Dijon Stanley, with two golds, a silver, and an epic 4x400-meter anchor leg for a bronze, literally lifted Granada Hills Charter to the boys team title at the 103rd CIF-State Track and Field Championships.
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The Los Angeles City Section track and field community had a banner year, literally, on the boys side. Granada Hills Charter School, behind a dominating performance by senior Dijon Stanley, earned the school's first-ever CIF-State Track and Field team championship.
Stanley, who competed in four events, helped account for enough points to give Granada Hills Charter the first boys CIF-State Championship by an LA City Section team since Dorsey of Los Angeles did it in 2005.
Aside from the team title, LAC athletes secured three State titles, including two relays. Stanley won the 400 and ran the leadoff leg for Granada Hills Charter's 4x100 relay team.
Carson's 4x100 relay team, comprised of freshman Christina Gray, senior TaAhjah Fann, sophomore Kaitlyn E. Williams and senior Reign Redmond, won the lone State title on the girls side.
Below is an overall review of the CIF Los Angeles City Section boys and girls track and field season as well as the male and female athletes of the year in track and in field events.
BOYS
This season belonged to Granada Hills Charter with its first-ever team State championship. GHC scored 36 team points with senior standout Dijon Stanley doing his part by accounting for 34 points. State team runner-up JSerra (SS) scored 33 points.
Stanley won the State title in the 400 (45.77) for 10 points. His second place showing in the 200 (20.95) was worth eight points. Running the second leg of the State-title winning 4x100 (40.39) relay and the 4x400 relay team's third-place showing in 3:15.14 was good for 10 and six more points, respectively.
Stanley, of course, was part of a team in the relays. He made the first baton handoff to Jordan Coleman, a junior, in both relays. Coleman then passed to senior Jayden Smith who, in turn, gave it to the anchor, junior Kanye Martin. This was the order for both GHC relay races.
In addition to Stanley, Coleman secured two key insurance team points with a seventh-place finish in the State Meet's 100-meter dash in 10.57. He was 11th in the 200 prelims (21.49) but did not advance to the finals race.
Besides GHC competitors, the only other LAC male athletes to score points in the State Meet were senior Jaden Rattay of Lincoln, who finished third in the 400 in a PR time of 47.15, and Birmingham Community Charter junior Deshawn Banks, a seventh-place finisher in the high jump at 6-4.
Several LAC athletes qualified for the State Meet, but many did not advance past prelims or place high enough in finals-only events (3200, 4x800 relay) to medal. Two notable highlights were Gabriel Pearson, a Hamilton senior who was 10th in the 110 hurdles in 14.67 and just missing qualifying for the State final by one place; and Jayden Rendon, a freshman from Carson, was 15th in 300 hurdles (38.76) and 17th in 110 hurdles (15.31).
GIRLS
The finals day of the 2023 CIF-State Track and Field Championships seemed to line up perfectly for Carson to be a team title contender. It would be appropriate given that the 2016 Carson team is the last LA City Section girls program to win a State team title.
In the first-day State preliminaries, Carson qualified three runners for the 100-meter dash final, including defending State champion, senior Reign Redmond. The University of Georgia-bound athlete also advanced to the 200 final. Carson's 4x100 relay team, with Redmond, was a title favorite. And, on the field side, junior Lauryn Williams qualified for the shot put final. Two unfortunate misses for Carson were senior Mia Jamerson's 13th-place finish in the triple jump (LAC season best 36-7.25), one place from advancing, and Gray, who had LAC's top long jump mark, finishing 16th (wind-aided 17-8.50).
Carson's team title hopes got off to a promising start. The 4x100 relay led off the track portion of the meet by winning a State title and a quick 10 team points, in a time of 45.61, slightly off its top LAC mark.
But the day took an unfortunate turn for the worst when the 100 final took place. Gray, a freshman, and seniors Fann and Redmond, were each in the race. There was potential for a 1-2-3 placing similar to the LAC finals race and a maximum 24 team points at stake. But those hopes were dashed halfway into the race when Redmond pulled up with a hamstring injury and did not finish. Gray and Fann were seventh (11.83) and eighth (11.85), respectively, giving Carson three team points, but they were understandably more concerned for Redmond's well-being. The injury took Redmond out for the rest of the meet, meaning the 200 final, which could have been another big team points earner. Lauryn Williams placed seventh in the shot put final with a top mark of 41-0 to add two points to Carson's team total.
While there were many LAC athletes at the State Meet, Carson was the section's lone team to score points. Carson finished with 15, good for a 13th-place tie with J.W. North Riverside.
Five individual athletes and the Birmingham Community Charter's 4x400 relay team recorded LAC-season best marks in the State prelims. Junior Eva Walker of Carson went 2:17.45 in the 800; Chatsworth senior Sandra Melendez went 16.09 in the 100 hurdles, while Jaya Westby, a Carson junior, ran the 300 hurdles in 45.50. Jamerson's top triple jump mark and Redmond's 23.99 in the 200 prelims was a section-best season time.
Los Angeles City Section Athletes of the Year
BOYS TRACK
Dijon Stanley
Granada Hills Charter, Sr., 200-400, Relay Sprints
Single-handedly led Granada Hills Charter to its first-ever CIF-State Track and Field team championship by having a role in scoring 34 of the team's 36 points while competing in four events. The University of Utah-bound Stanley won the 400-meter title in a 2023 state-best time of 45.77, was second in the 200 in 20.95, ran on a leg of the State championship-winning 4x100 relay (40.39), and also ran on the third-place 4x400 relay (3:15.14). In the LA City Section Finals, Stanley won the 200 and 400 events each year from 2021-23.
BOYS FIELD
Deshawn Banks
Birmingham Community Charter, Jr., High Jump
Finished seventh in the high jump at the CIF-State Track and Field Championship meet, going 6-4 in a tough field. He qualified for State by winning the LA City Section championship with a top mark of 6-6. He was fourth in the State prelims with a 6-5 mark. In addition to high jump, Banks also competed this season in the long jump and 100-meter dash.
GIRLS TRACK
Reign Redmond
Carson, Sr., 100, 200, Sprint Relay
California's best sprinter all season and the reigning CIF-State 100-meter dash champion, returned to this year's State Meet in hopes of defending it, but an injury midway in the 100m State final -- she had run the 100 prelims race the day before in 11.47 -- kept it from happening. It also ended, for the second straight year, her chance at winning the 200-meter dash State title. Her sixth-place finish in this year's 200 prelims race was a season-best 23.99. Redmond, however, did win a State title, running a leg on Carson's 4x100 relay that finished in 45.61. She came into the State Meet after winning LA City Section titles in the 100 and 200, which she's done each of the last three seasons.
GIRLS FIELD
Lauryn Williams
Carson, Jr., Shot Put
Looking to build onto her title victory in the LA City Section shot put final, Williams' top throw of 41-0 was good for seventh place in the CIF-State Track and Field Championship final. She won the LAC section title with a 41-1. She then went 41-2 in the State prelims. Her season PR of 41-6.50 came in the LAC Section prelims. The State Meet appearance was her second straight as she went 38-10.5 in the 2022 prelims for 15th place.
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Photos by Raymond Tran and Dan Tyree
Ryan Blystone is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplitCA
Dijon Stanley, with two golds, a silver, and an epic 4x400-meter anchor leg for a bronze, literally lifted Granada Hills Charter to the boys team title at the 103rd CIF-State Track and Field Championships.
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The Los Angeles City Section track and field community had a banner year, literally, on the boys side. Granada Hills Charter School, behind a dominating performance by senior Dijon Stanley, earned the school's first-ever CIF-State Track and Field team championship.