First off, Happy Fourth of July weekend to everybody, and please be safe if and when you're traveling. Make sure this stays a happy holiday for everybody.

Moving deeper into the summer means moving deeper into our series of high school season reviews. Today we move into boys cross country — but before you turn up your nose, think of this as a great, quick way to catch up on some sports you might not have paid a whole lot of attention to during the school year. There are lots of great athletes around the county playing other sports, and they've all got good stories.

One of the year's (decade's? century's?) best stories comes from cross country, so let's quickly move on.

2008-09 Kern County BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Overview: It was a disappointing state meet for a couple of local hopefuls, Foothill’s Chris Schwartz and the McFarland boys. I’ll be honest; I thought Schwartz would take the Division III state race easily. He had won Division I as a junior, so when Foothill got moved down, you’d figure it was a lock. But Schwartz looked in pain throughout the race, and though he had the lead with a mile to go, he fell to seventh place. San Diego-University City’s Mac Fleet won it, and he’s a great athlete, but Schwartz wanted more. He admitted after the race to not getting enough sleep and probably not eating right. McFarland, meanwhile, just didn’t have the race it needed to top Big Bear, which dominated the Division IV race. Second place in state is great for most teams, but the Cougars have a recent history of becoming bridesmaids, and it happened again.

Best team: It’s truly amazing what McFarland is able to do with such a small school. The Cougars were by far the area’s best boys team again, with Ridgeview and Highland running neck-and-neck for the next best. McFarland was led by four runners who would have been the top guy on any other team in the county except Foothill: Alfonso Cisneros, Eddie Garcia, Marco Perez and Francisco Nava. Of course, McFarland also had three other runners capable of breaking into that group — the school went 2-3-4-5-7-8-9 in the Central Section Division IV race. Needless to say, whenever locals all got together, McFarland’s group chased Schwartz, kept its point total way down and won easily.
Honorable mention: Ridgeview, Highland, Wasco, Shafter

Best runner: Funny how you can call a seventh-in-state finish disappointing. That’s how good Schwartz was in the final two years of his career. I got a call the other day from sports writer Josh Scroggin at the San Luis Obispo Tribune; he wanted to know some details on Schwartz, who’s headed to Cal Poly next year. I told Josh that given a disciplined environment — think about that state race and his sleeping and eating habits — he could be one of the best in the nation. He proved it in track season with his 3,200 time, and he proved it at the cross country Western regionals, which he won, and at the Foot Locker national race, where he was in the top 10. This guy is special — and don't forget his mind-boggling background.
Honorable mention: Alfonso Cisneros, McFarland; Francisco Nava, McFarland; Eddie Garcia, McFarland; Ascension Mendoza, Wasco; Curtis Kelly, Stockdale; Robby Baker, Ridgeview; Marco Perez, McFarland

Best race: The state meet was dramatic, but with McFarland’s and Schwartz’s corresponding duds, it really wasn’t much fun for Kern County. If you’re looking for something more uplifting, how about the Kern County Championships, which told the story of the season well. Schwartz dominated with a personal-record time of 14:59.76 (a high schooler going under 15 minutes is pretty rare), and then the next nine runners came in within 20 seconds of each other. McFarland ran in a pack and had enough to outlast everyone else.
Honorable mention: State meet, section meet

A look ahead: The Schwartz Era of Kern cross country was far too short. What now? McFarland loses Cisneros and Eddie Garcia but will be just fine with a nucleus of Marco Perez, Marco Camargo and Francisco Nava coming back. Whether the Cougars can win their 10th state title — one that’s eluded them for amost a decade now — with that group remains to be seen. They’ve always got some up-and-comers who score plenty of points, too. As for others, Ridgeview returns a team that was led by juniors, so Robby Baker, Alex Garcia and Brian Solis ought to have the Wolf Pack in top form. On an individual level, look out for a big jump by sophomore-to-be Curtis Kelly of Stockdale or senior-to-be Jake Van Zandt at Highland.

Year in Review Index
July 1: Football
July 2: Volleyball

I'm going to take the weekend off on the blog as well, considering many won't be checking it anyway, but we'll continue the Year in Review series on Monday.

Monday: Girls cross country