Dorsey’s Rashard Clark crosses the finish line first in the 4×100 meter dash. Dorsey has the fastest qualifying time in both relay races. Photo by Niles Sundstrom
Taft’s girl’s 4×100 meter relay team had the fastest qualifying time, but Carson is right behind them. Photo by Niles Sundstrom
By Jason Lewis
Sentinel Sports Editor
[email protected]
This week is one of the best for high school track in the Los Angeles area, as many athletes will be rewarded for a seasons worth of hard work, and they will have a chance to earn a trip to the State championship meet next week in Clovis.
The City Section championship meet will be held at Birmingham High School on Thursday evening, and the Southern Section Master’s meet will be held on Friday evening at Cerritos College.
In the City Section, the Dorsey boys and Carson girls are the front-runners to win the overall team titles, but the individual events are up for grabs.
In the boys 100-meter dash, a number of runners qualified at their league championship meets with times in the 10.9 second range, but only Dorsey’s Marvin Hall produced that time in the prelims last week. He qualified for the finals with a time of 10.93 and is the front-runner for the event.
On the girls side, Taft’s Lexis Lambert qualified for the finals with a 12.25, which was .15 of a second faster than the second place time.
Lambert is also the favorite in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 24.87, nearly half a second faster than the next best time.
On the boy’s side, Birmingham’s Chris Mitchell leads the way with a 21.94, but Dorsey’s Greg Veals is right behind him with a 22.00 and Hall with a 22.02. Hall has a chance to double in the 100 and 200.
The boy’s 400-meter dash is going to be highly contested, with Mitchell looking to double in both the 400 and the 200. He qualified with a 48.94. Narbonne freshman Ronny Hall has the fastest time in the state for his grade with a 49.21. The favorites are Dorsey’s Rashard Clark (49.31) and Veals (49.48), who both have run in the 48-second range. Fairfax’s Billy Vaughn and Carson’s Eli’sha Toler are both cable of running in the 48s as well.
On the girl’s side of the 400, Taft’s Tatiana McCoy, Carson’s Arbony Meighan and Monay Meggs all ran in the 57 second range in the prelims.
In the girls 300 meter hurdles, Taft’s Laurie Henigan ran the top time at the prelims with a 44.79, nearly a second faster than the next fastest time.
The boy’s 300-meter hurdles look like it will be a closer race. Monroe’s Cheikh Athj qualified with a 40.70, while Eagle Rock’s Clarence Lander ran a 40.98 and West Adams’ Justine Holt ran a 41.13
In the boy’s 110 hurdles, Birmingham’s Justin Bowie ran a 15.33, followed by Dorsey’s Te’von Mitchell with a 15.42.
Taft’s Henigan is looking to double up in both hurdles, as she also leads the way in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.92, .8 of a second faster than the next time.
The relays should be highly contested. On the girl’s side, in the 4×100, Taft leads the way with a 47.47, with Carson their only real competition in the race. Carson ran a 47.99.
In the girls 4×400, Carson’s 3:53.18 is over six seconds faster than the second best time.
In the boy’s 4×100, Dorsey leads the way with a 42.29, with Locke behind them at 42.49.
In the 4×400, Dorsey again has the top time, leading the way at 3:22.42, but there are a number of teams right behind them. El Camino Real, Birmingham, Carson, and Fairfax are all within a second of that time.
At the Southern Section Masters meet the times are faster across the board.
In the boy’s 100-meter dash, Remontay McClain from Covina looks like he will defend his title from last year. He has a time of 10.31, with A.B. Miller’s Dovonte Stewart his closest competition with a 10.51.
In the girl’s 100-meter dash, the entire field is running in the 11-second range, with Brea Buchanan from Ayala leading the way with an 11.74.
Long Beach Poly looks to take the top two spots in the girl’s 200-meter dash. Akawkaw Ndipagbor leads the way with a 23.62, while teammate Arianna Washington ran a 24.01.
On the boys side, McClain leads the way again, with a 20.68, but Stewart again is right behind him with a 20.89.
In the boys 400, the top five times are all in the 47 range, with Poly’s Shaquille Howard leading the way with a 47.44, and Serra’s Pete Lauderdale right behind him with a 47.77.
On the girl’s side, Ndipagbor looks to double up in the 400 and 200. Her 400 time is 53.86, ahead of teammate Azia Walker’s 54.95.
In the boy’s 110 hurdles, Agoura’s Jonathan Cabral has the nation’s leading time. He has a time of 13.54, which is well ahead of the pack. Devon Blackmon has the second fastest time with a 13.88.
On the girl’s side, Poly’s Melia Cox leads the way with a 13.42, with Brea Buchanan out of Ayala in second with a 13.90.
In the 300-meter hurdles, Agoura’s Cabral has the nation’s leading time in that race as well. He qualified with a 37.51, but he has gone much faster than that this season.
On the girl’s side, Poly’s Cox is also looking for the hurdles double. She leads the way with a 40.94, over a second faster than the second fastest time.
In the girl’s 4×100 meter relay, Poly is leading the way with a 45.50, but they have been battling with Serra all season, who qualified with a time of 46.42.
On the boy’s side, Roosevelt has the top time with a 41.01, followed by Rio Mesa with a 41.66.
In the girls 4×400 relay it is Poly and Serra again. Poly has a time of 3:45.08, and Serra a time of 3:45.40.
On the boys side Poly leads the way with a 3:15.06. Vista Murrieta has the second fastest time with a 3:16.84.
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