Both Bakersfield College cross-country teams begin the season on Sept. 10 at the Fresno Invitational at Woodward Park.
“I am excited to get the season started,’’ said women’s cross country coach Pam Kelley.
“The season opener is a chance for experience, work on performance, and [to] learn something new,’’ said men’s cross-country coach Dave Frickel.
Kelley has many expectations for the runners this season. She expects the team to make it in the top 30% of the Southern Cal regional, and even make it to state.
Frickel expects to finish in the top three in the conference.
This season, the women have 18 runners and the men have 10 runners. On the women’s team there are three returning sophomores. For the men there are four sophomores, three returning and one who is a transfer from a four-year university. The freshmen on these teams have all had experience in cross-country from their high school careers.
“The depth of the team is pretty good. Actually, it is one of the best years, and I’ve been here for seven years. This is one of the better teams,’’ said Frickel.
“These runners have a lot to work for, so they will be working as hard as they can to reach their goals,’’ said Kelley.
Volleyball
Bakersfield College’s women’s volleyball team won its first match of the season Aug. 31, beating Ventura 25-23, 25-13, and 25-16.
Coach Carl Ferreira was pleased on how his team performed on its passing. On a scale of 3 they passed at 2.6 with 69 percent of perfect passing.
“I thought it was outstanding for the first match of the season,’’ said Ferreira.
The team’s next match will be held at BC on Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. against Porterville.
On Aug. 27, BC had an intersquad scrimmage that went very well. Ferreira said the intersquad scrimmages are good for matches, conditioning, and even to learn additional things that may not have been learned during practice.
“If you ask me do I have a plan, the answer is yes, “ said Ferreira.
Ferreira is not focusing on just losing and winning because it is the byproduct of the game, but he hopes that it will build the players’ character with each loss or win.
During this season there are 22 players, 13 of which are freshmen that have had successful high school careers.
“It’s truly an honor and privilege to work with young people, they are the life of this sport, and they play very well together,” said Ferreira.
Soccer
Soccer Coach Scott Dameron doesn’t have too many expectations since it’s the beginning of the season.
All he hopes for is the team to grow as a group, build together, and play the best soccer that it can.
A scrimmage was held on Aug. 19, against Marymount College.
“It was fine, just a place where we learned about ourselves,” said Dameron. “Some of the players were shocked at how fast the game went, but they managed to pick it up quick.”
On Aug. 26, the team had an alumni game. An alumni game is where past players that were in the program up to 10-15 years ago come back and play with the new players.
“It was nice to keep in contact with them, after most of them are married with families,” said Dameron.
Since it’s the beginning of the season, they can’t really tell how the results of this season will compare to last seasons results. Also, they are not too focused on wins and losses.
“Just focusing on doing the right thing, if we do the right thing correctly then we will succeed,’’ said Dameron
The team mainly consists of freshmen, with just three sophomores holding roster spots.
With just three sophomores, and 11 starting positions, the starting squad will be extremely freshman-heavy.
“We’re definitely excited, I love the team, [but] they’re a young group,” said Dameron.