Patti McGarvey
Special to the Sun

The Kern Valley girl’s cross country team ran to a High Desert League title on Nov. 5 at Vasquez.

They used a strategy that worked well for them and won first place at the HDL finals. Head coach Don Hazard said, “We knew we needed to run a strategic race with our girls running in packs to help each other push themselves to their limit.”

Futher commenting about the league title Hazard went on to say, “This is only Kern Valley’s second league championship in girls cross country in school history. The first championship was in 2005 when Debbie Byrket and Sierra Hazard were both freshman and key athletes that helped the team win their first championship. It’s nice to see them finishing their high school cross country careers with another HDL championship under their belt.”

Jessica Tyack and Shelby Hinkey had to out sprint two Rosamond athletes the last 100 yards of the race to seal the league championship for the Lady Broncs.

Jenna Criswell started off fast and was the top finisher for Kern Valley in sixth place with the time of 21:40, Sierra Hazard finished for the Lady Broncs in eighth place with the time of 21:48.

Tyack out sprinted a Rosamond runner to finish in 10th place with the time of 22:33.

Debbie Byrket finished in 14th place at 23:11 and Hinkey rounded out the top five for Kern Valley with a 15th place finish with a time of 23:17.

Hazard said, “Shelby also had to out sprint a Rosamond runner in the last 100 yards of the race.”

Also running for the Lady Broncs were Kayla Lawhon who finished in 26th place at 24:26 and Chelsea Stamps finished in 48th place with a time of 31:43.

Hazard said, “The girl’s were nervous after the race because it took some time to add up the scores. They were really happy when they found out that they had beaten Rosamond by three points and a league championship.”

For the season Kern Valley finished in first place, Rosamond second, Bishop third, Vasquez fourth, Frazier Mountain fifth and Desert sixth.

Cal City also raced at the finals, but did not score. They will be in the HDL next year.

For Tyack and Sierra Hazard their running will not stop after graduating from high school.

Tyack has an offer from Lewis and Clark University in Oregon to attend school and run, while Sierra Hazard also has an offer from Claremont University in San Diego to run.

Hazard said, “It was a real privilege and a lot of fun to coach these outstanding athletes, students and individuals.”

The team will go to Mt. San Antonio College on Nov. 15 for CIF.