All six of Kern Valley’s runners that competed in the Division 5 team meet held in Fresno. Submitted Photos
Being a force to reckon with all season, the Lady Broncs cross country team proved they were an elite bunch of runners by coming in fourth place at the CIF race.
Two of the Kern Valey runners, succeed in running their best race of the year to help propel their team forward. As she has done most of the season, Aspen Hacker led the Lady Broncs with a strong second place finish. She crossed the line in a time of 19:40.48. Her season will continue as with her finish she advances to the CIF individual race. The top 20 runners will get the chance to run at the CIF State Meet. There were total of 61 runners in the girls’ race. With eight teams being eligible for the team event, the Lady Broncs finished in the top half of the race.
The Lady Broncs head coach Kenny Bushling said, “For the second straight year Aspen Hacker finished in second behind Clara Riddle from Immanuel Christian. Quite an accomplishment. Aspen has had quite a career for Kern Valley Cross Country. She never lost a league race and won several big invitationals during her two-year career. Aspen medaled at every invitational that she competed in over the last two seasons. I feel that it’s safe to say that Aspen is the best Cross Country Lady Broncs runner in school history. Her second place this week qualified her for California’s State meet. So, she continues on and will represent the Kern River Valley Community by running in the Div 5 State Championship this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Woodard Park in Fresno.”
Just missing out on advancing was Greta Boettcher. She came in 22nd with a time of 22:50.31. She was followed by Kyla Hacker in a time of 23:01.05 for a the 24th spot. The two Lady Broncs to set Personal Records (PR) in the race were Faith Kirby and Tabitha Cazares. Kirby ran the course in a time of 24:17.21 for 35th. Cazares crossed the line in a time of 25:25.75 for a 43rd place finish. Rounding out the Lady Broncs runners was Delilah McComas who was 61st in a time of 36:37.33.
Turning to the boys’ race, the Broncs runners were able to finish in the top 10. They recorded a 10th place in the CIF Division V race. There were 11 teams total running the team race. Within that, there were a total of 83 boys that ran the course. Logan Sampson was the top Broncs runner with a 34th place. His time was 19:59.78. Next to finish was Ethan Mauer. He was 46th in a time of 20:52.57. He was followed by Sebastion Stallone who was 57th in a time of 22:10.22. The next Kern Valley runner to cross the line was Angel Oliveras who was 66th in a time of 23:18.68. Dario Jones followed in 74th place in a time of 24:56.70. The final runner to cross the line for the Broncs was Matthew Leonez. He finished 79th in a time of 25:36.71.
Commenting on the season Bushling said, “While for most, the season is over, both Kern Valley teams can take great pride in the success they had this year. The Woodward Park course is host to many national level events. Many top college and high school events are held at Woodward Park each year. The CIF State cross country meet will be held there November 30th. Having both a complete boys and girls team compete for Kern Valley hasn’t occurred in the last several years. Being able to field both teams at this level this year shows tremendous growth for the program. I’m extremely proud of the efforts of our runners and the growth they have made this season. They have worked incredibly hard all season and it showed with every meet they participated in. They have all been wonderful ambassadors of Kern Valley High School and have been outstanding representatives of the community.”
With just one athlete to compete in the CIF State Meet, it’s fair to say that Kern Valley runners have put themselves in a position to have future success on all the cross country courses they run.
