ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Carson junior Ryan Lacefield crosses the finish line with the LA City Section 400 meter title.
Girls
- SOFIA ABREGO (Granada Hills/Fr.) and RYAN LACEFIELD (Carson/Jr.)
ABREGO -- In her first section championship, Abrego owned the distances, winning the 800 (2:16.84 PR), 1600 (5:04.27) an 3200 (10:46.11). She competed in the 1600 and 3200 at the State Meet where she was the 12th and final qualifier in the 1600 (4:55.99) and then placed 10th in the final (4:59.46). In the 3200 final -- that's the only event without a Friday night preliminary, she placed 12th (10:40.79). In the 800, her time at the section final ranked 10th in the state in the class of 2022. Her 4:51.80 PR for 1600 from the APU Distance Meet of Champions, ranks CA No. 3 in the class and No. 12 regardless of class (No. 6 among non-seniors). Her 10:35.79 for 3200 from Arcadia ranks No. 2 in the class in CA and No. 8 in the class nationally. (Sofia Abrego interview from the State Meet)
LACEFIELD -- The Carson junior won the section title in the 200 (25.55/-1.3) and 400 (57.42) and helped the winning 4x100 relay team (48.61), contributing 30 points toward the team title. Lacefield qualified for the State Meet in both of her individual races and won a sixth-place medal as part of the relay team (47.47). She is a top-30 returner in both events. (Ryan Lacefield interview from the LAC Finals)
Boys
- NNAMDI ONWAOZE (Palisades Charter/Jr.)
Onwaoze won both hurdles races at the LA City Setion Final as the only individual titles in helping Palisades to the program's xxxx section team title. Onwaoze also ran on the 4x100 relay team that placed fourth. His winning the 110 hurdles (15.26/2.1) and 300 hurdles (40.26) contributed 20 points to a team victory that was decided by .5 point. Onwaoze's sweep of the hurdles and signifiant contribution to the team victory was the determining factor in his selection here over Crenshaw sprinter Ameer Muhammad (who won the 100 and 200 at the section final), Granada Hills senior Sean Larboui (who repeated as 1600 champion and placed second in the 800), and Granada Hills senior DeMarq Jaque (who repeated as 400 champion, was second in the 200 and anchored the winning 4x400 relay team).