By Ray Conner
It was definitely a track and field day for the Lady Broncs.
Kern Valley competed in the Delano Relays on Friday where they were able to take second place out of the 17 that competed.
As a team they accomplished nine top five finishes in the 11 events they competed in. Of those nine, three were the top spot in the event. They also had a pair of seconds, a third place and one fourth place. Two fifth place finishes capped the successful day for the Lady Broncs. As a team they added six top 10 finishes to help push them into the second spot in the competition. As a team Kern Valley set 11 PR’s at the relays.
Leading the way was Jayda Bushling as she ran herself to a first in the 100m (12.46) PR, a second in the triple jump (31’ 9”) a third place finish in the long jump (14’ 4”) and helped her teammates run to fifth in the 4x 100 relay.
Ashley Denys, Kaya Manwell, and Jessie Bunting along with Bushling ran the race in a time of 53.78.
Aspen Hacker and Bunting each came home with a first place finish in their respective events. Hacker was first in the 1600m where she has dominated this event this season. Her time was 5:09.1. Bunting set a PR in the high jump as she leaped 4” 11”. This improved her mark by five inches over last week.
Kyla Hacker was runner up in the 1600m (5:36.38) to cross the line in second place. Emily Blankenship was fourth in the high jump (4’ 2”), while Mitra Kiosef ran to a fifth place in the 300m hurdles. Her time of 56.14 was a PR.
Coming across the finish line in seventh place was the team of Manwell, Blankenship, Maddy Beaton, and A. Hacker in the 4 x 400 relay. They ran the race in a time of 4:44.41 which produced a PR. Beaton would also finish in seventh and eighth in her individual events. The triple jump (24’ 5.5”) and high jump (4’ 2”).
Claire Feldschau took a pair of eighth place finishes in both the 300m hurdles and the triple jump. Her time of 59.88 was a PR in the 300m hurdles. She soared 24’ in the triple jump. Rounding out the top 10 finishes was Abigael Phillips in the 300m hurdles. The time of 1:00.73 was a PR.
Kiosef (11th), Feldschau (12th), and Phillips (18th) all competed in the 100m hurdles. They would hit the tape in 20.39 (PR) for Kiosef, Feldschau (59.88) a PR, and Phillips in 21.32, respectively.
Marissa Tate was 11th in the discus with a toss of 73’. She was followed by Mikaela Richey (24th) with a heave of 56’ 11”, while Rowan Hathaway threw the discus 46’ 7” for a PR. She would take 39th place.
In the shot put, Denys was the top finisher for the Lady Broncs. Her heave of 24’ 8” was good enough for 16th place. Hathaway produced another PR in the shot put. The toss of 24’ 6” gave her a 17th place spot. Richey was 28th with a toss of 21’ 10’.
Head coach Brent Mixon said, “The Lady Broncs looked strong today. Once again, we had several PR’s and multiple athletes scored for our team today. I am so impressed with how our kids are performing. Their work effort has been phenomenal, and it shows in their performances each week.”
Kern Valley will begin their league battles today as they make the trip to Desert to compete against Bishop, Boron and the host school. The action will start at 3:30 p.m.
Mixon would add, “Our league opener is a quad meet that will consist of Bishop, Desert, and Boron. This first league meet will let us know if what we have done is enough. Our number one goal this year is to win league, and our girls are ready to make that happen.”
