I'm going to try to give as many quick updates as i can from here at Buchanan High School, the site of the 2009 State Track and Field Championships.

UPDATE, 12:40 a.m.: What a day it turned out to be for Kern County here at the CIF State Track and Field Championships. Let's do this in bullet format:

— Anna Jelmini's double championship was expected, but she went above and beyond by setting state-meet records in both the shot put and discus.

— Matt Darr's championships weren't too shocking, either, considering that his shot put and discus marks have been near the top of the state list all year. That Darr came through in the clutch in both events to win close victories was a mild, pleasant surprise.

— Here's where we get to the surprises, and why this was such a good day for Kernites.
First off, Darr's double championship gave Frontier 20 team points. Usually, that's enough to get a team in the top 10 or so of the standings — Foothill was third last year when Dayshan Ragans won a double and Chris Schwartz was second for 28 points, and Shafter's girls have been near the top each of the past two years because of Jelmini. But Frontier took it a step further today. Competing with just ONE athlete, the Titans won a state championship.
You read it right. It's shared with three other schools — Clovis East, L.A.-Cathedral and Riverside-La Sierra — but Frontier still gets its mini state of California and is the first Kern County school to cliam a state title since Bakersfield High wrestling in 2004. Wow.

— The other surprise? Chris Schwartz. But to me, this one wasn't a real surprise. I was chatting with MaxPreps writer Mitch Stephens before the action began today and told him Schwartz was getting overlooked in the 3,200 race. The guy was a cross country state champion and had finished second in the two-mile at state track last year.
Thing is, Schwartz didn't have very good times this year. His best, about 9:20, was some 25 seconds behind the leaders in the event, so no one mentioned him when talking about favorites. But Schwartz is a special kind of runner. He craves and needs other runners to push him, and he hasn't gotten that locally or even section-wide a whole lot. He got it tonight, and it turned into a fantastic two-man race between Schwartz and Collin Jarvis of Vista-Rancho Buena Vista. Schwartz peeked ahead after four laps and held a slim lead for the next 800 meters. Then they battled for about 300 meters until Jarvis pulled ahead — for good, I thought. But Chris kicked with about 150 to go, running an astounding 59-second final lap to shock the field with an 8:51.60, his PR by some seven seconds. Jarvis finished in 8:53.78.

— Add to those five golds won by three locals the two runner-up medals — Collatz and Carter — a fourth (Kovar in the shot), a fifth (Kovar in the discus) and a sixth (Collatz in the shot) and two eighths (Jackson in the 300 hurdles and Robbins in the high jump), and this was a very impressive weekend for what should be a proud Kern County track and field community.

UPDATE, 8:38 p.m.: So by "quick," I really meant every three hours. Joking, but the fact is I just got back to the media tent from running around watching Kern County's finest do their thing.
Here's what's happened: Anna Jelmini and Matt Darr each added a second state championship in the throwing events, Jelmini in the discus and Darr in the shot put. That's eight state championships in throwing in the past two years for Kern County, four from Jelmini, who said she's having trouble wrapping her head around all of this. So are we all, Anna, so are we all.
Darr, by the way, has given Frontier 20 team points by himself, and with just three boys events to go on the track, that's tied for first. I doubt the Titans can hang on that position on the strength of one athlete, but they're likely to finish in the top five, anyway.
Also a couple of imressive runner-up finishes to report: Stockdale's Alex Collatz added a second in the discus to her sixth in the shot, and Ridgeview's Johnny Carter, on his last jump, leapt to second in the triple jump to follow his state championship as a freshman. Carter said this one actually means more to him because of all the injury problems he's had to deal with in the past year.
Frontier's Taylor Jackson took eighth in the state in the 300 hurdles. West's George Robbins lost a jump-off for a state medal and also finished eighth in the boys high jump.

UPDATE, 6:01 p.m.: Thirty-two state champions will be crowned from across the state this evening, and Kern County already has a jump (or, more accurately, a throw) on the competition. The first two titles decided — the boys discus and girls shot put — both went to locals. Anna Jelmini of Shafter, to the surprise of no one, won the shot put with a throw of 50-5-.75. that's not her best but still good enough to beat the field by a full five feet.
Matt Darr of Frontier had more competition in the discus, but his personal record of 192-0, coming on his third toss, was enough to get it done. He out-paced section rival Willy Irwin of Clovis East, who threw 188-8.
I haven't had a chance to talk to Jelmini yet, but I did grab Matt for a quick chat. You couldn't have wiped the smile off his face with a sponge. He committed to punt at USC last Sunday and that allowed him, he said, to focus on throwing all week. It paid off with a great series — he also had throws of 188-3 and 184-0, the third and fourth-best throws of the day.
West's George Robbins was eliminated in the boys high jujmp, which just finished — I'm not sure what height George stopped at, so I'm not sure if he medaled (top 6). The winners had a jump-off at 7-1.
Up next is Jelmini in the discus (with Stockdale's Alex Collatz, who was sixth in the shot already), and Darr in the shot. Johnny Carter of Ridgeview will also be triple-jumping soon.