DIVISION 2
With
only five scorers at the 2019 finals, Ventura came away with the tightly
contested Division 2 crown. In only
scoring 43.5 points, this was the third time (out of 60 team champs) since 2004 that a team
captured the title with less than 50 points.
But, in 2020, we should witness another team rising to the top to claim the title. Golden Valley returns a crew that goes into the season as the preseason favorite. But, do not overlook Calabasas, Canyon of Anaheim Hills or Royal. All three possess high caliber scorers and with more depth, will challenge Golden Valley. For the first time, Dana Hills comes into Division 2 and will also impact the team competition.
Sprints
Nicholas Gates (pictured) is the only defending divisional champ in the 100 and 200 meters
in the Southern 
Section. And, this coming
as a freshman! In pulling off the two upsets, Gates advanced
to the Masters Meet in the 200, where he finished seventh, just missing an
invite to the State Meet. He looked
stronger than a year ago in recently capturing the 150 and 300-meter races at
the Winter Outdoor Championships. Coming
into the season with a 21.57, and his strength in the 300 meters, we would not
be surprised to see him shatter his best of 50.00 for the 400 meters. Also, watch for his fellow Coyote as Lamont
Narcisse was also a finalist in the 100 meters in 2019.
The defending champion in the 400 is Culver City's Mekhi Evans-Bey (No. 4 in photo below). His 48.18 best comes into the 2020 as the third-fastest in the Southern Section. Seventh at the Masters Meet and one spot away from a State Meet berth, Evans-Bey was third in the 200-meters in 2019. While two other finalists from the 400-meter final in 2019 have moved over to Division 1, Palm Desert's Liam Carr is looking to improve upon his fourth-place finish from a year ago. His 48.26 is the fifth-fastest returning mark for the event in the Southern Section.
Glancing back to the 100 meters, Mission Viejo's Peter
Costelli earned the third-place medal in 2019 while Golden Valley's Jalen Davis
crossed in fifth-place. Patrick Dean of
Colony was also a finalist as well while West Torrance's Turner Fernandez returns with one of the top times in the section, under all conditions. In
the 200 meters, Moorpark's Mikey Holland and Angel Ledesma of Anaheim Canyon return from the 200-meter finals.
A newcomer on the scene, Mater Dei sophomore Domani Jackson made a splash last weekend in rolling to an 11.08, and pushing St. John Bosco's Rayshon Luke, despite the damp conditions. Coming from their football program, he is considered one of the top sophomore recruits, regardless of position, in the nation.
Hurdles
The defending champion in the 110 hurdles, Aiden Lieb of Peninsula, should earn
the most individual 
points at the Division 2 finals in May. Lieb (pictured) is the only returning athlete from last year's finals as Summit's Josh Hornsby
moved over to Division 1. In surprising
fashion, he won the Masters Meet but was one spot away from advancing to the
State Meet finals. Lieb was also fourth in
the 300 hurdles and placed second in the long jump to earn 22 points on his
own in 2019.
The defending champion in the 300 hurdles returns as John Burns ended the 2019 season with a 38.81 best. That is good enough to be the third-fastest time coming into the 2020 season. Capistrano Valley's Jaden Edwards finished fifth in the 300 hurdles as he projects as a Masters Meet qualifier with a 39.51 best. He is also one of the division's top 110 hurdle specialists. This past weekend, Rancho Verde's Glen McKenzie got things rolling with a 39.60 personal best to kick off his 2020 season.
Of the 18 finalists in both hurdle races in 2019, only four
return with Lieb occupying two of those spots.
Only three boys return with sub-40 second credentials as well.
Distances
Based on the 2019 postseason, West Torrance's Jake Parker is the top
returner. A finalist in the 1600 and
3200 meters, his 4:12.06 runner-up performance was a five-second improvement and elevated
him up to elite status. The UCLA commit
was unable to match that time but still finished ninth at the State Meet
finals. He's looking to bounce back from a frustrating cross country this past Fall.
But, over the course of the last two years, Golden Valley's Antonio
Abrego has been earning the headlines. Abrego (at right in photo) erupted onto the scene as the fastest freshman in the nation for the 800 meters
with his 1:55.09 performance at the Division 2 finals. He advanced to the Masters Meet. Last year, he was on the wrong side of an
upset. Northwood's Justin Larson pulled
off one of the biggest surprises of the meet with his 1:54.23 victory over
Abrego. The Golden Valley junior still
returns with the top time in the section (1:53.76) but unlike 2017, he did not
advance to the Masters Meet. Another
star to watch is Royal's Matt Russell.
He returns with the eighth-best time in the section (1:55.33) and placed fourth last year. His teammate, Angus Fitzgerald has also put himself as one of the favorites in the 1600 meters with a 4:19.93 victory this past weekend over a stellar field!
Dana Hills moves into Division 2 for the first time. They are coming off an incredible cross country season (third-best team in California) and bring that talent to the 2020 stage. Carrick Denker was third-place at last year's Division 1 final for the 1600 meters in 2019. With his 4:13.59, sixth-place effort at the Masters Meet, he advanced to the State Meet and missed making the finals by less than a half-second. Meanwhile, sophomore Jai Dawson had come from Australia and was unable to compete in the postseason. He was the top freshman in the nation with his 1:54.84 (sixth-best returner in the section) and will make an immediate splash on the Division 2 landscape this season. He has run a 4:21.38 for the full mile but after this past cross country season, we foresee Dawson being the one to watch this Spring!
In the 3200 meters, the top returner from the 2019 finals is Moorpark's Keith Murray. Despite a nine-second improvement (9:13.26), he was unable to advance any further than the Masters Meet. With that, his time is the sixth-fastest returning mark in the Southern Section. Murray (No. 7 in photo) is coming in off a cross country season that saw him capture the Division 3 individual title! He opened up with a 4:21.00 personal best for the 1600 meters.
Thousand Oaks' Michael Mireles had a disappointing fourth-place
finish at the 2019 finals. He threw down
a 12-second improvement at the Masters Meet but just barely missed advancing,
despite his 9:07.77 performance! That
time is the third-fastest in the section, as Mireles (No. 1 in photo) gets the opportunity to
match up with Newbury Park in the same league.
He shined this past cross country season, placing fourth at the State
Meet and backed up with a solid 25th finish at Nike Cross
Nationals! We would not be surprised to see him flirt with an 8:50-type effort this season. He opened his season up with a 4:20.06 this past weekend!
The aforementioned Parker of West Torrance also rolled in the 3200 meters as his 9:10.27 best is fourth-best in the section. Along with Denker's 9:18.47, Division 2 returns four of the top eight times in the event. Joseph Pearlman of Dos Pueblos was a finalist a year ago while Jack Keough-Lansford will lead the way for the Claremont, who moves back into the division this season.
Vertical Jumps
Tyler Cash of Canyon (CC) is the defending champion in the high jump. The San Jose State-commit saved 
his best when
it counted most by peaking at the State Meet with a 6-10 clearance. That performance earned him the second-place
medal and places him, despite almost not qualifying the day before. Cash has already cleared 6-8 this Winter and ready
to roll for 2020. Based on this past weekend, look for Cash to shine in more than one event while he opened up with a 6-8 clearance in the high jump.
Runner-up to Cash in 2019 was Villa Park's Kyle Jankans. He cleared the 6-8 bar on consecutive weeks last postseason but settled for a 6-5 performance at the State Meet and finished seventh. Jankan's teammate Jd Martinez cleared the 6-6 bar but on paper, he did not record any other efforts over 6-2.
Moving to the pole vault, Royal's Cameron Pench is the only athlete returning from the 2019 finals. His personal best is 14-0 as he enters the 2020 season as the favorite, after a third-place showing last year. In reality, Thousand Oaks' Grant Eller and Golden Valley's Alec Walker also qualified but were unable to clear the opening height. Walker's best is 13-6 while Eller cleared 13-0 to qualify for the 2019 finals. Expect great things from much-improved Zach Salas from Torrance. Leaving 2019 with a 12-2 best, he vaulted over the 14-2 bar at an all-comers last week!
Horizontal Jumps
As mentioned earlier, Peninsula's Aiden Lieb is the top returner after a runner-up
effort at the 2019 finals. Lieb advanced to the Masters Meet in the event and
is already to a solid start, as evidenced by his runner-up performance at the
Simplot Indoor Games. His wind-legal best of 22-10 ranks him amongst
the best in the section.
Two of the best in the division did not advance in the long jump. Angel Ledesma of Canyon, Ana. and Jd Martinez of Villa Park had several efforts over 22 feet, under all conditions. Golden Valley's Maximiliano Gabriel and Mater Dei's Quincy Craig qualified for the 2019 finals. Craig achieved the feat as a freshman.
Moving over to the triple jump, four of the top five finalists from 2019 return. Isaac and brother, Ben Muanza, earned second and third-place medals a year ago and return as two of the section's best. Issac, under all conditions, has a personal best of 46-9, which ranks third in the section. But, Northwood's Miles Carter is ranked behind him, despite not qualifying for last year's finals. Also claiming medals last year, Royal's Adama Fall came through with a fourth-place finish while Citrus Valley's Victor Trejo right behind him. Royal's Christian Foster and Sonora's Ian Jones also advanced to the 2019 finals.
Throws
The big headline here is that Aidan Elbettar or Newport Harbor has moved to
Division 1! The defending champion In
both throws will allow someone else to take that claim in 2020. With
that, Golden Valley's 
Kienan Donovan is the favorite going into the season for
both events. While he was fourth in the shot put, he advanced
his way to the State Meet finals (58-2.5).
In the discus, he placed third at the 2019 finals with his 171-2
personal best. He continued on for a
seventh-place finish at the State Meet.
Donovan is ranked fourth in the discus and seventh in the shot put when
glancing at the top marks returning for the Southern Section. He may also be a huge reason why they are
slight favorites for the 2020 team title.
Jake Porter of Canyon, Ana. will try to leapfrog Donovan once the postseason rolls around. Fifth in both events in 2019, his 59-6 best in the shot put places him fifth amongst all returners in the section. He advanced in both throws to the Masters Meet a year ago as he owns the sixth-best returning mark.
Quincy Stokes of Thousand Oaks and Hunter Keneley advanced to the 2019 finals and come into the season amongst the top ten in the Southern Section. Meanwhile, Michael Norzagaray of Jurupa Hills placed sixth at last year's finals in the discus. He is already off to a great start in 2020 with a 155-8 performance last weekend.