BCHS' Hiebert wins section singles title; Munoz-Rodriguez, Kalmikovs shine in swim; McFarland boys win D4

Cade Hiebert said he was experiencing soreness on Sunday, one day after the Bakersfield Christian High junior completed a very satisfying week of championship tennis.

Hiebert won his singles and doubles matches Wednesday to help lift the Eagles to their first CIF Central Section Division 1 team championship. Two days later, he did something that required just himself to come through. He captured the CIF Central Section Boys Tennis Individual Tournament singles title Saturday, winning four matches in two days at Clovis North High.

"Having four matches in a short amount of time, I felt I've not been able to do that for a while," Hiebert said. "It feels great to win."

He won round of 16 and quarterfinal matches on Friday, defeated Aiden Navarro of Visalia Redwood 6-0, 6-0 and Santa Maria-St. Joseph's Diego Morales 6-0, 6-2. His semifinal opponent Saturday morning was Clovis West's Ray Roush, whom he defeated 6-3, 6-2.

"I was able to get through that match. We had a lot of good points and (Ray) has a really good forehand that seemed to always get winners," Hiebert said.

Waiting for Hiebert in the singles final was Clovis North's Bryon Quitorio, who had beaten Hiebert 6-1, 6-3 Feb. 13 in a regular-season team match.

Hiebert wanted to avenge that defeat, and it happened on a bigger stage.

"That loss gave me some motivation," Hiebert said. "I knew what I'd be going up against. I knew I'd be ready."

Hiebert won 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 and the title.

"He had set point on me at 5-4 in the first set. Making that save was cool. It was definitely one of my best matches for not giving up," he said.

Other local singles results: Frontier's Clay Villarreal defeated Bakersfield's Theo Brandon 6-1, 6-3, but lost to Ray Roush 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Stockdale's John Paul Flores lost to Diego Morales 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 in the first round.

Individual Doubles: Bakersfield High juniors Evan Noel and Ryan Rosales reached the Central Section doubles championship match, falling to San Luis Obispo's Neil Wells and Grant Vanclef in a three-set battle 7-5. 3-6, 6-2.

Reaching the final was a big accomplishment for the duo, who last year went out in the quarterfinals. This year, Noel and Rosales defeated Mission College Prep's Decker Schmit and Grady Veyna 6-1, 6-1 in the opener then beat Bullard's Brett Carter and Karman Aujla 6-3, 6-1. Playing in a semifinal, the Drillers topped Clovis North's Nikith Daniel and Nathan Magallon 6-1, 6-2 to get the title match.

Other local doubles tournament results were David Hair Jr. and Adrian Araya, Bakersfield Christian, reaching the semifinals, losing to Wells and Vanclef 6-2, 6-1. Later, Hair and Araya won a third-place match against Clovis North's Daniel and Magallon 4-6, 6-3 and a third-set tiebreaker to 10, 10-6. Liberty's Keen Nguyen and Beau Perez won their first match when their opponent withdrew. But Nguyen and Perez then lost to Clovis North's Daniel and Magallon 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. Another Liberty entry, Tristan Panero and Eli Phillips, lost in the round of 16 to Clovis' Silas Roberts and Carson Feeser 6-3, 6-4.

CIF STATE SWIM AND DIVE

For the second straight season, Liberty High senior Sophia Munoz-Rodriguez and Garces High senior Jett Kalmikovs have been true point-getters and standouts at the CIF State Swimming Championships meet.

On Saturday, following a full preliminary racing schedule on Friday, both were directly responsible for the points and end result in their final bows as high school swimmers.

The meet, held at Clovis West High, saw Munoz-Rodriguez compete in four state finals events, two individually in A finals and two relays with teammates in B finals.

Munoz-Rodriguez, who will swim next year at Cal State Bakersfield, finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.45 seconds, a high school All-America time consideration mark. She finished ninth in the 200 individual medley race, also securing All-America time consideration for her 2:01.76 mark.

She is also a key cog for Liberty's 200 medley and 200 free relays. In the state consolation finals - swimmers/teams vie for 10-18th place - Liberty took 15th place overall, sixth place, in both relay races.

In the 200 medley relay, Jillian Bean swam leadoff, followed by Munoz-Rodriguez, then Gracie Dean and the anchor, Paige Bowyer. All seniors, this team swam in 1:46.16, another All-America time consideration.

In the 200 free relay consolation, the lineup was Munoz-Rodriguez leading off, followed by Bean, sophomore Ellie Horrisberger and Bowyer as anchor. The team swam in 1:37.47.

As a team in the state finals, Liberty scored 43 total points.

Garces' Kalmikovs qualified for the state finals in one individual event, the 100-yard backstroke, and leadoff for the boys 200 medley relay consolation final. Kalmikovs, along with, in order, Charlie Potter, Clay Selvidge and Owen Weishaar, finished 14th overall, fifth in the relay in 1:33.94, barely missing an All-America time consideration mark of 1:33.91.

In the 100 back, Kalmikovs qualified for the A final and finished eighth in 48.85. He earned 13 points for his individual race and with 10 from the relay, he was key for Garces' 23 team points.

He also swam on the Rams' 200 free relay team with Selvidge, Weishaar and Potter. The team finished 19th, just missing the last qualifying spot for the consolation final, in the prelims. They swam in 1:25.04.

Kalmikovs was also in the 100 free, but swam 45.93 to finish 22nd in the prelims.

Garces scored seven points in the girls' state standings as senior Addison Roberts scored points for finishing 12th in the CIF State Diving finals held on Thursday.

CIF TRACK AND FIELD

The McFarland High boys track and field team captured the CIF Central Section Division 4 championship, the only local area team to win a team title among the four division meets held last Friday. Liberty High had the highest finish among girls teams, taking second at the Division 1 finals.

The Cougars, who scored 85 points, got individual title wins from Diego Ochoa in the 800- and 1,600-meters, 1 minute, 58.34 seconds and 4:24.52, respectively. Ochoa also ran on McFarland's winning 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams, and Marco Gonzalez won the D-4 pole vault title at 13 feet, 3 inches. The D-4 finals were held at Firebaugh High School.

Meanwhile, the Patriot girls, led by Madelyn Porter's title wins in the pole vault and triple jump, scored 66 and one-third points, to finish behind D-1 champion Clovis Buchanan (107). Porter went 11-8 in the pole vault and 38 feet in the triple jump. Liberty had multiple high finishes to gain the runner-up status points wise. Freshman Ally Bennett was second in the 1,600 meters and third in the 3,200, Porter was runner-up in the 100 hurdles, Liberty was second in the 4x100 relay and third in the 4x400 relay. The D-1 finals were hosted by Sanger High at Washington Academic Middle School's Dodson Field.

Other top team placings among the four divisions were Del Oro boys, third in the D-3 finals at Exeter Union High, Shafter and Kern Valley girls finished fourth in divisions 2 at Dinuba High and 4, respectively. Liberty boys were fifth in D-1, Independence boys were seventh in D-2, and South's girls were sixth in D-3.

Other event title wins by locals in their division final, boys and girls, were:

Division 1 - Boys: Liberty, 4x100 relay, 41.48. Girls: Nevaeh Ramos Howard, Stockdale, 100, 11:75, and 200, 24.39.

Division 2 - Boys: Damarious Johnson, Independence, 100, 11:06; Anthony Brown, Golden Valley, 100 Unified, 14:47; Josiah Frink, Ridgeview, high jump, 6-2; Julius Porter, Ridgeview, triple jump, 43-11. Girls: Lashanique Jones and Jacqueline Flores, both Golden Valley, 100 Unified, both 29.42; Chelsea Jauregui, Ridgeview, 800, 2:19.30; Independence, 4x100 relay 48.91; Golden Valley, 4x100 Unified, 56.16; Joslyn Pierucci, Shafter, shot put, 36-8 and discus 136-1; Jacqueline Flores, Golden Valley, shot put Unified, 42-9; Victoria Smith-Chaplin, Ridgeview, high jump, 5-0.

Division 3 - Boys: Luke Diaz, Chavez, 800, 1:57.77; Brayden Holford, Foothill, 110 hurdles, 14.98; Luis Ramirez, West, 300 hurdles, 39.20; Talen Prince, North, Discus, 171-1; Thaddeus Dyer, Tehachapi, high jump, 6-3; Girls: None.

Division 4 - Boys: Andrew Gartica, Boron, 100, 10.77; Terall McAdams, Rosamond, shot put, 51-10. Girls: Jayda Bushling, Kern Valley, 100, 12.07, 200, 25.60, long jump, 17-4 and one-half inches; 4x800 relay, McFarland, 10:23.45; Lacey Mueller, Bakersfield Christian, High Jump, 5-3; Zelia Elise Hoyt, Bakersfield Christian, Pole Vault, 9-9.

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