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Leading by example, senior captain Daniel Hinkey of the Kern Valley boys track squad pushed himself to a great start to his season.
Hinkey with the rest of his Broncs teammates were competing at the Kern Invitational Track Meet taking place at Liberty High School. He would collect a third, sixth, and 13th place finish in each of the three events he participated in for Kern Valley. This was the top mark for the Broncs on the day. The highest finish came in the 110m hurdles where Hinkey buzzed through the race in a time of 16.66. He followed that with a respectable sixth in the 300m hurdles. His time for this race was 44.27. Capping off the stellar day, Hinkey came across the line in 13th in the 400m with a time of 55.56. This was a personal record (PR) for him.
For the rest of the Broncs, they also began their season at the invitational. This was a time for the young squad to see what they are up against in the world of high school track and field. Only one third of the team, 10 to be exact are returners. The rest of the squad is new to the game and must navigate their times or distances to be able to earn the right to compete at some of the future invitationals. On the day the Kern Valley team was able to put up 15 of PR’s.
Kern Valley’s Noah Ross was next as he collected a pair of 13th place finishes in his hurdle events. In the 110m hurdles he hit the finish line in a time of 20.32. In the 300m hurdles his time was 49.70 (PR). Joel Donaho competed in the triple jump as leaped his way to a 13th place finish. He went 27’ 2” for a PR. Ethan Mauer finished the 110m hurdles in a time of 22.33 (PR) which was good for 15th place. The Broncs ran two 4 x 400 relay teams. The “A” team of Brett Willingham, Jaayden Cleveland, Baden Mota, and Tristen Beckham was the 17th team to finish. Their times was 4:03.92. The “B” team of Cody Skaggs, Branson Burris, Greyson Fitzgerald, and Drake Posney was 19th in a time of 4:30.62.
Continuing on, Matthew Vierra was 22nd in the 200m (24.90) for a PR, He would also place 49th in the 100m in a time of 13.08 (PR). Posney along with the relay finish notched a pair of 29th place finishes. The shot put he would heave it 35’ 4” (PR), and in the long jump he would lift off to a distance of 15’ 4” (PR). Logan Sampson contributed a 32nd in the 3200m and a 41st in the 1600m. He ran a time of 12:02.27 (PR) in the 3200m and a time of 5:37.83 in the 1600m. Jacob Arbraugh jumped his way to 33rd place in the long jump with a leap of 13’ 3” (PR). Beckham was 39th in the 200m (27.58) and 46 in the 100m (12.81).
Mota came across the line in 40th in the 1600m race. His time was 5:30.49. Michael Porter was 43rd in the shot put with a toss of 30’ 1”. Kern Valley saw all three of their discus athletes finish 50, 51, and 52. They also each set a PR with their throws. Thomas Pacheco was 50th (58’ 11”), Thomas Valdez was 51st (56’ 7”), and Jayden Rhodes was 52nd (51’). Capping off the results at the invitational was Aiden Smith who was 53rd in the 100m race.
Commenting on the competition Kern Valley head coach Sabine Mixon said, “We had a rough time starting practices due to rain and winter athletes attending playoffs. With the number of new members and limited time to prepare, we decided to treat this first meet as a break-in event where athletes set a baseline time or distance. Athletes will now set goals to improve their mark with every practice and competitive opportunity.”
With their initial meet in the books, the Broncs will now focus on the upcoming East Relays which will be held at the Bakersfield College Stadium on Friday.
