The Mt. SAC Relays on April 14 had a couple of major highlights for the Bakersfield College track and field team. In particular, Chris Schwartz broke two long-standing school records on the day. Schwartz won the 1,500 in a BC record time of 3:49.19, and again shattered the school record in the 5,000, winning it with a time of 14:34.38.
According to BC head coach David Frickel, the old record belonged to Charlie Wallace in the 1,500, with a time of 3:52.08 in 1981, and Angel Correo held the 5,000 record of 14:52.08 in 1978.
“The 1,500, when you break that down to a mile, that’s a high 4:06 mile,” said Frickel.
Going into the 1,500, Schwartz mentioned that he felt pretty good, but as he got closer to the start he started to feel a little bit nervous.
“I knew going into it, I wanted to go under 3:50, which is tough to do, but that was my goal,” said Schwartz. “Going into the last lap, coach yelled out the time, something a little over 3:00. So I thought to myself, I better get going, and I ran the last 300 or so in 44 seconds.”
As far as the 5,000, Schwartz kind of sensed that something special was going on, as the crowd cheered him on.
“The people started to cheer for me, and that kind of gave me some extra energy, I kind of fed off of that.”
The BC team held their last meet at home on April 30 in Memorial Stadium. The Western State Conference Inland Meet featured six teams, including the Renegades. The event showcased many strong performances by several BC athletes, and those efforts resulted in the women finishing in second place with 100.50 points, and the men finishing third with 110.
College of the Canyons won both categories, with the women posting a 145.50 score, and the men a 166 point tally.
For the BC men, Chris Schwartz won the 1500 (3:56.61) and also won the 3000 (8:37.87), Bevan Wemhoff won the high jump (6’3”). In the 800, Davis Loustalot finished second (1.57.78).
The highlights for the BC women included a first place finish for Tejera Dial in the triple jump (35’5”), Breann Goodman took first in the hammer (131’7”), Amanda Mosby second in the discus (99’8”), Danielle Tidahl second in the 800 (2:20.67), Sarena Underwood second in the pole vault (9’5”).
The meets on April 7 and April 10-11 were canceled due to a coaching decision. Next up on the schedule will be April 20 at Santa Barbara City College for the WSC Prelims.