Schwartz won the boys SEYL 800, 1,600, and 3,200 meters races.
"Today was a good day," Schwartz said. "I had fun, and that's all I really wanted to do." "The mile and two-mile I was just trying to win. The 800 (meters) and (1,600 relay) were the ones I was really focusing on today, because I wanted to make an impact for my team."
Despite Schwartz's three victories, Bakersfield High won the SEYL boys portion of the meet title with 122.5 points. Highland finished second with 92.5 points followed by Liberty with 90.
The Drillers' Sarah Baker won the same three long-distance events as Schwartz, but Liberty outscored BHS 161-155 for the SEYL girls event title. Golden Valley came in third with 91 points.
On the SWYL side of things, the Ridgeview boys squeaked by Centennial 143-142 to win their first ever outright league title. Stockdale was third with 88 points.
"It really means a lot," Ridgeview coach Adam Setser said. "... We edged them (Centennial ) by one point. It's just a couple of guys getting that extra place and getting that extra point. They really wanted it and worked hard for it."
Frontier, led by Taylor Jackson's wins in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, plus a second-place finish in the 100, scored 143 points to finish first in the SWYL girls standings.
Ridgeview tallied 91 points to take second. but because of its perfect dual meet record will share the league title with the Titans.
"Overall I think I had a pretty good day but for a few mistakes in the 300 (meter) hurdles," Jackson said. "I felt fast today. It was a good track to run on.
"In the 300 I had some problems with my steps. I stuttered in the middle of track."
Other multiple-event winners Thursday: for SEYL girls, BHS' Brushay Wandick (100 and 200), Shinead McDonald (100 hurdles and 300 hurdles; Golden Valley's Jamara Scott (long jump and triple jump); for SWYL girls, Stockdale's Reshana Watson (100 and 200) and Alex Collatz (shot put and discus); Ridgeview's Tijerra Lynch (800 and 1,600), Centennial's Alana Alexander (long jump and triple jump); and for SWYL boys Ridgeview's Isiah Purvis (200 and 400).
