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Championship weekend for several area athletes

ron stapp, the bakersfield californian
·5 min read

With the school year winding down, the spring high school sports season is making one last push in what promises to be a busy weekend of track and field, baseball and softball for Kern County schools.

Five baseball teams, two softball teams and 19 track and field athletes will all be in action during a 30-hour stretch at venues in Clovis, Fresno and Visalia.

The weekend will start on the campus of Clovis-Buchanan at Veterans Memorial Stadium around 3 p.m. Friday and end around 10 p.m. Saturday at the same venue as part of the 104th CIF State Track and Field Championships. That timing could change a bit, depending and how many track and field athletes qualify for Saturday’s finals, but it's still a full slate.

Signing up for an NFHS account, which is scheduled to broadcast the events online, might be a good option for anyone not traveling north to watch in person.

In either case, just to put things in perspective, here’s a chronological look at what's on the schedule the next two days:

FRIDAY

3 p.m.: Bakersfield High senior Kyndall Hannible will kick things off with the start of the girls long jump prelims, with Frontier junior Kai Wilkins competing in the boys high jump. Hannible enters the event as the No. 2 qualifier.

4:00: About an hour south, Shafter will dig in for the first of five baseball finals featuring area teams at Visalia-Valley Strong Ballpark, home of the California League’s Rawhide, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Single-A affiliate. The No. 3 Generals will be facing top-seeded Madera-Matilda Torres.

5:15: Back in Clovis, Bakersfield High’s super talented sophomore Jalen Ford will take the track for the first of three events. This time, he’ll anchor the Drillers’ boys 400 relay team with juniors Brison Abbott, Isaiah Richard and Brenton Brown.

5:30: The top girls distance runner the past four years is up next when Highland’s Mia Torrecillas runs in the 1,600. At about the same time, Liberty’s Tyler Balgeman will be making his first throw in the discus. He enters the event as the No. 3 qualifier.

6:00: Liberty senior Bella Turner, who medaled at the state meet in both hurdle events last year, will be one of the favorites to do so again when she runs in the 100 hurdles.

6:15: Golden Valley senior Ruben Delgado will compete in the second heat for the boys 110 hurdles.

7:20: Frontier senior Cyan Haslip will run in Lane 8 in the first heat for the girls 100-meter dash.

7:30: Ford returns to the track to run the first heat for the boys 100. Frontier senior Brycen Tablit is slated to run in the second heat. At the same time, moving to action down south again, Bakersfield Christian will be looking to repeat as Central Section Division-II baseball champion when the Eagles face No. 9 Atascadero in Visalia.

8:00: Things start to wind down in Clovis, but a pair of locals, Haslip and Turner, will compete in the 300 hurdles. Haslip will run in Heat 1, with Turner in the third heat.

8:15: Delgado and Vincent Carnegie of Stockdale will line up three lanes apart for the boys 300 hurdles.

8:50: Ford finishes his opening day in Clovis with his best event, the 200, in which he posted the second fastest time in the state at last week’s Masters with a 20.96.

9:10: The prelims close with two area teams running in the girls 1,600 relay. Liberty will run in the second heat with Jordyn Higbee, Turner, Rylee Wheeler and Nicole Bridges, with BHS in the third heat with Abigail Varner, Kalaya Miller, La Sheau Hayden and Hannible.

SATURDAY

Noon: Day 2 of the weekend starts with No. 7 Independence playing top-seeded Madera-Liberty for the Central Section Division-IV baseball title in Visalia.

3:30 p.m.: No. 2 Chavez will follow things up against No. 5 Lindsay in D-VI baseball final. The Titans, who have won nine straight, are looking for the program’s first championships since going back-to-back in 2015-16.

4:00: If he advances to the finals, Wilkins would be in action for the start of the high jump.

4:30: The only softball championship featuring area teams will get started at Fresno State’s Margie Wright Diamond featuring two former South Sequoia League rivals, No. 1 Taft and No. 2 Bakersfield Christian. The Wildcats advanced with a 10-0 win over Tulare Western on Wednesday, while the Eagles are looking for their 27th straight victory after rallying past No. 3 Wasco for a 3-2 victory in the other semifinal.

4:45: Hannible is expected to be in contention for the girls long jump finals.

5:50: If the Drillers can advance, they’d be competing in the boys 400 relay final.

6:00: Torrecillas would be running in the girls 1,600.

6:20: Turner figures to be among the finalists for the girls 100 hurdles.

6:30: Delgado would be running in the 110 hurdles, and Balgeman is expected to be competing on Day 2 of the discus.

7:20: If Haslip can advance, she’ll be running in the girls 100.

7:30: Ford would be running in the boys 100, while back in Visalia, No. 2 Liberty will be trying to be the third consecutive area team to win the Central Section Division-I baseball title. The Patriots are looking for their first championship in program history, but will have to take down top-seeded Clovis West to accomplish that. Centennial won in dramatic fashion last year and Stockdale captured the 2022 title.

7:50: Turner is expected to be in the girls 300 hurdles.

8:00: Delgado and Carnegie could both be in action for the boys 300 hurdles.

8:15: Plenty of excitement if Ford can make the finals, where he has a legitimate shot at winning gold.

9:50: BHS and Liberty could close out the night right if either can advance to the girls 1,600 relay final.

When the dust settles, it figures to be an exhausting couple of days for everyone involved. Just in time for the Southern California Regional baseball and softball playoffs to start on Tuesday. The brackets will be unveiled on Sunday.