By Ray Conner
The Lady Broncs track squad easily took a pair of HDL wins at home on April 17.
Desert and Rosamond came to town and both those teams left with a loss. Kern Valley topped the Lady Roadrunners 109-16, while they crushed the Lady Scorpions 99-24. The victories inched the Lady Broncs closer to the league title.
The top two Kern Valley athletes continue to lead the team as they grabbed four first-place finishes. Jayda Bushling and Aspen Hacker took care of business in their events. Bushling won the 100m (12.34), the 200m (27.13), the long jump (15’ .5”), and the triple jump (33’ 7”). Hacker was first in the 400m (1:06.55), the 800m (2:37.34, the 1600m (5:55.18), and the 3200m (12:45.30).
Mitra Kiosef was a multiple winner as she hurdled herself to wins in both the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles (59.05). Note: There was a timing device malfunction in the 100m hurdles race so no time was given.
Three other athletes were able to win their event and adding points to the final score. Ashley Denys lobbed her way to the top spot in the shot put (24’ 4.5”), Jessie Bunting leaped her way to a win in the high jump (4’ 6”), and Marissa Tate threw herself a win in the discus (72’ 1.5”).
Both relay teams took first at the meet. The team of Maddie Beaton, Emily Blankenship, Kaya Manwell, and Denys ran a 56.87 to win the 4x 100m. In the 4x 400m Beaton, Blankenship, Manwell, and Ella Mauer won with a time of 5:18.49.
These Lady Broncs contributed in the pair of wins by taking second place. Kyla Hacker was second three times. She was the runner up un the 400m (1:11.27), the 800m (2:49.81), and the 1600m (6:06.06). Rowan Hathaway was second in both of the throwing events. She came in second in the shot put (22’ 1.5”) and the discus (61’). Also finishing second were Mauer in the 100m hurdles, M. Kiosef in the long jump (14’), Hazel Kiosef in the triple jump (25’ 8”), and Beaton in the high jump (4’ 4”).
Third place finishers: Elizabeth Davis-long jump (11’ 1”) and triple jump (24’ 10”). Blankenship-high jump (4’ 2”). Mauer-300m hurdles (59.58). Manwell-400m (1:18.77). Mikaela Richey-shot put (no distance given). Claire Feldschau-100m hurdles.
Fourth place finishers: Kassandra Guarneros-800m (3:14.49) and 1600m (7:09.71). Denys-100m (13.90 and 200m (33.51). Savannah Walker- 400m (1:40.14). Abby Phillips- 100m hurdles. Feldschau-300m hurdles (1:00.95). Beaton-triple jump (22’ 1”). Richey-shot put (no distance given).
Fifth place finishers: Phillips-300m hurdles (1:01.62). Bunting-100m (14.27).
Head coach Brent Moxon commented, “The Lady Broncs are having a fantastic year. We are 5-0 in league with one meet left before we go to HDL Finals. Today we will have our last league meet which will be at home. The meet starts around 3:30. If the Lady Broncs win, they will have their third undefeated season.”
With only one meet and the league finals, the Lady Broncs are tracking down their goal.
Three days later Kern Valley traveled to Bakersfield to compete at the Patriot Games Invitational at Liberty High School. As a team they finished fifth out of the 27 teams that competed.
The highlight of the invitational was Bushling setting a new school record in the 200m. She would travel the distance in 25.60 to finish in second place. She erased the mark which was set in 1984. This was also a PR for Bushling. In three other events she placed third twice and a fifth. Bushling was third in both the 100m (12,45) and the triple jump (32’ 11”). Her fifth place came in the long jump (15’ 11”).
The lone Lady Broncs athlete to win an event was A. Hacker. She came in first in one of her signature events, the 1600m (5:29.43). She also had a third and a sixth in two other events. A. Hacker was third in the 800m (2:34.22) and came in sixth in the 400m (1:03.34).
Bunting was second in the high jump, (5’), while Beaton came in seventh in the high jump (4’ 4”). K. Hacker finished 10th and 13th in two events. She was 10th in the 800m (2:42.40) and 13th in the 1600m (5:56.81). Feldschau set a PR in the 100m hurdles in a time of 20.55 to finish in 20th. Right behind her in the same event and finished 21st was M. Kiosef (20.62).
Coach Mixon said, “The ladies performing at Liberty High did a great job. This was a great meet for our kids to showcase what they can do. This particular meet athletes had to qualify to get in. It was the top 24 of all entries that made it. We had seven girls qualify in nine events, which is impressive for how large this meet was. Not only are we seeing improvement in our girl’s performances, but we are seeing the overall confidence of this team is off the charts. We are an extremely young team, and they have no fear coming up against and competing with these much bigger schools. They have worked hard and deserve to be here. They are making a name for the Kern Valley track program.”
He went on to say, “On Wednesday (today) we have our last home meet. At the meet we will have our senior night where we will honor our three seniors. Mitra Kiosef, Rowan Hathaway and Mikaela Richey are the seniors that we will be honoring for their hard work and commitment that they have made to this team. I want to thank our seniors for being the leaders that they are. They have been a super example for the rest of the team.”
