By Joe Snyder
Gardena High senior Devin Lee came out on top of the boys’ 200-meter dash in last Thursday’s Marine League Track and Field Championships at Carson High.
Lee won the race at 22.88 seconds to win over second-place Breeden Villagas from San Pedro (23.11) and third-place Jaquer Lewis (Harbor City Narbonne; 23.78). Lee also finished fourth in the 100 clocking 11.18 as he advanced to the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Prelims in both races.
“I feel good,” Lee said about his win in the 200. “I was tired. I should have done better in the 100.”
Lee was also on Gardena High’s football team, which finished fourth in the rigorous Marine League at 7-3 overall; a year after winning its first Marine title since 1974 and advancing to the CIF-L.A. City Section Open Division semifinals where it lost to Garfield High in East L.A. This past season, the Panthers also advanced to the Open Division losing in the quarterfinals to host Birmingham in Lake Balboa.
Lee plans to play football at Fullerton City College after graduating from Gardena next month.
Also advancing for Gardena’s boys was shot putter Kevin Calloway who placed fourth with a toss of 39 feet, 9.75 inches. Winning the event was Wilmington Banning’s Keshawn Galloway (47-5.5), followed by Malcolm Allen (Carson, 41-4.5) and Dayton Norris (Carson, 40-7.5).
For the girls, Carson, led by premiere junior Christina Gray, swept the top four spots in the 100 and 200, but were followed by the Panthers’ Tylee Meeks with a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 100 (12.75) and 200 (26.78). Meeks also anchored Gardena’s 4×100-meter relay team to a third-place finish in 54.09. Other runners included Morgan Corley, Anya Ferguson, and Lauryn Kuller.
Gray, one of the top female sprinters in California, won the 100 and 200 timing 11.86 and 24.51, in order, as well as leading the Lady Colts’ 4×100 relay team to a win in 47.01. Carson has among the top sprint relays in the state.
Serra High’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams had several top qualifying times in last Saturday’s CIF-Southern Section Division IV Prelims at Carpinteria High in South Santa Barbara County.
Otis “Tre” Harrison, who won the Division IV championship in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and advanced to the CIF-State finals in the event, led the Cavalier boys by having the No. 1 qualifying time at the event clocking 38.91 and was fourth overall in the 110-meter-high hurdles at 15.69. He, along with sprinters Lawson Griggs-Andrews and Landon Thomas, led Serra’s 4×100 relay squad to the top qualifying time clocking 42.2. The Cavaliers 4×400 relay squad also had the meet’s No. 2 time in 3:28.71.
Griggs-Andrews also advanced with a third-place overall finish in the 100 (10.8) and fifth in the 200 (22.09).
Thomas made the finals in the 400 timing 50.17, for eighth place overall.
Jimmy Butler, Serra’s football quarterback from the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons, advanced in the triple jump (eighth, 39-9) and Joey Bolder took eighth in the shot put at 45-9.75).
For the girls, Raelyn Pleasant advanced in the long jump (sixth, 17-1.75) and triple jump (third, 36-11.25) as well as being on Serra’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams that finished sixth and third in 49.33 and 4:05.3, respectively. Isabella Samuel, the Del Rey League 100-meter champion, was sixth overall at the event clocking 12.17. Also making the finals was Lo’ani Atofau in the discus with a fifth-place-finish at 114-6.
In the Southern Section Division II finals Saturday at Ontario High, Torrance High junior sprint sensation Nicolas Obinga is a top contender for the title and even spots in the future CIF-Southern Section Masters and CIF-State Championships in the boys 100 and 200. He recorded the meet’s top time in the 200 (21.39) and second in the 100 (10.56). Obinga has a personal best 100 time of 10.47 that he did in the Bay League Championships on May 2 at Redondo High.
North Torrance had its top sprinter, junior Faiz Ogua, advance in the 100 (fifth place, 10.65) and 200 (third, 21.63). The Saxons also advanced Sean Lowe in the 300 intermediate hurdles (fifth, 39.72) and Elijah Tauietta in the shot put (seventh, 48-11).
For the Lady Saxons, Abby Clark made the cut in the discus with a 10th-place at 106-10.
West Torrance had a third-place overall finish by Berytice Nkemnya in the girls’ triple jump (37-2) and fourth place from shot putter Kianna Greer (Torrance, 38 feet).
The Divisional Championships begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Moorpark High.
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Tesoro eliminates North in semifinals
North Torrance High’s boys’ volleyball run came to an end in the CIF-Southern Section Division III semifinals to top-seeded Tesoro High in a three-set sweep, 25-17, 25-19, 25-16, last Friday at Tesoro in Rancho Santa Margarita.
On May 7, the host Saxons won their second straight five-set match over San Marino 25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 20-25, 15-5 in the quarterfinals at North.
North, which ended its season at 27-10 after winning the Pioneer League title with an unbeaten record of 8-0, was led by Treydan Tanaka and Krich Perera with 11 kills each in its win over the Titans. Diego Maria and Cole Aretani recorded 11 and 10 digs, in order.
Despite an 0-10 finish in the Marine League, Gardena High’s boys’ volleyball team advanced to the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division III playoffs as the second-seed.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, they were eliminated in three straight sets to Maywood Center of Enriched Studies, 25-21, 25-23, 25-18, in the quarterfinals last Monday at Gardena High to end their season at 5-15.
In the first round last Thursday at Gardena, the Panthers won in four sets over Animo Bunche, 25-21, 25-11, 24-26, 25-21.
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Serra advances to Sou. Section Div. III playoffs
Serra High’s baseball team went through a rather unusual type season finishing 18-8 overall but only 4-8 in the Del Rey League.
Last week, the Cavaliers lost their league finale at home to La Salle High from Pasadena 7-2 on May 6. A day later, Serra closed out the regular season with a 4-1 win over host Palos Verdes and ended up with a 14-0 non-league record.
Against the Lancers, who finished second behind champion La Puente Bishop Amat in Del Rey play, both teams were tied at two until La Salle scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Serra was led by Amari Hackett who went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.
The Cavaliers, though, finished their unbeaten non-league record with an impressive win over the Sea Kings from the Bay League, which was won by Manhattan Beach Mira Costa with an impressive 25-2 record and has a 23-game winning streak on the line entering today’s first-round CIF-Southern Section Division I playoff game at home against Arlington High from Riverside. The Mustangs, though, are in the top division that includes nationally-ranked teams in top seed Corona (sixth by MaxPreps), second seed Encino Crespi and Huntington Beach.
Marc Emmerman sparked the Cavaliers by going 2-for-3 and driving in two runs. C.J. Hughes was 2-for-4 with one run batted in. Terrance Sullivan went 2-for-2 and scored once.
Serra, which finished fourth in the five-team Del Rey, enters the CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs as an at-large team and will visit Yucaipa High in San Bernardino County, the second-seed behind top seed Ontario Colony High, today at 3:15 p.m.
Gardena High will not make any postseason play after finishing 0-10 in the Marine League, for the second straight season and sports a 22-game league losing streak. The Panthers ended their season with a pair of losses to San Pedro at 21-2 on May 5 at Gardena and 10-0 last Thursday at San Pedro. The Panthers finished their season at 7-19 overall.
Involving other local prep baseball teams, Torrance, which placed second behind Mira Costa in the Bay League, is in Division II and begins on the road at Chino Hills Friday at 3:15 p.m.
In Division IV, Pioneer League runner-up South Torrance, which took second behind champion El Segundo, will be at home against Ocean League co-champion Culver City (with Santa Monica) Friday at 3:15 p.m. Bishop Montgomery (second in the Camino Real League) begins Division V play at home against West Covina today at 3:15 p.m.
In the CIF-Los Angeles City Section, if it goes at expected, one could see a Wilmington Banning-Carson rivalry in the finals. The Pilots, Marine League champions, are top seed in Division I as they begin today at 3 p.m. to host either Los Angeles Studies of Enriched Studies or Highland Park Franklin. The Marine runner-up Colts begin at the same time against the wildcard winner of L.A. Wilson or South Gate. Narbonne is third-seed and is at home against either East L.A. Roosevelt or Los Feliz Marshall. San Pedro is fourth seed and hosts the wildcard winner of South Gate Southeast or Palms Hamilton. The wildcard contests were played last Tuesday.
El Camino College’s baseball team advanced to the 3C2A Super Regional playoffs last week at Cerritos College but saw its season come to an end with a 17-6 loss to Glendale College last Saturday.
After falling to Glendale 23-7 last Thursday, the Warriors bounced back with an 8-5 win over the host Falcons. On Friday, ECC remained alive by outlasting Glendale 8-7 in 10 innings but the Vaqueros eliminated the Warriors on Saturday.
El Camino ended its season with a 32-14 overall record and was 16-8 in the South Coast Conference, finishing in second place.
