Before we get to the daily Year in Review, I've got some interesting news from the Fresno area: Clovis West coach Gary Kinne, who led the Golden Eagles to a Central Section Division I championship in his first season there, is gone back to Texas as suddenly as he arrived.

Kinne, a former Baylor assistant who was 10-3 at CW in one year, was hired by Sherman (Texas) High School on Tuesday night, just more than a year after Clovis West nabbed him from Canton (Texas).

What does this have to do with us? Well, for one thing, it makes things really tough on one of the main competitors for the D-I title. It's exceedingly late in the game for Clovis West to be seeking a new coach — the season starts in less than two months, and full-on practices in less than one — so I suspect they'll promote someone from within the program. That will help, but there's no telling if there is anyone there who is prepared and ready to take over the head job. The players there also are going to have a rough time of it. For the seniors, this is the fourth head varsity coach in four years. I don't care how much talent you've got, or how good the coaches you're bringing in are, that's not easy to deal with.

Anyway, back to Year In Review for 2008-09, where we've reached the end of the fall sports road with girls golf. To the winter, and boys basketball, tomorrow.

2008-09 Kern County GIRLS GOLF

Overview: It was kind of an interesting year in that the best team all year (Garces) didn’t play the best on the right day (Frontier did) and the best golfer all year (the Rams’ Mica Guzman) didn’t either (Liberty’s Deidre Crabtree did). In the end, that turns into a lot of positives for everybody involved, but not a stellar year for anyone, necissarily. Frontier had to be happy after winning the SWYL, the Division II area and the Division II section. The young Titans (aren’t they young in all of their sports?) actually posted the second-best overall score at the team section meet, so they got to go down to the SoCal regional. That didn’t work out too well, but the experience will come in handy. Meanwhile, Guzman was a nose ahead of other SEYL stars Crabtree and Garces’ Cassie Clayton. But when it came time for the individual section championships, Crabtree had a fantastic round of 73 at RiverLakes and took home the hardware.

Best team: Still Garces, which dominated the area meet and then took a step back on an unfamiliar course in Madera for the section. The Rams were hoping to get down to the SoCal, where a good day would have put them in contention for the state meet, but that dream died with a bad round. That’s the breaks in California high school golf, where tournaments insist that you play well on that particular round. But take nothing away from the Rams. Guzman and Clayton provided low scores at the top, and Julia Berchtold, Jasmine Rodriguez and Veronica Rindge routinely provided the solid scores good teams need.
Honorable mention: Frontier, Stockdale, Liberty, Tehachapi

Best player: There were plenty of highlights to share (Clayton shot a 68! at RiverLakes early in the year, not to mention Crabtree’s section title), but Mica Guzman was consistently the best player out there. Her stroke average of 75.5 was more than four strokes better than any other player in Kern County, and she didn’t really have bad rounds. She finished second in the section and then was the top finisher from anywhere in the section at the SoCal regional. The folks at Cal State Fullerton, who are starting their program anew after it was axed in the 1980s (boy, it’s nice to see some people actually spending money; I just hope they’ve got it), have themselves a recruiting jewel in Guzman (and another in Crabtree, actually).
Honorable mention: Crabtree, Clayton, Stockdale’s Tammy Park, Stockdale’s Abby Marina, Frontier’s Meghan Shain

Best event: There were dramatics at both the team and individual section meets, but I’m going with the individual round at RiverLakes here. Guzman and Clayton was busy putting together solid rounds at a course they know well, but both were eclipsed by Crabtree, who stormed through with an eagle and a birdie on a back nine that she played in under par. Don’t think I’ll ever forget her sitting on a big rock overlooking the 18th island green behind the clubhouse at RiverLakes, watching players come in and then waiting for their scores to be posted. Her 73 held up and she had a dramatic championship — plus bragging rights over her rivals and friends, Guzman and Clayton.
Honorable mention: Team section championships

A look ahead: The SEYL’s big three — Guzman, Clayton and Crabtree — were all seniors, as was Tammy Park, who won every SWYL event. That means we’ll see a new crop of talent at the top of the local leader boards. Stockdale’s Abby Marina, just a freshman, should step into that void, as should a few of Frontier’s better players — Meghan Shain, Jordanne Barr, Taylor Shweiki and Malea Miller were all underclassmen with potential to be really good. From a team perspective, that means the Titans might assume the favorites’ role from week-to-week. Will there be another upstart at the end of the year? Wouldn’t surprise me. It could be Stockdale or Garces coming from underdog status to postseason success.

Year in Review Index
July 1: Football
July 2: Volleyball
July 3: Boys cross country
July 6: Girls cross country
July 7: Girls tennis

Tomorrow: Boys basketball