By Joe Snyder
Serra High senior Mia Flowers sparked Serra High’s girls’ track and field team by winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.46 seconds last Saturday at Moorpark High.
Flowers was able to win by .08 of a second over runner-up Olivia Kirk of Simi Valley Royal and third place Nikaela Nurr from Canyon Country Canyon, who were timed at 11.54 but Kirk very narrowly nosed out Nurr for second.
Flowers also advanced to Friday and Saturday’s CIF-State Championships by finishing sixth in the 200 clocking 23.94, in a very fast race with Moorpark having one of the fastest high school tracks in the United States.
Despite an eighth-place finish in the highly competitive race, the Lady Cavaliers’ 4×100-meter relay team of Jaiya Fletcher, Flowers, Raelyn Pleasant and Isabella Samuels managed to advance to the state meet at 47.26. Winning the race was Calabasas clocking 45.71, one of the top times in the nation this season, followed closely by second place Long Beach Poly (45.78).
The Lady Cavaliers had a pair of strong showings by Fletcher, who finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.59 and Pleasant in the long jump at 37-9.25 for ninth place but neither made it to the state meet.
The California State Championships begin with the prelims starting at 1 p.m. Friday and the finals beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis.
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Sparks wins LA City 110-meters high hurdles
Gardena High’s track and field program may have had just one qualifier in last Friday’s CIF-Los Angeles City Section Championships at El Camino College but he turned out to be a champion.
That was senior Jae’Len Sparks who won the boys’ 110-meter high hurdles with his personal best time of 14.51 seconds.
“He ran a very good race,” Gardena head coach Dorian Cervantes said of Sparks. “I’m proud of him. He’s an amazing athlete.”
For the second time in two weeks, the other being a week earlier at the L.A. City Section Prelims also at ECC, Sparks was able to top his top rival, Jayden Rendon of Carson. Rendon finished second at 14.62. On May 10, Sparks had the City Prelims’ best time of 14.75 to 14.78 for Rendon.
Rendon, a sophomore, went on to win the boys’ 300-meter-intermediate hurdles clocking 38.02.
Both qualified for this week’s CIF-State Track and Field Championships on Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis. Friday’s prelims begin at 1 p.m. and Saturday’s finals at 4 p.m.
“There was not really a lot of competition in the race,” Cervantes said. “Sparks has not run against Rendon in the off-season. It was great to see Rendon push him (Sparks). He (Sparks) did not have a good start at the blocks.”
Without doubt, Sparks will be heavily tested in the state meet that includes several already running in the 13’s and among the tops in the United States.
“It will be fun,” Cervantes said of Sparks performing in state. “He’s excited. He’ll want to go out and do his best.”
There were no other Panthers in the major events but Gardena had some good showings in the Inclusive Division, which is for developmentally disabled athletes. Leading the way was sophomore Kendall Washington in the girls’ 100-meter dash by placing second in 17.74. Washington finished behind winner Alauna Joseph of San Pedro who was timed in 16.74. Gardena’s Nancy Gonzales took seventh timing 20.27. Gonzales also was third in the shot put with a toss of 10 feet, 11.5 inches and fifth at the long jump at 4-3.
In the boys’ inclusive, sophomore Daniel Kemper placed seventh in the long jump at 9-9.
For the ninth consecutive season, Carson captured the girls’ championship with 103 points to 77 for runner-up Granada Hills Charter and 63 for third place Palisades.
The Lady Colts proved dominant in the sprints and several field events, led by sophomore Christina Gray who swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes in 11.68 and 24.2, in order. Gray also ran in the second leg of the 4×100 relay that won clocking 46.2. Other runners included Taylor Johnson, Tiffany Williams, and anchor Kaitlyn Williams. Williams was also second in the 100 at 11.95 and third in the 200 clocking 24.65.
Lauryn Williams won the shot put (39-8.25) and Kaitlyn Williams finished second in the triple jump (33-10).
Carson’s boys also fared well by finishing third behind champion Granada Hills (98 points) and runner-up Palisades (54) with 51 points. With Sparks’ 110 hurdle win, Gardena placed 14th with his 10 points.
Besides Rendon’s 300 intermediate hurdles title, Jerald Mart-Evangilista won the long jump at 22-9.5 and was fourth in the triple jump (41-11.5). He advanced to state in the long jump.
Carson’s 400-meter relay squad of Martin-Evangilista, Craig Walker, Kanieryn Hurst and Rendon took second in 41.65. Granada Hills, ranked one of the tops in California and the United States, won the race timing 41.26. Both made the state meet.
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Lady Colts, again, outlast Granada Hills for City title
After winning a wild eight-inning 12-11 game over Granada Hills Charter High for the CIF-Los Angeles City Open Division championship last season, Carson High’s softball team was locked up in a pitching dual between Giselli Pantoja and the Highlanders’ Addison Moorman in Saturday’s Open Division final at Cal State Long Beach.
It took 14 innings before the Lady Colts were able to score the marathon game’s only run in a 1-0 victory for their second consecutive City crown.
Carson scored the run when Aleina Langford led off the top of the 14th with a solo home run to lift the third-seeded Colts over top ranked Granada Hills.
To show how the pitching was, Pantoja and Moorman were locked in a double no-hitter through six innings. Langford also had the game’s first hit, a single to lead off the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the inning, Smantha Esparza broke up Pantoja’s no-hit bid with a base hit.
Pantoja went 14 innings, allowing just that hit while striking out 17 batters but walking eight. Moorman, herself, struck out 19 batters while giving up three hits.
It was Langford that hit a two-run home run in the eighth that helped Carson to last year’s City crown. In that game, the Colts blew a 10-0 lead before seeing the Highlanders tie the game but that homer helped Carson hold off Granada Hills, which pushed over a run in the bottom of the eighth.
Despite the City crown, Carson’s softball team is one of three squads that was planning to opt out of the CIF-Southern California Regional playoffs due to nearing the end of the school year, proms, final exams, and not having an overall state championship. Many private and other high schools, in fact, are ending this week, right before the Memorial Day Weekend. Many of those public schools are in the Inland Empire, which they also begin in early August. The state CIF was giving the qualified schools until last Tuesday for decision. Sources are that some of the high school athletic officials are even considering of eliminating the regional playoffs for sports that do not have state finals, especially in spring sports such as baseball, softball, and boys’ volleyball. That is unless they can find a way to get state finals in those sports, along with boys’ and girls’ soccer, which also have only regionals and held in the winter. That is due to some Northern California sections having soccer in the fall, rather than winter, due to colder weather. College soccer is in the fall.
Carson’s baseball team moved on to the CIF-L.A. City Section Open Division semifinals after outlasting Reseda Cleveland 4-3 in eight innings last Thursday at Carson.
The Colts won the game in the bottom of the eighth on a run-scoring single by Sergio Padilla.
Carson, the third seed, played No. 2 seed Lake Balboa Birmingham in the semis last Tuesday at Pepperdine University in Malibu with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship game beginning at 1 p.m. at Dodger Stadium.
El Camino College’s men’s track and field team had two California state champions in Sequoia Gonzales and Anthony Taylor Saturday at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.
Gonzales captured the 10,000-meter run at 36 minutes and 22.19 seconds and Taylor won the 110-meter-high hurdles clocking 14.12.
Gonzales also finished third in the 5,000 meters in 17:38.95, while Ami Jacobson placed seventh timing 17:53.76. Jacobson took third in the 10,000 in 36:40.12.
Those state championships pleased ECC head coach Dean Lofgren, who is retiring as head track and field coach after 33 seasons. Lofgren will spend this fall head coaching the Warriors’ men’s and women’s cross country teams before leaving that position. Lofgren coached El Camino’s cross country and track and field squads since 1991.
