By Joe Snyder
With a down program over the past several seasons, including hardly fielding a team at all in some of those, Gardena High’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams are showing improvement after some strong showings at last Thursday’s Marine League Championships at Rancho Dominguez Prep in Long Beach.
The best showing for the Panthers was in the girls’ 4×200-meter relay team which recorded a second-place finish at one minute and 58.09 seconds. Runners included Lauren Fuller, Anya Ferguson, Brooklyn McClain and Tylee Meeks. Gardena’s girls placed fourth in the 4×100 clocking 52.52 with the same runners, anchored by Fuller. Fuller also recorded a fourth-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 28 feet.
Gardena High’s boys’ varsity also showed some strong effort, several breaking their personal records. Shot putter Caleb Morris had his best throw of 42 feet, four inches for fourth place. Caleb McClain took fifth in the 100-meter dash in 11.48 and seventh at the 200 timing 23.18.
He also anchored the Panthers’ 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays to fourth-place finishes in 45.37 and 3:53.87, in order. Other runners on Gardena’s 400 relay included Clevonta Jackson, Jaeson Telles and Chace Johnson. Others on the 1,600 squad were Jackson, Braylen Williams and Telles.
Johnson, Morris, Williams and A’Shen Hunter guided the Panthers’ 4×200 relay, held for the first time in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section and state CIF for the first time this season, to fourth place clocking 1:39.95.
Gardena is getting its distance running program started but, like most of the rest of the program, is still very young. The best for the boys was by freshman Kyle Garcia placing sixth in the 3,200 at 12:30.
“I’m really proud of the kids,” Panther distance coach Zoe Narley said. “Many did their P.R.’s (personal records).”
Perhaps the best turned out for Gardena came in the boys’ frosh-soph division, which won the 4×400 relay clocking 3:54.24. Runners included Joell Palico, Reuben Cerda, Noah Atofeiu and anchor Rico Kerrig. Kerrig also had strong times of 12.02 and 24.2 in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, respectively. The same four also finished second in the 4×100 clocking 48.04.
Gardena also had strong performances in the inclusive division, designed for special needs athletes. The best came by Kendall Washington who won girls’ the 100 (18.64), 400 (1:49.72) and long jump (6-0).
For the boys, Mahki Ashew and Daniel Kimpir were second and third in the 400 with times of 1:20.6 and 1:28.18, in order.
Carson’s premiere hurdler Jaden Rendon ran away with both boys’ hurdles; winning the 110-meter highs (14.35) and 300 intermediates (37.34).
The top five finishers in each event advance to the CIF-L.A. City Section Prelims at Birmingham High, beginning at 1 p.m. today in Lake Balboa. The finals are at the same spot next Thursday, starting at 2 p.m.
___________________
North, Gardena ball teams begin playoff action
Despite losing its final Pioneer League games to champion South Torrance two weeks ago, North Torrance High’s baseball team was able to pull into third place in league and qualified for the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.
The Saxons, who finished league at 4-8 and are 11-17 overall, start Friday at Baldwin Park High at 3:15 p.m. Baldwin Park won the Montview League. North finished ahead of Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula (3-9) and El Segundo Wiseburn DaVinci (2-10).
The league champion Spartans begin in Division III at home against Moore League champion Long Beach Millikan at the same time.
Despite finishing last in the Marine League at 0-10 and being 4-20-1 overall, Gardena was able to get a spot in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division III playoffs. The Panthers are seeded 23rd in the 32-team playoffs as they began at No. 10 Huntington Park last Tuesday. The second round is Friday at 3 p.m., if the Panthers can defeat Huntington Park.
The Panthers ended league with a pair of shutout losses to Banning. On May 4 at Banning in Wilmington, Gardena fell to the Pilots 6-0. Finishing out league last Thursday, Banning won a five-inning mercy rule game over the Panthers 10-0.
Meanwhile, last year’s CIF-L.A. City Division I champion Carson and runner-up Banning, which finished behind the Colts in Marine League play, were put into the Open Division. The Marine champion Colts are No. 4 seed as they began on Wednesday at home against No. 5 East L.A. Garfield. The Pilots are the last seed as they opened at top-seed Birmingham in Lake Balboa. There is a possibility, if Carson wins and Banning upsets the Patriots, that the two league rivals could meet on Friday at Carson, beginning at 3 p.m. The L.A. City Championships are on May 23 at Dodger Stadium.
Narbonne, which placed fourth in league, is in Division I as the 11th seed as it began on Tuesday at No. 6 Palisades.
Serra went winless at 0-12 in the Del Rey League with a mostly very young squad, under first-year head coach Ryan Odums, ending on May 6 with an 8-1 loss to host St. Bernard in Playa del Rey.
The Cavaliers managed to pick up an 11-1 non-league win over St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy on May 4 at Serra.
Serra finished off St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Cavaliers had a balanced offense, led by Michael Guerrero II who went 2-for-2 with three runs batted in, and Tim Pryor, who was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs. Terrance Sullivan and Brian Owens each hit a home run.
The Cavaliers were 8-15 overall.
Despite a 17-10 overall record and tying Manhattan Beach Mira Costa for third place in the Bay League, Torrance High’s baseball team was left out of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs. The Tartars were swept by the Mustangs in three league games.
Due to CIF-Southern Section overall rankings, Mira Costa ended up the top seed in the Division III playoffs where it begins Friday at home against Arlington High in Riverside. League champion Palos Verdes is seeded third as it begins at home against Pacifica Christian from Newport Beach. Redondo, which finished second in league and swept three games from Mira Costa, opens at Burroughs High in Ridgecrest. If the Mustangs and Sea Hawks win their first- round games, they will face each other, for the fourth time, at Redondo next Tuesday. All first-round games are Friday starting at 3:15 p.m.
______________
Local stars gear up for section championships
Serra High’s boys’ track and field team will be seeking its second consecutive CIF-Southern Section Division IV championship with several qualifiers from last Saturday’s Prelims at Carpinteria High in South Santa Barbara County.
Its sprinters stood out in the prelims. Wesley Ace (fourth place, 10.71), Lawson Griggs-Andrews (fifth, 10.75) and Noah Garry (eighth, 10.85), all made it in the 100-meter dash. Ace also advanced in the 200, finishing sixth overall at 21.83, as teammates Dion Edwards (fourth, 21.77) and Landon Thomas (fifth, 21.79) also advanced. Thomas was second overall in the 400 clocking 48.62.
Led by Ace, Edwards, Griggs-Andrews and Garry, Serra recorded the meet’s top overtime of 41.52 in the 4×100-meter relay. The Cavaliers also made the finals in the 4×400 with a fifth-place overall finish in 3:27.52.
Joe Bolden made the cut in the shot put, finishing ninth overall with a toss of 41 feet and the discus at 142-3.5.
Serra’s girls also had a good showing advancing both relays. The Lady Cavaliers were second overall in the 4×100 timing 47.98 and third in the 4×400 (4:03.18).
Sarah Nahounou finished a qualifying seventh place in the 400 in 57.79.
Bishop Montgomery also had both relays advance. Its 4×100 placed sixth clocking 49.22 and 4×400 was fourth clocking 4:03.6.
In the Division II Prelims Saturday at Ontario High, Torrance’s Nicolas Obimgba, the number-one sprinter in California and ranked fifth in the United States, seems ready to go. He won the 100 (10.37) and 200 (20.82) as he looks for bigger things in the finals next Saturday at Moorpark High. Obimgba also anchored the Tartars’ 4×100 relay to a qualifying time of 41.5, for a third-place overall finish.
Torrance also advanced in the boys’ 4×400 with a season-best time of 3:21.13.
North Torrance ace sprinter Kaidyn Spires made the cut in the 200, placing seventh overall clocking 21.82.
West Torrance High’s Dylan Mehnert was fifth in the 3,200 at 9:24.22.
For the girls, Torrance’s Hanaa Kim advanced in the pole vault, finishing in a tie for sixth at 10-3.
The Southern Section Championships at Moorpark High on May 16 begins with the field events at 11 a.m. and running events at 1 p.m. Top finishers advance to the Masters Meet on May 23 at Moorpark High starting at 2 p.m.
