The Fresno Bee
Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 | 10:01 PM
School: Buchanan
He's qualified because: The Bears' girls Central Section Division I title was the 10th he's delivered in boys and girls cross country and track and field. And the nine-time Bee Coach of the Year did so this time without a senior while extending the program's consecutive section title streak to 11.
"There is a lot of pride in ," he says. "I don't want to say we take it for granted, but it is one of our goals. You don't hear of many teams having that kind of success."
McFarland's boys in cross country (21) and Clovis West's girls (15) and boys (13) in swimming and diving have the longest active streaks of consecutive section titles.
Attitude adjustment: Buchanan's dominant effort in the section final -- Clovis West, Clovis East and Clovis were 24, 27 and 34 points back -- came six days after the Bears placed third behind Clovis North and Clovis West in the Tri-River Athletic Conference meet.
"That really hit home," Weaver says. "The girls were so young, they just didn't know how to handle it, and they were upset. It was interesting to see how the dynamics would play out. They didn't want to be the ones to lose Valley."
Bears and Broncos: Clovis North, in winning the section D-II championship, ran 1 minute, 12 seconds slower total among its top five girls than Buchanan in D-I. But the Broncos will return six of their top seven runners while being promoted to D-I next year.
"Adding them will just make me work a little harder," Weaver says, "and the kids have to recognize them as a major factor, which they do. They're going to be tough."
