06.21.08
All-Area Track Coaches of the Year
Drillers’ Anderson honored as All-Area Boys Track Coach of the Year
The Bakersfield Californian | Friday, Jun 20 2008 8:35 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jun 20 2008 8:52 PM
As an Idaho native who last worked in Iowa, Steven Anderson didn’t know a whole lot about Bakersfield High’s rich track and field history when he took the Drillers coaching job two years ago.
It didn’t take him long to learn.
“I knew a little bit of it last year because our athletes all the way from the ’70s would be coming to the meets,” Anderson said. “You’d find out who they are, and you’re like, ‘Wow, they still care.’”
After a lackluster year with a young boys team in his first year, Anderson decided he’d let his athletes in on what he found out. And so, the day before the league meets, Anderson gave his team an hour to spend perusing BHS’ little-known trophy room.
They responded with boys and girls titles in the Southwest Yosemite League and a top-five finish at the Central Section meet. For that, Anderson is The Californian’s Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year.
“A lot of people think track is about the individual, but all year we told them it’s about the team,” Anderson said. “And when you start having kids believe they can do it, it’s easy.”
– Zach Ewing
Renz, Jones honored as co-coaches of the year for All-Area girls track
The Bakersfield Californian | Friday, Jun 20 2008 8:35 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jun 20 2008 8:37 PM
Track and field meets, espcially as they become bigger and more prestigious, are about the individual. Just two or three quality athletes can win you a meet.
That’s what makes a league meet so special — it takes a whole team to win it — and what made Centennial’s girls season great this year.
“We had a lot of kids come through that day,” said Ryan Renz, who with Randy Jones is a Californian Co-Girls Track and Field Coach of the Year.
Kids like Jessica Crowe, primarily a hurdler and runner, who was asked to pole vault that day. She responded with a personal-record eight-foot vault and a Southwest Yosemite League championship. Or April Cacuyog, who ran herself dizzy that day.
The result was an SWYL team title for the Golden Hawks.
“As a coach, that’s what you love to see,” Renz said. “They have their best meet at the league meet, and we’ve been fortunate to have kids who have bought into that, who enjoy the team part more than the individual part.”
The championship and Coach of the Year honor is also a cap to a great career for Jones, who’s retiring.
“Randy’s a really quiet guy, and he doesn’t want much said about him,” Renz said. “But he means a lot to the whole track and field community. It’s going to be tough. Centennial will never be the same.”
