The Bakersfield College track team held a seven-school meet at BC on Feb. 17. The BC squad posted a total of eight first-place finishes that combined both the men and women. The Renegades also finished second in three other categories.
On the men’s side, Justin Evans won the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.64, Davis Loustalot won the 800 in 1:57.80, Chris Schwartz took the 1,500 in 3:58.98, and the 3000 in 8:45.50. Bevan Wemhoff took second in the high jump with 1.93 meters, and Ethan Horsey placed second in the long jump with a 6.75m jump.
On the women’s side, Tejera Dial won the 800-meter run in 2:25.26 and teammate Elizabeth Sanchez placed second in 2:25.58. In the 3000-meter steeplechase, Serraya Hermosilla won with a time of 13:57.87. In the pole vault, Sarena Underwood won with a vault of 2.90m. In the hammer throw, Breann Goodman took first place with a toss of 39.26m.
The Western State Conference Relays on Feb. 24 at Citrus College produced many outstanding performances by the BC team.
“I thought this was a great meet for both the men and women,” said BC coach Dave Frickel. “Both teams stepped up and had some great performances. We’re making dramatic improvements; we’re starting to show quality performances.
“The kids are starting to really understand the competition as a higher level than high school.”
Even though they placed second to West Los Angeles College, the BC men’s 4 x 100 meter relay team finished with a good time of 42.45. West L.A.’s winning time was 41.73. The BC team consisted of Michael Norwood, Myren Moore, Justin Evans, and Walter Hunt.
In the men’s distance medley relay, the BC squad finished third and was highlighted by Schwartz, who ran the 1,600 anchor portion in 4:15.
A BC school record was toppled in the women’s 4 X 800 meter relay, as the team of Danielle Tidahl, Tejera Dial, Elizabeth Sanchez, and Halle Meadows finished first with a time of 9:53.78.
The same BC men’s team that finished second to West L.A. in the 4 X 100, ended up beating them in the 4 x 200, as they took first place with a time of 1:28.53.
A 43-second improvement from her previous best mark came from Natalie Fernandez, when she finished third in the women’s 3000 with a time of 11:10.15.
Schwartz won the men’s 3000 with a time of 8:49.49.
The field events saw personal bests for a couple of the BC athletes.
In the women’s hammer throw, Breann Goodman took first place with a throw of 133-5 (her personal best). Ethan Horsey also achieved a personal best mark in the men’s triple jump, winning the event with a jump of 46-0, while beating Masson Blow of Allan Hancock College. BC’s Bevan Wemhoff matched the winning mark of 6-4 3/4 in the men’s high jump, but it took an extra attempt. He also finished second to Jimmy Darling of Santa Monica College.
BC has a meet March 2 at Antelope Valley College that also involves College of the Canyons, Saddleback, Antelope Valley College and San Bernardino Valley College.
“That should be a real good meet,” Frickel said. “There are some good schools that we haven’t seen. Saddleback and San Bernardino has some really good athletes.”