Big VIII League Finals
Traditionally one of the stronger programs in the Southern Section, Roosevelt dominated the action here. But, with the league being more balanced than it has in the past, the programs at Norco and Centennial are sending more entries onward to the postseason than they have in over 15 seasons.
Centennial's Gregory Lapit was the only double winner on the track for the boys. Projected to qualify onto the Div. 1 Finals in the 400m, his 48.42 personal best is #4. Lapit came back to run away from the crowd over the last 40 meters to also claim the 200 meters. With a wind legal 22.01 victory, he is right in the running for qualifying there as well. Rolling to a huge lead halfway through the 400 Relay, Centennial was unable to successfully manage the stick on the 2nd exchange and did not finish. Beyond that, Centennial shined in the 100 meters with three boys recording a 10.93 and below. The most competitive 100 meters of all league finals contested (wind legal 10.97 was 7th place!) in the Southern Section this week, sophomore Marcello Watson captured 3rd place with his 10.91 effort. Senior Grant Edwards (22.21) was runner up to Lapit in the 200 while the Huskies set a new school record in their 2nd place 4x400 Relay (3:23.49). In what turned out to be a sprint, senior Trevor Woodward erupted over the last 200 meters and with a 57.3 second last lap, taking home the victory in the 3200 meters. He moves onward as one of the best in the Southern Section. In a slight upset, his brother, junior Dylan Woodward earned a 3rd place patch in the 800 meters with a new personal best of 1:58.00.
Santiago's Silas Hurst was one of the few to earn multiple titles, achieving the task in the throws. He is right on the bubble for working to qualifying for another CIF finals berth in both events. Meanwhile, senior Marcos Milla took 2nd place in the 3200 with a sub 60 second last lap. After just missing the California State Meet in the 800 meters in 2017, senior Kyle Pendleton earned runner up patches for both the 1600 meters and the 800 (2nd year for the 800). He is one of the few in Division 1 that has gone under 4:19 and 1:56 and preparing to go further than the Southern Section Masters Meet this postseason.
ML King junior Reyte Rash impressed over the final half of the 300 Hurdles and in a personal best of 38.03, earned the league title. Rash advances, with the 3rd best mark for Div. I in 2018. He also qualified in the 110 Hurdles but perhaps, in the upset of the meet, he was part of the winning 4x100 Relay squad. Little known fact is that this was the 3rd straight year that ML King captured the short relay at league finals. Anchoring that group and assuring the victory with a perfect lean at the end, junior Nick Beam erupted for a huge personal 10.89 best to take 2nd place in the 100 meters. Off the track, junior Treyjon Anderson was one of rare double victors and captured both horizontal jumps. Winning the Triple Jump by almost two feet, the long jump came down to only one inch. Meanwhile, junior Garrett Vasta continues to improve as he moves onward with a 3rd place finish in the 1600 meters.
Norco's sprints continue to improve. After earning a 3rd place spot in the 4x100 Relay, senior Ryan Ellis was in the middle of that incredible 100 meters. His wind legal 10.92 effort took 4th place and achieved an At Large spot to the postseason. Not aware of his At Large qualifier at the time, Ellis assured himself an individual spot by taking 3rd place in the 200 meters. Senior Jerry Ochos moved to the Div. 2 prelims in both hurdles and will be a contender to move forward in both. Only a freshman, Menelik Israel (50.43) advanced in the 400 meters while his anchor carry elevated his boys to a postseason spot in the 4x400 relay.
Roosevelt easily captured the league title this season as their well-balanced approach places them amongst one of the top teams in Division 1. They were only absent in one event when glancing back at entries to the postseason. The highlight for the Mustangs was junior Ethan Amata. In front of an active home crowd, Amata put on a show by elevating up over 15-4 in the pole vault, which moves him into the top spot for Div. 1 in 2018. Teammate and fellow junior, Jacob Ernst easily earned the runner up spot with a 14-7 clearance. Amata's effort was a new league record. As expected, top ranked in the division, senior Jackson Taylor (Scott Padgett photo below) captured the league title in the 800 meters. He was also a vital part of the league champion 4x400 relay squad. Senior Raymon Ornelas brought home his first league title and his 4th year of moving onto the CIF Prelims. As he captured the 1600 meters, it took a little from him regarding that hellacious last lap of the 3200 meters. Ornelas dropped the latter for the postseason and will focus on the 3200 meters from here on out. Senior Lucas Antado was never in doubt from the gun in capturing the title for the 110 Hurdles. He later came back to take 2nd place in the 300 Hurdles before anchoring that 4x400 relay squad. Also on that relay squad, junior Jalen Johnson earned 2nd place in the 400 meters along with being a member of the runner up 4x100 relay team. Senior Tyler Riley captured the High Jump while also earning spots in both horizontal jumps. Their throwers were led by senior Kehlin Hayes runner up finish in the Discus. In mentioning that 100 meters several times, the one that was relatively easy to pick out of the finish line photo was junior Dorian Mars. Slightly off the radar this season, his 10.84 victory moves him into a position to be one of the main contenders for a CIF Finals berth in that event. As a team going into the postseason, we currently have the Mustangs ranked 4th but not too far off from that 2nd place plaque.
The only girl to earn multiple victories was Corona's Egbe Ndip-agbor. Living in Corona's boundaries but choosing to attend La Sierra as a freshman, the transfer has shined as a sophomore. Her personal best of 56.14 was recorded as an unattached athlete back in March while she is projected to advance to the Div. I Finals in that event. After holding off teammate junior Jazmin Lucatero (56.87 seasonal best) in the 400, she came back to also win the 200 in a wind aided 24.81 effort. Lucatero also moved on in her 2nd event with a 25.43 third place finish. Two surprises here with junior Katherine George elevating to a new personal best of 10-7 in the Pole Vault, thus earning a spot to next weekend. The other was sophomore Kennedy Peppers as her 12.41 wind legal personal best earned her 2nd place in the 100 meters.
The Class of '18 graduates later this month, leaving a huge legacy with this league. Roosevelt senior and USC-bound Breanna Bernard-Joseph (Scott Padgett photo above) won her 3rd straight 100 Hurdles with a clean 13.97 victory. She moves onward to the Div. 1 prelims with the 3rd fastest mark this season. But, throwing a little drama into the mix, Bernard-Joseph shut it down too early on the 300 Hurdles and mismanaged that 8th hurdle. A State Meet finalist in this event the last two years along with being the defending Division 1 champion (2nd in league last year to State Meet champ, Shae Anderson), Bernard-Joseph admitted that it was a huge mental mistake. What was a 10-meter lead at the 7th hurdle, she fell back to 3rd place over the last 10 meters. Luckily, she still moved forward to her 4th straight CIF berth. She came back to anchor her girls to an easy victory in the 4x400 Relay and to an appreciative crowd that recognized her achievements over the past four seasons.
Reflecting back on legacies, Centennial senior Rylee Penn was also coming down the final straightway to be recognized by the crowd. Attending the University of Cincinnati this Fall, Penn burst onto the scene as a freshman by winning all three distance races at league finals. She then continued to improve, ending with a 2nd place spot at the California State Meet in the 800 meters. Penn was a State Meet finalist in the event as a sophomore and just missed moving to the State Meet again last year by .20, despite being on only four weeks of training. Riding the ebbs and the flow of the sport, Penn has shared that she feels like that freshman girl again, especially after her 2:11.80 effort two weeks ago as the overall fastest at the Mt. SAC Relays at El Camino College. Now up to #2 in the Southern Section, Penn moved away for the victory with a well-executed surge with 200 meters to go. She also anchored her runner-up squad with a 57-second split in breaking 4:00 and a school record. Centennial also started the meet with the victory in the 4x100 Relay (48.85) and saw senior Delaney Harris earn a spot to CIF in the 100 meters (12.43).
With Roosevelt's girls dominating the league, junior Miranda Camargo continues to impress. Despite a tough wind on the back stretch, she chose to lead and was able to hold off ML King's Kela Mavhera for the victory in the 1600 meters, 5:10.07 to 5:10.09. In her first season of track, Camargo also qualified for the 800 meters. Looking back to the 800 meters, junior Alexys Ford moves onward to CIF for the 3rd straight season. Runner-up to Penn, Ford goes into next weekend's preliminaries at Trabuco Hills HS with the third fastest seasonal mark and seeking her first CIF Finals berth. In perfect rhythm down the stretch, sophomore Myah Hatcher was the biggest surprise of the entire meet. With her senior teammate tripping on the 8th hurdle, Hatcher took advantage and kept the 300 Hurdles title with Roosevelt with her victory. In a school record effort, junior Lydia Liu easily captured the Discus (126-0) and is now amongst the top five in Div. I. She also qualified in the Shot Put. Another surprise saw junior Kimberly Pena qualify as runner up in the 3200 meters (11:25.77) while freshman Jordyn Crutchfield also moved forward in the 400 meters. As expected and both amongst the best in the Southern Section, sophomore Tessa Watkins won the Pole Vault and junior Erika Flaherty also qualified after shutting it down once she was assured a spot. Sophomore Ugonne Onyiah is moving forward in three events, earning 3rd place medals in the Long and Triple Jump, along with the High Jump. Two time defending Long Jump champ, junior Chaselyn Amos tied for the lead on her last attempt, but had to settle for 2nd place in the tie breaking 2nd jump. Roosevelt's girls captured the 4x400 relay once again and move on as one of the best in the Southern Section for the event. As a team, like the boys, we have Roosevelt ranked 4th for Division I. Along with Great Oak, Upland and Long Beach Poly, it could be a tightly contested affair in two weeks.
One of the most consistently strong programs in the Southern Section, Riverside King's girls were highlighted by senior Sarah Ann Frank and sophomore Kela Mavhera. In rolling to a huge personal best of 14.63, Frank earned the runner up spot in the 100 Hurdles and now projects to qualify to the Div. I Finals again. She almost captured the 300 Hurdles when the 8th hurdle became a subject of interest, but also took 2nd place there in 45.22. Meanwhile, Mavhera almost stole the 1600 with a well-timed lean at the finish and a negative split affair, took 2nd place in the event. Her 5:10.09 personal best gave her the confidence for the 3200 meters. Allowing others to do the pacing chores for the first six laps, Mavhera slowly moved away from the pack and ran home with the victory (11:22.43) over the final 300 meters. On Tuesday, sophomore Sheredyn Pfeiffer captured the league title in the Long Jump, as it went to the 2nd best jump to break the tie. Senior Tresure Rucker earned a 3rd trip to the CIF prelims in earning 2nd place in the Triple jump while fellow senior Taylyn Henry earned an at large entry on her final attempt of 35-5 effort.
For the girls, Norco has traditionally been known more for their throwers. Of course, Shae Anderson elevated the program in more ways than we can count, but sophomore Taylor Shorter will be representing her school in three events at next weekend's Div. 2 prelims. Projected as a finalist in the 100 hurdles, her personal best of 14.93 earned her a 3rd place spot. She turned right back around and left the group with 20 meters to go to win the 100 meters in a wind legal 12.17. With a 58.15 on her resume in the 400 meters, Shorter came back with a huge personal best of 24.95 to take 2nd place in the 200 meters. Off the track, Norco also qualified junior Kamryn Pohl in both throws along with Karleen Bedre earning a runner up spot in the Discus.
Santiago's girls had a trio of victories over the course of the meet. As expected, senior Ashlyn Blotzer captured the High Jump with a league record a 5-5 effort. She is amongst the top five in the Southern Section. Over to the Shot Put ring, junior Onyi Anigbogu threw to a personal best of 37-8 and captured the league title. She projects as a CIF Finalist going into next weekend. Another one of the surprises of the meet, freshman Brianna Wilcoxson bounded out to a 36-8 and earned the league title in an impressive series of jumps.
