With four Long Beach Poly junior transfers, Carson High head girls’ track and field coach Amrit Lal got the Colts going from very good to the very top.
Carson went on to run away with the CIF-Los Angeles City championship and went on to capture the California State championship on June 4 at Buchanan High in Clovis.
With four Long Beach Poly junior transfers, Carson High head girls’ track and field coach Amrit Lal got the Colts going from very good to the very top.
Carson went on to run away with the CIF-Los Angeles City championship and went on to capture the California State championship on June 4 at Buchanan High in Clovis.
It was Kaelin Roberts who was, most likely, the mainstay of the Colts. She was named as the South Bay Track and Field Athlete of the Year by the Daily Breeze. Roberts recorded the United States’ top 400-meter time at 52.28 seconds in winning the California state championship. She was also a member of the Colts’ 4×100 relay squad that also recorded a national best time of 45.06 in the state finals. It is also a CIF-L.A. City Section record.
Three other Carson teammates were selected to first team, and three to second team. First teamers included Kenyla Miles, Autumn Wright and sophomore Jo’non Young. Both Miles and Young were members of Carson’s record breaking sprint relay team that could be seeking to break the United States national record of 44.5 set by Long Beach Poly in 2004. All keyed the Colts’ 4×400 relay squad to the state title. Young was a City triple jump champion at 39 feet, 2.5 inches and placed second in the long jump. She placed seventh in the triple jump at the state finals. Miles was the City 100 champion and Roberts also captured the 200. Carson was the first. L.A. City Section girls’ track and field team to capture the state crown since Granada Hills performed the feat in 1980.
Carson athlete on second team included Kammed Atkins, Saundra Martin and Tyjai Boyla.
For the Colts, Lal was Coach of the Year in leading Carson to the City and state championships. With virtually all of their top athletes back, the Colts look to repeat next season, as well as a shot of some national records.
Serra had two athletes each on first and second team. On first team included freshman Jasmine Frost and junior Jasmin Reed. Both helped the Cavaliers 4×100 relay team capture the CIF-Southern Section Division IV title with a time of 45.92 and the state runner-up, behind Carson, in 45.76. They also keyed the Lady Cavaliers to a third place finish in the Division IV championships. Reed has a personal best time of 24.04 in the 200 and 11.76 in the 100. Frost ran as fast as 24.11 in the 200.
Serra athletes on second team are seniors Madison Golden and Kayla Pickens, who were both also on the Cavaliers’ sprint relay squad.
Other local athletes on second team all-South Bay were Taiei Fatafehi (North Torrance), Amber Hart (Narbonne), Jade Murray (Bishop Montgomery) and Monica Smith (West Torrance).
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Sports Scoop
Draft of Ingram is a hope for Laker Rebuilding
By Joe Snyder
Staff Writer
In the final years of Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers National Basketball Association team is certainly going through its dark ages accumulating a miserable combined record of 65-181 over the past three seasons.
In Kobe’s final season, the Lakers had their worst ever franchise record at 17-65, although Bryant closed his career with a bang scoring a game-high 60 points in L.A.’s come-from-behind 101-96 home win over the Utah Jazz on April 13.
The Kobe chapter has closed and it’s time for first year head coach Luke Walton to attempt to rebuild the team. Of course, it will be a few seasons before the Lakers return to their stardom days that they enjoyed several seasons ago that included NBA crowns in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, along with 14 other seasons dating back to 1949.
With the NBA’s second worst record (The Philadelphia 76’ers had the worst at 10-72.), L.A. opted with skinny but a very talented Duke freshman Brandon Ingram. Ingram will certainly be a help to the Lakers’ weak three-point shooting they had in the 2015-16 season. He averaged 17.3 points that included shooting 41 percent from the perimeter.
Many feel that Ingram has the capability to be comparable to Oklahoma City Thunder standout Kevin Durant, who is also expected to file for free agency. Some even felt that the Lakers have a shot at Durant but recent reports say that they are not interested, although their Staples Center rival Clippers are.
The problem is that Ingram will need to put on a little more weight. Just 18 years old, adjustments from college to the NBA will be difficult. It will be a few more years, but it might happen sooner. Laker fans, no doubt, hope so.
The Lakers’ second round pick on 7-foot-1 Croatian center Ivica Zubac may be no slouch. He helped his Croatian team excel and hopes he can progress with the Lakers.
Meanwhile, the 76’ers went with Ben Simmons, who many felt was the NCAA’s top player despite playing for a Louisiana State University team that failed to make the playoffs. Simmons should be a help to get Philadelphia out of its miserable seasons, similar to what the Lakers are in.
The Clippers picked North Carolina’s Brice Johnson as they hope they can finally get further in the playoffs; possibly even their first ever NBA championship.
Holly Park Majors Make Final: The Holly Park Major Little League Baseball (ages 9-12) All-Star Baseball team reached the championship finals as they took on host Westchester last Sunday. If not decided, the two played a second game last Monday at Carl Nielsen Youth Sports Complex.
Holly Park advanced to the championship of the 9-10-11 Baseball final but fell to Del Rey 5-3 last Sunday at Nielsen Park.
The Tri Park Senior Little League All-Star Baseball team made a valiant effort but fell to Lennox 10-9 in the first game of the championship series on June 18 at Jim Thorpe Park in Hawthorne. Tri Park, however, lacked players on June 19 that saw Lennox win the title by forfeit.
