Aspen Hacker of the Lady Broncs runs her race at the CIF State Meet in Fresno. Submitted Photos.
Senior runner finishes outstanding cross-country career at Kern Valley
Superlatives aside, Aspen Hacker’s cross-country career at Kern Valley can only be described as phenomenal.
Every time she ran a race, she was force to be reckoned with. It didn’t matter who might be running against her, she would run the course and put the other runners on notice. This was the case this past Saturday as she ran in the CIF Div 5 race in Fresno. There were 197 runners across all the D5 schools in California lined up and ready to try and reach the tape first. Hacker also had the same goal. At the start it looks like previous years of Black Friday, a mass of humanity pushing forward to take the lead in getting the prized present.
Taking the course in stride, Hacker pushed herself to be in the top runners of the race. Hacker was fortunate as she ran the same course the previous week in the CIF Central Section meet. This proved beneficial as she knocked off 40 seconds from her time. She would run the state meet in a time of 19.00. Of the 197 runners to start the race, only 23 of them finished ahead of hacker. She claimed the 24th spot and cemented her spot in cross country royalty in the CIF State Meet.
Hacker this season was spectacular in races. She made history at Kern Valley as she was the first ever to be crowned the girls’ HDL champion. She won back-to-back champions titles. Some of her accomplishments while running for the Lady Broncs this year included, winning every HDL meet. This was the second straight year of this accomplishing this feat. She also led her team to the HDL team championship as well. Hacker also made her name known around Kern County during her running career at Kern Valley. She became a two-time East Bakersfield Invitational Champion, finished second in 2023 at the Independence Invite, and this year crossed the line as the winner.
Hacker also took her running talents across California where she stamped that “extraordinary” cross country runner in her résumé. She was twice the runner up at the CIF Central Section meet the past two seasons, running at the Mt. Sac Invitational was 76th. This is one of the largest cross-country races in the world. She crossed the finish line ahead of all other runners in the John Seaman’s Cross Country Invitational, and capped it off with a second place Ted Oliver Invitational in 2023.
The Lady Broncs head coach Kenny Bushling commented, “She has completed a very successful Cross-Country season and career at Kern Valley. She would have to be considered the best girls Cross Country athlete in Kern Valley history.”
Hacker was asked about running at the state meet. She responded, “It was an amazing experience, the energy from everyone there was so exciting. Being able to compete at such a high level was amazing. I’m bummed that this is my last year attending.”
Hacker also was asked to share her thoughts on this season. She said, “This season was so rewarding. I’m grateful for having the opportunity to compete at more competitive meets against some D1 schools and seeing the work I put in pay off. I can’t wait to see what next year brings and where it takes me. I’m so proud of my team this year as well. Seeing all the hard work they put in and the determination they had. We ran some pretty competitive meets and they’ve always held their own.”
With her senior season behind her, Hacker will now look to the future. Because of her talent in the running game, there are quite a few colleges that are interested in trying to lure her there to compete for them. Quite a few of them are D1 institutions, where the elite runners ply their athletic talent. She still has time to make her decision on where she will attend and when the time is right, she will let everyone know.
Now that her cross-country career at Kern Valley is over, it remains clear, Aspen Hacker was no ‘hack’ when it came to running cross country.
