By Joe Snyder
Throughout the past few decades, Serra High’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams enjoyed success by winning several CIF-State championships.
This year, though, the Cavaliers, under third-year head coach Princeton Williams, showed their youth as just one athlete advanced to the California State Championships in triple jumper Raelyn Pleasant, cousin of former Serra High standout sprinter Rodrick Pleasant, who recently left University of Oregon and will transfer to UCLA to prepare for the upcoming football season.
Pleasant did not go far as she finished only 27th overall in the triple jump at 36 feet, 8.5 inches at the prelims on Friday at Buchanan High in Clovis. Pleasant was in the event with highly talked about transgender (boy-to-girl) athlete AB Hernandez from Riverside Jurupa Valley, who was the overall winner at 42-2.75 in Saturday’s championship finals but, due to a federal law with the Title 9 passed in 1972, banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports in high school and college, the CIF-State committee decided to also give first place to the biological girls’ top finisher, which was Kira Gant-Hatcher from St. Mary’s in Northern California at 41-2. Hernandez was also the top high jump finisher at 5-7, winning over co-biological champions Lietani Laruelle (Monte Vista) and Jiltie Wetteland (Long Beach Poly), who also leaped 5-7, but Hernandez did it on fewer misses. She finished second behind Long Beach Wilson’s Loren Webster in the long jump at 20-8.75. Webster leaped 21-0.25.
Carson’s girls had a strong showing, led by premiere junior sprinter Christina Gray. Gray led the Lady Colts to a top overall finish in the 4×100-meter relay clocking 46.16 seconds on Friday. A day later, Carson settled for a fifth-place finish in 46.52, finishing behind champion Westlake Village Oaks Christian (46.08), runner-up Long Beach Poly (46.18), third-place Steele Canyon from the San Diego area (46.28) and fourth-place Pittsburg (46.5). Other runners included Tiffany Williams, Kaitlyn E. Williams, and Kelis Hicks. Gray placed third in the 100 (11.58).
For the Colt boys, junior Jayden Rendon had a big meet as he captured the 300-meter intermediate hurdles timing 36.49. He edged second-place Kingston Waring from Culver City (36.8). Rendon took fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles in 13.95. Both were his personal best times.
Torrance junior sprinter Nicolas Obimgba placed seventh in the 100 (10.62) but recorded his personal best time of 10.2 on Friday for a second-place overall finish behind Jaden Jefferson of Concord De La Salle, who smashed the meet record of 10.2 set in 2023 by Serra’s Roderick Pleasant clocking 10.01. Roderick Pleasant had 10.14 wind-legal times he did in winning CIF-Southern Section Division IV championship three years ago and a wind-aided winning time of 10.09 in the 2023 Southern Section Division IV Finals at Moorpark High. Obingba evened the previous state meet record. Pleasant went on to win the Nike National Championship 100 at 10.21 two years ago and sources are that Jefferson plans to enter the meet at University of Oregon, which will be on June 13 and 14 to attempt to break 10 seconds.
The boys’ meet was won by Anaheim Servite, behind its young freshman and sophomore sprinters, with 33 points to 30 for second-place Clovis North and 24 for Santa Margarita.
Winning the girls’ title for the third straight season was Long Beach Wilson with 46 points to 28 for co-runner ups in Wilson’s top rival, Long Beach Poly and Corona Santiago. Carson finished in a tie for 11th with River City and San Diego with 16 points.
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Carson softball routed in City championship
Over the past two seasons, Carson High’s softball team recorded wins over seemingly CIF-Los Angeles City Open Division rival Granada Hills for the title.
Last year, the Lady Colts outlasted the Highlanders 1-0 in 14 innings behind a one-hitter and 17 strikeouts by Giselle Pantija.
In last Saturday’s finals, things were not as fortunate for Carson and Granada Hills avenged those defeats by rolling over the Colts 11-2 at Cal State Northridge.
For the Highlanders, it was ace pitcher Addison Moorman who finished with a three-hitter, 11 strikeouts and only one walk.
Things started well for Carson last Saturday. The Colts took an early 1-0 lead but Granada Hills got to Pantija, who scored seven runs in the top of the second inning. The Highlanders loaded the bases and scored the tying run on a groundout by Victoria Rubio. Then, the Colts’ defense broke down. A wild throw enabled Granada Hills to score two runs, taking the lead for good. The Highlanders had three consecutive run-scoring singles from Lainey Brown, Elysse Diaz, and Annabela Ramirez, followed by a triple from Gisele Mirida for a 7-1 Highlander lead.
In the game, Pantija was tagged for nine runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The Colt defense committed five errors.
It was Granada Hills’ first CIF-L.A. City title since 1981.
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Local schools represented in SB Classic
The 53rd annual South Bay All-Star Baseball Classic was played last Monday at Stevenson Field on the grounds of El Segundo Recreation Park. Serra, which finished fourth in the Del Rey League and lost in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs to host Yucaipa 6-3, had three players, two for the American squad and one on the Nationals. American team players from the Cavaliers included Marc Emmerman and Amari Hackett, while C.J. Hughes was on the National squad.
North Torrance, which did not make the playoffs, had one player on the Americans and two on the Nationals. Daniel Park represented the Saxons on the American team and Kai Nagashima and Eric Mirabal participated for the Nationals.
CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I champion Carson, which has mostly a young squad, had Joziah Aredan on the Americans. With a large majority of their players back, look for the Colts to possibly compete and even contend for the prestigious Open Division crown.
Despite the Colts winning the L.A. City Section Division I crown, they are not in the Southern California Regional playoffs. Runner-up Wilmington Banning ended up the top seed in Division IV as the Pilots began last Tuesday at home against No. 8 Lemoore from the Central Section. Results will be in next week’s issue.
