BY ZACH EWING Californian staff writer
Wednesday, May 23 2012 10:42 PM
Nisa Ontiveros strikes out an awful lot of batters for Ridgeview High's softball team, but she's not afraid to rely on her defense.
That became quite literal in the seventh inning of Wednesday's Central Section Division III semifinal, when Ontiveros went full extension to catch an infield pop-up, lost her balance -- and caught herself when she wrapped second baseman Jackie Marintez in a bear hug.
Ridgeview breathed a sigh of relief and finished its 6-0 rout of Independence.
"I almost tripped, and instead of falling, I saw her and kind of used her for that," Ontiveros said with a laugh. "She's always there for me."
Ontiveros finished with a two-hitter and seven strikeouts, though she also dared Independence hitters to put the ball in play early in the count. The Wolf Pack defense committed one meaningless error, and Ontiveros threw just 75 pitches -- 61 for strikes -- in her seven innings.
CLOVIS — The way Morganne Hill figures it, there's friendly competition and the other kind of competition. Good thing she comes from Bakersfield, which has been busy all season staking its claim to the title of Hurdletown, U.S.A.
“Running with Kaulyn is the best thing I could ask for, because she's the biggest motivator I have,” said Hill, a freshman who took second to teammate Kaulyn Lee-McNeill at Saturday's Central Section Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High. “I hate competition, but we're friends, and she pushed me, and that's what I love about Kaulyn. This is friendly competition, and that’s better than enemy competition.”
Local girls hurdlers took center stage all day: Bakersfield High’s Syrea Hicks won the girls 100-meter hurdles in 14.28. Frontier’s Kassidy Ellis (14.52) came in second.
Then, an hour and a half later in the girls 300 hurdles, Lee-McNeill ran 43.07 for an easy win. Ellis would have come in second, except she hit the last hurdle, crashed and was disqualified.
Instead, it was Hill (44.41) who finished second and qualified for the state meet in two weeks back here at Buchanan, as did the top three in each event. In the girls hurdles, five of those six spots went to Bakersfield athletes.
“We’re really positive, and we’re always grateful for each other,” Lee-McNeill said.
And these section championships weren't the result of weak competition: Hicks ranks No. 31 in the country this year in the 100 hurdles, and Lee-McNeill is
No. 34 in the 300. Ellis is top 100 in both events. Hill’s 300 time Saturday was fourth-best among freshman nationally.
“This is my first year running in high school meets, so it’s new for me to go up against this really good competition,” Hicks said. "But when I get to go up against these girls, it really pushes me."
If Bakersfield is Hurdletown for the girls, it's Distancetown for the boys. That conversation starts with the brilliant Stockdale duo of Blake Haney and Cameron Miller, who both reached state in the 1,600 and 3,200.
Haney, who is the national sophomore leader in the mile and 3,200 — led the 1,600 from the gun, until Buchanan's Cody Brazeal passed him with about 300 meters to go and ran a section-meet record 4:07.72. Haney finished second (4:12.71) and Miller third (4:13.09) in what was almost surely the fastest 1,600 race in section history.
"Cody's a great runner; I can't lead for 1,400 meters and still expect to out-kick him," Haney said.
For Miller's part, it was a personal record by six seconds.
"I've been waiting for that all season," Miller said. "I knew I had it in me. I just hadn't been in the right race, and this is a huge monkey off my back."
Haney got his gold medal later in the 3,200, when he passed Miller with about 90 meters to go and held him off, running 9:12.18 to Miller's 9:12.30.
"I just came out here to run fast and have fun," Haney said. "We're training through this meet, so I didn't feel too good. I'm feeling confident in both races for state."
Those performances, along with a high-jump championship from senior Evan Eggenberg, were enough to give Stockdale 44 team points and second place in the team standings behind Buchanan.
Eggenberg, who also came in with the section's best all-condition time in the 110 hurdles, false-started and was disqualified from that race. He jumped 6-8 to take the high jump.
"Cost us 10 points, but otherwise we had almost a perfect day," Mustangs coach Dave Lonsinger said. "And Evan, to come back like that and win a Valley championship? That's phenomenal. Most kids would have crumbled."
In all, Kern County took home 10 individual championships. Independence's Brena Andrews was the only double winner: She took home golds in the 100 (11.87) and 200 (24.44) after she was second to state champion Jenna Prandini of Clovis in both events last year.
"I just had to stay relaxed, because I felt the pressure of people expecting me to win after I was second last year," said Andrews, who said she's fully healthy but still rounding into form after battling a hamstring injury for the past six weeks.
Other winners and notable performances included:
• Shafter's Matt Bender defended his boys discus title by throwing 173-4. His second individual title makes eight section championships for his immediate family: John Bender, his father, won three in the shot put in the 1980s, and his mother, Debbie Budwig, won three hurdles golds.
"It makes me happy; I know I'm making them proud," Bender said.
• In the boys 800, Ridgeview's Ivan Gonzalez did to Brazeal what Brazeal did to Haney: He ran on his shoulder for most of the race, then kicked past him with 200 meters to go to win in 1:54.26.
"I saw him picking it up in the second half," Gonzalez said. "I knew I had it in me."
• Bakersfield Christian's Sarah Hill, who has never before even qualified for state, took the girls high jump by clearing 5-6.5, a personal record. Hill was ecstatic, miffed only that the announcer had said she was from Bakersfield High.
"People keep asking, 'What school are you from? What does that C stand for?' And I'm like, Christian! God does crazy things," Hill said. "5-6 has been a huge mental hurdle for me, and it felt so easy going over. It's amazing."
• Stockdale's Kiare Tanner won the girls triple jump with a 39-1.5, her best in a high school meet. That came after she was disqualified in the long jump because she missed a pre-race instructions meeting because of an equipment problem.
"This year has been so up and down," Tanner said. "I really tried to stay positive so I was ready for the triple jump."
• In the boys triple jump, Bakersfield's Scotty Newton popped a 49-0, his PR and the second-best mark for a sophomore in section history. He finished second to Fresno-Central's Willie Alexander (49-2.75) but helped the Drillers to sixth place in the team standings.
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