wolf pack invite 08 - frosh/soph

More than just a walk in The Park

Schwartz, Wittenberg overcome illness to dominate meet

BY STEPHEN LYNCH, Special to The Californian | Saturday, Sep 27 2008 11:11 PM

www.andynoise.com/wolfpack08.html

 

Shafter's Elizabeth Wittenberg and Foothill's Chris Schwartz had more than one thing in common during Saturday's third Wolf Pack Cross Country Invitational held at The Park at River Walk.

 

Shafter High cross country runner Elizabeth Wittenberg crosses the finish line in first place and exhausted, Saturday, during the Ridgeview cross country invitational in Bakersfield. (C

 

The two senior runners not only dominated their respective races, but both did it while feeling slightly ill.

 

Wittenberg finished the 5K grass course with a time of 20:10 to outdistance second-place finisher Tijerra Lynch of Ridgeview by 54 seconds..

 

"I honestly didn't feel good before the race," Wittenberg said. "My legs feel bad. "

 

Schwartz, who ate most of a Baby Ruth candy bar about 30 minutes prior to the boys race, suffered stomach cramps on the way to his winning time of 16:18. Despite the discomfort, the 2007 state champion led start-to-finish.

 

"I don't usually eat candy before a race," Schwartz said. "I had a banana but I was still hungry."

 

McFarland's Alfonso Cisneros crossed the finish line in second place, 11 seconds behind Schwartz. Robby Baker of Ridgeview placed third, 20 seconds off the pace.

 

"It was a really hard race," Cisneros said. "My strategy was to stay close to Chris Schwartz. I was about 12 seconds off so I guess everything went well."

 

Lynch's result coupled with a fourth-place finish by teammate Jessica Huizar propelled the Wolf Pack to the girls team title with a score of 45. Shafter finished second with 73 , followed by Palmdale with 94, and North with 95 .

 

With the win the Ridgeview girls are now four-for-four in invitational meets this season. On Wednesday the Wolf Pack handed Centennial its first dual meet loss in school history.

 

"The girls just worked their butts off over the summer and its paying off," Ridgeview coach Adam Setser said. "I'm just super proud of our girls because they've come such a long way in such a short time."

 

Cisneros was one of seven Cougars boys to finish in the top-10.

 

"Today being a little bit warmer we just went with a different approach," McFarland coach Amador Ayon said. "We wanted to go out kind of controlled. The kids wanted run within themselves. They didn't want to exert too much considering that we've been working real hard the last couple of weeks. We wanted to stay as close together as we could as a pack. Our goal was to be 10-15 seconds between (runners) one through seven."

 

McFarland, the top ranked Division IV school in the state, dominated the boys team competition with a score of 25. Palmdale, the only non Kern County entry in the field, finished second with 95, followed by Ridgeview with 118.

 

The girls race unfolded perfectly for Wittenberg who took over the lead right before the two mile mark.

 

"I had three or four girls leading it so I didn't even have to think the first half the race, Wittenberg said. "I got to the point where I felt I can do this, I can pick it up a little bit, so I went."

 

Lynch, a first-year cross country runner, used a strong kick to pass several runners near the end.

 

"At the beginning I thought I went out a little to fast," Lynch said. "The hills were a little hard but I just knew I could push through it at the end and I did. Its all a mental thing and so I knew I could get them and I did."

 

The boys race was largely uneventful with Schwartz turning in another Schwartz-like performance.

 

"In the beginning I took the lead and I was being challenged for at least a mile and a half," Schwartz said. "After that people started to slow down and I just kept my same pace."

Done