Dijon Stanley (right) and Xai Ricks ran two of the fastest 400-meter dash times in the country this season, as well as in CA track and field history when they battled over the full lap at the 2023 CIF-State Championships.
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Only eight other times since 1915 has the boys winner of the 400-meter run at the CIF-State Meet come in under 46 seconds.
Make it nine after Dijon Stanley's tour de force on the Veterans Memorial Stadium track last Saturday night included a 45.77 victory in the 400-meter final.
Stanley, a senior at Granada Hills Charter (LA), had earlier run second leg on the winning 4x100m relay team, and would later medal in the 200m final and anchor the 4x400m team to a third-place finish that would secure the first CIF-State Track and Field team title for the Highlanders program.
But he needed just about every bit of that 45.77 to hold off Long Beach Poly (SS) junior Xai Ricks, who circled the track in 46.06 seconds. That time would have won all by nine previous State Meet titles in the 400 meters.
Stanley is the first sub-46 winner since Michael Norman of Vista Murrieta (SS) did it in both 2015 and 2016. (While there have been plenty of others to win consecutive titles, Norman is the only one to go sub-46 in the final more than once.)
Stanley's time is the third-fastest in the U.S. this season and he ranks 10th on the CA performer list. Ricks' time ranks fifth and 15th, respectively.
Watch the Race
Photos by Daniel Hernandez and Raymond Tran
Race Countdown voting by Ryan Blystone, Steve Brand, Albert Caruana, Mark Gardner, and Jeffrey Parenti
