CSUB, BC athletics success tempered by administrative challenges

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As the door closes on 2025, the athletic departments of Cal State Bakersfield and Bakersfield College may want to slam it shut and hope it doesn’t swing back.

While there have been notable athletic achievements for both programs this year, the leadership in both athletic departments has brought a lot into question.

Both institutions have placed a word in front of their current athletic directors' names — "acting" for Sarah Tuohy at CSUB, and "interim" for Ayanna Tweedy at BC.

Kyle Conder, who was hired as CSUB’s assistant vice president and director of athletics in the fall of 2022, was terminated in September of this year. Conder has since sued CSUB and the California State University’s Board of Trustees. CSUB faces a separate lawsuit filed in October by two former members of its softball program. It listed CSUB, the CSU Board of Trustees and a former CSUB softball coach as defendants.

The departure of veteran head coaches in men’s basketball and swimming, the subsequent resignation of the replacement head swim coach, the softball head coach who was placed on administrative leave and the dismissal of men’s basketball assistant coach Kevin Mays following his arrest on multiple criminal charges — all are issues CSUB Athletics has had to deal with through the year.

Bakersfield College, meanwhile, has been operating without athletic director Reggie Bolton for much of 2025. In mid-2025, the college issued this statement: “As of June 11, 2025, Bakersfield College Athletic Director John Bolton is on leave. Our athletics programs will continue to operate as scheduled with support from college leadership and staff. Bakersfield College remains committed to serving our students, faculty, staff and community.”

Bolton remains in Bakersfield and has been spotted at both Frontier and Garces high schools during football season. He did volunteer coaching with Frontier football but left before its season ended. Seen at a Garces football playoff game in November, he was on hand to support one of his former BC players, Garces head coach Greg Campbell. It is not known whether Bolton is officially still attached to BC Athletics or the college in any capacity.

Tweedy was hired in August to serve as interim athletic director. She started days before BC athletics’ fall sports season was to begin. Since her hiring, she has been visible at all sports home contests and she, working with staff, announced that BC home football games would offer free admission to anyone.

CSUB INAUGURAL HALL OF FAME

The arrival of CSUB Athletics’ inaugural Hall of Fame class was a bright moment for the university to establish a place to recognize and honor its foundation and the many who’ve contributed to building it.

Walk into the Icardo Center gymnasium, site of the Oct. 25 induction event, and one of the first things that gets your attention is a series of 30 NCAA championship banners. Most are from CSUB’s Division II heyday, with a few Division I wrestling exceptions, covering 1976 to 2004.

When the five inaugural class members were revealed — CSUB’s most decorated female athlete, swimmer Loni (Burton) Vander Kooi, back-to-back NCAA Division I national champion wrestler Stephen Neal, founding track and field head coach Charlie Craig, inaugural athletics director Rudy Carvajal and the 1992-93 NCAA Division II national championship winning men’s basketball team — each one made perfect sense.

“There was a little intentionality of well-roundedness of that class, because it is the inaugural class,” Tuohy said. “There’s probably 20 to 25 individuals and 30 teams worthy of being in the first class.”

Tuohy, who has only worked at CSUB since 2023 but was in multiple roles tied to the hall’s logistics, said video interviews with honorees gave her a deeper appreciation for their accomplishments. The banners and CSUB’s recent announcement of reaching 1,000 All-American athletes, made Carvajal's induction a priority. He served as AD for 38 years (1972-2010).

“When you think about Rudy Carvajal, he was here for all of those banners," Tuohy said. "He was the AD for every national championship we have. I don’t know how many other ADs, at any level, can say they’ve got 30 national championships. His sustained success is remarkable.”

CSUB ATHLETICS 2025

Wrestling: Coach Luke Smith sent three wrestlers to Philadelphia to compete in the NCAA national tournament in March. AJ Ferrari, who has since transferred to the University of Nebraska, took third place at 197 pounds and earned All-American status. Heavyweight Jake Andrews (Frontier High) and Richard Castro-Sandoval at 125 also competed. Andrews, who was a graduating true senior, made it to the second day of the tournament and finished with a 1-2 record. Castro-Sandoval went 0-2 on the tournament’s first day and was eliminated. He is a redshirt senior on the Roadrunners’ current team.

Track and field: Makiah Parker won the Big West Conference 200 meters title and was the runner-up in the 100 at the conference championships meet as a freshman in the spring season. Her times of 23.26 in the 200 and 11.52 in the 100 broke school records set in 1983 by Gurtha Pounds (23.79) and Andralette Gill (11.56), respectively. She was named Big West Freshman of the Year. She’s the first CSUB freshman since the university went Division I to win an individual title in any conference championship. … Jacob Yagers set two school men’s track distance records in 2025, running the 1,500 meters in 3 minutes, 42.51 seconds, to break the previous best set in 1992 and having the top time in the 3,000 meters (post-2010) at 8:30.30. The previous best was set in 2023, but Yagers’ time was more than 34 seconds faster.

Women’s soccer: Whitney Pitalo was hired as CSUB’s seventh head coach and came to the program after the Roadrunners had reached the Big West tournament final the previous season. Her arrival resulted in a strong, competitive season for CSUB (8-9-2 overall, 5-4-1 Big West), ultimately ending in a 1-0 conference quarterfinal loss to Cal State Fullerton.

Men’s basketball: The Roadrunners needed wins and help down the stretch in Big West play and got just enough to clinch the conference tournament’s last spot. The team won three of its last five games, including an overtime road buzzer-beater win against Long Beach State and a 12-point win over Hawaii in the regular season and home finale. The reward, however, was a first-round game against UC Santa Barbara and a 71-66 loss. It wound up being Rod Barnes’ last game as CSUB head coach, who stepped away in late September. Barnes had a 210-231 record in 14 seasons (2011-25), most years of any CSUB head basketball coach. His win total is second to Pat Douglass, who went 257-61 in 10 seasons (1987-97).

BAKERSFIELD COLLEGE 2025

The Renegades enjoyed a host of successes, ranging from fielding an inaugural women’s water polo team to postseason play for multiple sports teams in regional and state playoff events.

Women’s tennis: The best season in BC women’s tennis history consisted of an undefeated 12-0 Western State Conference championship, a Southern California regional team sweep with wins over San Diego City, Riverside and Orange Coast and a meet-up with Sacramento’s American River in the 3C2A State Championship match. The Renegades lost 5-3 to the Beavers, who captured their third straight state title. BC (19-1) played tough in the final, winning two of three doubles points and nearly getting the sweep. American River rallied for its lone doubles point, but won four of five singles matches, with BC’s Naomi Pavletich getting a win at No. 4.

Men’s swimming: The men’s team, led by sophomore Cody Hart and record-setting performances at the 3C2A State Championships in Santa Rosa, finished seventh as a team in May 2025. The team, coached by Matt Moon, qualified five individual swimmers and five relays for 18 events. Hart won the 50 freestyle state title, a first for a Renegade swimmer, and was second in the 100 free and third in the 200 free, again in school-record times. He also swam on the 800 free relay that placed second while setting a school record. Hart, Emi Ibarra, David Hernandez and Dawson Hoff swam on the relay and also in the 400 free and 200 medley relay.

Track and field: Bakersfield College distance runner Jacob Perez finished fifth in the 3,000-meter men’s steeplechase at the 3C2A State Track and Field Championships at the College of San Mateo. Perez, who won the event in the Western State Conference finals and was fifth at the 3C2A Southern California regional championships, completed the state race in a season-best time of 9 minutes, 37.43 seconds.

Cross-country: The men’s and women’s cross-country teams ran at the 3C2A State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno. The men finished 20th as a team, led by Jacob Quezada, and the women, led again by Sofia Moody, placed 21st. Both Quezada and Moody hit strong individual time goals. Quezada’s four-mile time of 21 minutes, 55.25 seconds marked the first time he’s been under 22 and the second time he’s been BC’s top runner in a meet. He finished 98th overall. Moody ran a personal best-time of 19:44.99 and was 41st in the 5,000-meter distance.

Wrestling: Sophomore Jonathan Garcia finished second in the heavyweight title match (285 pounds) to help BC finish 10th as a team at the 3C2A State Wrestling Championships at Sierra College in Rocklin in mid-December. Garcia did win the 3C2A Southern California Regional heavyweight championship.

Women’s golf: Top female golfer, sophomore Ivana Escobar, shot a 90 in a rain-shortened 3C2A State Women’s Golf Championship Tournament to finish tied for 35th overall in the lone round played at the par-72 River Course at Alisal in Solvang.

Men's and women’s soccer: Both Renegade teams qualified for the 3C2A Southern California regional playoffs. The men’s team finished the regular season as co-Western State Conference champions with an 8-1-1 mark. The team opened the postseason with a third meeting with Glendale, a WSC foe that BC went 1-0-1 against in the regular season. Glendale rallied with three second-half goals and won 5-4 in the playoff game at BC. The BC women finished 7-3-4 in WSC play and 11-8-4 overall, making it to the second round of the playoffs. The team won its playoff opener, 1-0, on a late goal at home against San Diego Miramar, but lost 1-0 to Santiago Canyon in the second round.

Softball: The Renegades were swept in the 3C2A Southern California Regional playoffs as Long Beach City gave up only three hits in a 2-0 victory and then limited BC to one hit in a 5-0 win. LBCC scored its two runs in the fifth inning in the opener and then broke open a close game with a four-run seventh inning in Game 2. BC finishes with a 21-21 overall record after a second-place showing in the WSC South (9-3).

Men’s golf: Golfer Luke Dickenson, who qualified individually for the 3C2A Southern California Regional Tournament, finished 57th overall. The tournament, which was held at Los Serranos Golf Club in Chino Hills, saw Dickenson shoot a two-round score of 160, 81 and 79.

Other BC Notables

Women’s water polo: First announced as an addition to BC’s large group of athletic teams, in March, the inaugural women’s water polo team competed as a fall sport under the direction of head coach Bryan Hirayama. The Renegades went 3-15 overall and 1-5 in Western State Conference play. The team played three times at its on-campus pool facility, beginning with an 18-6 loss to Los Angeles Valley on Sept. 17. BC’s wins came against Rio Hondo (23-7), a forfeit win against Santa Monica and a 17-2 win over Pasadena City in a Ventura College tournament. The team scored 96 goals (21 in WSC games) and the initial roster featured all Kern County players, freshmen and sophomores.

Football: The early 2025 hiring of BC defensive coordinator Tyler Thompson to the head coach position had some ups, but ultimately, downs with a 4-6 overall record and 2-5 mark in the Southern California Football Association’s National Central League. BC’s conference consists of Golden West, Cerritos, Fullerton, Canyons, Pasadena City, East Los Angeles and Orange Coast. BC also played Ventura, Santa Ana and Allan Hancock. Golden West, who BC lost 21-13 to early in the season, played in the 3C2A State Championship game. Four other teams BC played finished the season ranked top 17 in the state, including three in the top 10. Thompson and his staff are actively recruiting, and just last week, Frontier High head football coach Chris Bandy, whose team won a CIF state title in 2024, announced he was stepping down from the Titans’ athletic program to join Thompson’s coaching staff and work on offense and help with recruiting.

Hall of fame: The newest BC Athletics Hall of Fame class was inducted on Oct. 9 at Luigi’s Warehouse. Honorees were Jan Stubbe (football/track student-athlete, later athletic director), Sandy Bowers (women’s athletic director), Rick Van Horne (football and baseball), Gloria Friedman (tennis player, later head coach), Tyrone Crawford (football, 2008-09) Sean Barker (baseball, 2000) and Brandon Banks (football 2006-07). One team, the 1997-78 state champion men’s basketball team, was also inducted.

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