Jackrabbits win first section championship since 2007 and Ventura secures Division 2 title after 20-year wait; Harvard-Westlake repeats in Division 3, Oaks Christian makes it four in a row in Division 4

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

TORRANCE – With all the success Long Beach Poly has known in boys track and field, it’s hard to believe it’s been 12 years since the Jackrabbits won a CIF-Southern Section championship.

Well, that itch has been effectively scratched. Poly surged to the Division 1 victory Saturday in the CIF-Southern Section Finals at El Camino College in Torrance, tallying 82 points to runner-up Upland’s 46 to win the Jackrabbits’ 16th section crown.

RESULTS | BOYS PHOTOS | INTERVIEWS

In addition to crowning champions in each of the section’s four divisions, the meet also served as a qualifier for next week's CIF-Southern Section Masters – the final stepping stone before the CIF-State Championships in Clovis in two weeks.

Poly enjoyed two individual championships and a relay win, with senior Kenyon Reed playing parts in two of them. Reed, along with senior DeAngelo Chester, senior Keon Markham and junior and anchor Anthony Johnson won the 4x100 relay in 40.87. Reed was second in the 100, before winning the 200 in a squeaker in 21.52 seconds. Only 0.06 seconds separated the top three in that race.

“Confident,” Reed said, when asked if his lean was good enough, “because when I leaned, I peeked to the right.”

More importantly for his team, Reed contributed 18 points – plus the 10 in the relay – after the Jackrabbits had a particularly impressive 200. Reed, Chester and Johnson made up a 1-3-5 finish, which expanded what was, at the time, a six-point lead over Vista Murrieta to 26 points.

“I’m really excited for the team,” Reed said. “The boys haven’t won one, I believe, since 2007. So we’re doing our best …”

Poly’s other victory came in the 110 hurdles, from senior Liam Anderson, whose personal-best time of 14.39 outlasted runner-up Reyte Rash of Riverside King (14.50).

Upland boasted some theatrics of its own, thanks to senior Caleb Roberson.

Roberson earned three victories Saturday, with the 300 hurdles standing as the most impressive. With Rash pushing him, Roberson finished in a personal-best 36.35, which now is the top time in the nation this year. Rash finished in 36.59, which ranks fifth in the country.

Roberson earlier won the 100 in 10.59.

“Today, I felt tired, and after the 100, my legs felt a little heavy,” Roberson said. “So being able to run 36.35 on heavy legs is just a peek at what I could do at state.”

Roberson, along with junior Hassani Hawkins, freshman Delaney Crawford and junior anchor Namir Hemphill, won the 4x400 relay in 3:13.95. Hemphill then quickly scooted over to the triple jump where he finished third – Menifee Heritage senior Deondre Ruth won in 46-11 – in the day’s final event, pushing the Highlanders past Vista Murrieta for second place.

Since turning heads April 6 by running a national-leading time of 8:40.0 to win the 3,200 at the Arcadia Invitational, Newbury Park junior Nico Young seems to be making fast times look easy. He was at it again Saturday, winning the 3,200 by 17 seconds in 8:54.89 over Long Beach Poly senior William Frankenfeld.

Sophomore Darius Hill led Vista Murrieta to its third-place finish, winning the high jump by becoming the only athlete Saturday to clear 6-8.

Other Division 1 champions included West Ranch junior Solomon Strader in the 400 (47.11), Valencia senior Kai Wingo (1:52.08) in the 800, Crescenta Valley junior Dylan Wilbur in the 1,600 (4:21.31), Los Osos’ Oluwatobi Adegoke (23-0.50) in the long jump, San Juan Hills’ Sean Rhyan in the shot put (59-5), Newbury Park’s Gino Cruz in the discus (181-4), and Marina’s Skyler Magula in the pole vault (15-6).

DIVISION 2 (RESULTS)

Ventura won its first section championship in 20 years, thanks in part to a talented thrower who didn’t have to win to get his team to a title.

Senior Carlos Aviles placed second in the shot put (58-10.25) and discus (191-9; a seasonal best), giving Ventura, which did not have an individual winner, 16 important points as it won with 43.5 points. Mater Dei was second with 39, followed by Calabasas (35) and Newport Harbor (33).

“(Today) was a lot more of trying to stay consistent,” Aviles said. “My preseason wasn’t what I wanted it to be. Now, I’m just trying to build on, not really more CIF, but more on being a state champion. It just became a point of, ‘What can I do for my team?’ and ‘What can I do to move on?’”

Mater Dei’s 4x100 relay team was a winner, with Patrick Michinock, Quincy Craig, Corbin Utley and Chad Lemmons running 42.04. Senior Anthony Salazar won the triple jump in 44-11.50.

Lemmons just missed second and third wins in the 100 and 200, as he was outleaned at the line by Calabasas freshman Nicholas Gates, 10.79 to 10.82, and again later, 21.72 to 21.75.

Gates earned a third win when he ran the second leg of Calabasas’ 4x400 team with juniors Lamont Narcisse and Ruben Valenzuela, as well as Jared Hopper, which ran 3:20.01.

Junior Aidan Elbettar paced Newport Harbor to its fourth-place finish with big victories in the shot put (58-11) and discus (193-3).

“It’s a great achievement getting a double win,” he said, “but it still feels like I need to do better.”

Veterans owned the distance events. Arroyo senior Noah Hibbard won the 1,600 in 4:11.65; fellow senior Ethan Danforth, of Canyon Country Canyon, won the 3,200 in 9:21.65. Northwood junior Justin Larson won the 800 in 1:54.23.

Other Division 2 winners were Culver City junior Mekhi Evans-Bey in the 400 (48.18), Peninsula junior Aiden Lieb in the 110 hurdles (14.57), Mission Viejo’s John Burns in the 300 hurdles (39.06), Irvine’s Jacob Haley in the long jump (22-5.50), Canyon Country Canyon junior Tyler Cash in the high jump (6-8), and West Torrance senior Kyten Arthur in the pole vault (14-6).

DIVISION 3 (RESULTS)

It was expected to be the closest division of the day on the boys’ side, but Harvard-Westlake surged to victory late in the day over Mission League rival Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

Senior Brayden Borquez won three events, and it took a record performance to knock him to second in the fourth. Borquez won the 300 hurdles in 37.85, was on the winning 4x100 relay team (41.35) and anchored the 4x400 team (3:18.22) to victories.

The 4x100 victory was key, he said, as it set the tone and provided a head-to-head win over Notre Dame, which was second in 41.99.

“That win was exactly what we needed to start off the meet, because the energy was high, and everyone felt like, ‘This is it; this is here, and we can do it.’”

Only in the 400 was Borquez second to Hemet West Valley senior Ismail Turner, who won in 46.74 to set a new Division 3 record at the section championship meet.

And in a nearly identical performance, Notre Dame senior Christian Grubb won three times and was runner-up in his fourth event. Grubb won the 100 (10.61), 200 (21.09) and triple jump (45-11), with his 4x100 relay team placing second in 41.99.

“My races were great,” Grubb said. “Personally, I know that I could’ve done better in certain things, and I’m just going to work on that next week (at Masters).”

Division 3 saw two other multiple winners, as JSerra senior Peter Herold won the 1,600 (4:18.98) and 3,200 (9:12.07). Esperanza junior Jeff Duensing threw the biggest shot put of the day at 64-4.50, and also won the discus at 190-9.

Other winners in Division 3 included Cathedral sophomore Anthony Taylor in the 110 hurdles (14.35), Palm Springs senior Damion Loman in the long jump (22-4), St. Francis senior Matthew Molina in the high jump (6-6) and La Canada’s David Miketta in the pole vault (15-0).

DIVISION 4 (RESULTS)

Oaks Christian won its fourth consecutive title, outlasting Serra in the process.

Oaks’ 4x400 relay team finished track competition in style, as seniors Sebastian Macaluso and Graham White led the relay to a victory in 3:22.74. White was the anchor.

“It was amazing,” White said. “I was just glad I could put it down one last time for my team.”

Oaks Christian’s other individual title was also from a senior, as Luciano Barretto won the shot put in 51-1.75.

Second-place Serra was led by senior Mekhi Mays, who won the 100 in 10.67 and 200 in 21.49.

Thacher junior Winslow Atkeson won the 1,600, rallying past St. Margaret’s Jackson Adelman in the last lap and finishing in 4:20.50.

Other winners included Maranatha senior Brendan Fong in the 400 (48.52), Foothill Technology sophomore Oliver Pick in the 3,200 (9:35.63), Crespi in the 4x100 relay in 42.28 and Perris California Military Institute senior Jordan Aubert in the long jump at 22 feet, though he went 23-1.50 in a preliminary jump.