Success follows sophomore to different track
| Wednesday, Dec 24 2008 01:58 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:49 PM
Images
Ridgeview's Tijerra Lynch runs down a hill at The Park at River Walk in Bakersfield.
Ridgeview High’s Tijerra Lynch had a strong freshman year in track last spring when she qualified for the CIF Central Section championships in her specialty, the 800 meters.
To improve in the 800, Ridgeview coach Adam Setser urged that she compete in cross country, a sport she had never tried before.
She did more than compete. By the end of the season, Lynch was the top girls cross country runner in the county. Lynch is this year’s Californian All-Area Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
It's an honor that just as easily might not have happened.
"It was like pulling teeth to get her to run distances," Setser said. "Last spring she didn't push herself in the long distance stuff. In the summer, it was the same thing. She’d walk sometimes."
Setser said he noticed a change about midseason this fall. Lynch had some strong races to that point but had not hit her stride.
"Something clicked," Setser said. "She not only wanted to be No. 1 on the team but No. 1 in the area. Her times just started dropping."
Lynch won the girls race at the Kern County Championships at Hart Park in 18 minutes, 58 seconds. She posted a 37-second victory at the Southwest Yosemite League meet.
Lynch then placed third in the Central Section Division III race in 19:31, her personal best at Woodward Park, which helped the Wolf Pack to the first team cross country title in the school’s history.
She was 58th overall and the fourth-fastest Central Section finisher at the state meet, which was also held at Woodward Park.
"That was intimidating," Lynch said of her state meet experience. "But I was proud of myself and my team for even making it there."
Along the way Lynch had to overcome shin injuries, something she said she had never experienced before since she began running track as an 8-year-old.
"I wasn’t used to switching surfaces,” Lynch said, noting courses can include asphalt, grass, sand, gravel and other types of surfaces. "That had a big effect on me."
After agreeing to run cross country as a way to improve in the 800 meters, Lynch said she wants to run the mile and 2-mile in track.
"No one had ever talked to me about running cross country before my freshman year," she said. "Once I talked to Setser, he told me how much better this would be for me. Now I’m hooked.
"I'm planning on doing the mile, 2-mile and 800 this year, to see how I do. Hopefully I'll get better in each event. My goal is to win the Valley in the 800 this year."
She comes from an athletic background. Her mother, Sara Williams, ran for Bakersfield High. Her father, Myron Williams, played football at UNLV.
Her older brother, Jerrid Lewis, is a junior at Ridgeview who also runs track, she said.
"He's the one who got me interested in running the 8," she said. "Sometimes we race but he always beats me. He plans on winning the Valley this year in the 8."
Lynch said she improved dramatically from her first cross country meet, the McLane Invitational held at Woodward Park.
"That was really, really hard," she said. "As I went on, I was more confident with my skill and I was really happy with my season. I gave it all I had at the state meet."
And now?
"I want to see how much I can improve the next two years," she said.
