RJ Sermons, on the fast track to USC, shows off his 200 speed at Masters Meet
One day after making a big announcement about his future, RJ Sermons concentrated on the present and rebounded from a disappointing effort in the boys' 100 meters to beat a loaded field in the 200 meters Saturday in the Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High.
'Not having the best race in the 100 gave me more fire in the 200 and I feel like I understand that race all the way,' Sermons said after building a sizable lead around the turn and winning in 20.97 seconds — not quite matching his personal-best 20.88 achieved three weeks ago at Baseline League finals. 'The most important thing right now is to stay level-headed and prepare well for state.'
A four-star cornerback from Rancho Cucamonga, Sermons declared on Friday he will forgo his senior year, reclassifying from the class of 2026 to 2025 in order to join his older brother Cameron at USC this summer.
'I was thinking about it for two months, finalized my decision about a month ago and announced it yesterday because Thursday was the last day of school,' said the 6-foot, 185-pounder who committed to USC in mid-December, fulfilling a lifelong wish to follow in the footsteps of his father, Rodney Sr., a running back for the Trojans from 1994-97.
Before he turns his attention to college football, though, Sermons still has unfinished business on the high school track and has definite goals for the state meet on May 30 and 31 at Buchanan High in Clovis.
'For the 200, I can go 20.8 [seconds] for sure and my goal is 20.6,' he said, after finishing fourth in the 100 in 10.47 Saturday and finishing in 10.36 at the section finals last week. 'In the 100, I'll need to run high 10.1 or low 10.2 to win state. My focus [in the 100] will be the start. The key is getting out of the blocks fast.'
Defending his Masters title in the boys' 100 meters before placing second to Sermons in the 200 with a personal-best 21.04 was Bishop Alemany sophomore Demare Dezeurn, whose winning time of 10.35 seconds bettered his Division 4 record-setting 10.42 and was one hundredth of a second faster than his wind-aided time at last year's Masters.
'My goal is to win next week and one day be able to tell my kids I was state champion,' Dezeurn said, who confirmed he is transferring to Palisades and wants to play football in the fall. 'This is just the beginning for me. I wasn't planning to win today, I just wanted to put a good time on the board.'
Servite sophomore Benjamin Harris, second to Dezeurn last year in the 100 and fifth at state, stumbled and fell while crossing the finishing line in the 100 (he was third in 10.44) and had to scratch from the 200.
Servite's depth makes it a state title contender in the boys' 4x100-meter relay. The team of Jace Wells, Jaelen Hunter, Kamal Pelovello and Robert Gardner, won Saturday in 40.40. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame was runner-up in 40.77.
'We're a whole new team from last year but none of us like to lose and we're going to practice getting the baton around better for next week,' said Gardner, who ran the anchor leg. Hunter later won the 400 meters in 46.91, one second faster than Jack Stadlman of Temecula Valley.
Long Beach Poly got revenge on Oaks Christian in the girls' 4x100, as Leila Holland, Nevaeh Lewis, Aniyah Brooks and Brooklyn Lee won in 45.94 after finishing second to the Lions at state last year.
'This was very important and it feels good but we're going to state to redeem ourselves,' Lee said. Oaks Christian (46.12) was second and Redondo Union (46.96) third.
After repeating as Southern Section champion in the 100 a week ago, Georgia commit Keelan Wright (11.41) from Chaparral was edged by five hundredths of a second by North Carolina A&T-bound Journey Cole of Redondo Union in the 100, but rebounded to win the 200 in 23.21.
Corona Santiago's Braelyn Combe followed her second straight Division 1 section title with a winning effort of 4 minutes 44.36 seconds in the girls' 1,600 meters, improving her time from last week by more than two and a half seconds.
Grant Miller of La Serna was the boys' 1,600 champion in 4:09.86. Stanford-bound Evan Noonan, who opted not to run the 1,600 (he won the section Division 1 title last week) to save his energy for the 3,200 meters, won the event in 8:55.76.
University of Oregon commit and reigning girls' state long jump champion Loren Webster of Long Beach Wilson leaped 18 feet 11½ inches — the third-best mark behind only Ab Hernandez of Jurupa Valley (19-03½) and Kaylee Best of Norco (19-¾).
'I've been dealing with patella tendinitis the entire season but over the weeks the pain has decreased,' Webster said. 'I was confident I'd win state last year because I'd jumped over a foot better than anyone else. As for this year I'd say 20 feet should win.'
Texas commit Brandon Gorski of Mater Dei qualified for state for the fourth time in the boys' high jump with a height of 6-6 to finish third behind Chaminade's Matthew Browner and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame junior JJ Harel (last year's state runner-up), who both cleared 6-10. Gorski also posted the third-best mark in the long jump with a 22-10½ effort.
Long Beach Wilson won the girls' 4x400-meter relay in 3:43.71 and Long Beach Poly won the boys' race in 3:10.83.
Aliso Niguel's Jaslene Massey won girls' discus (165-06) and shot put (49-07½). Reigning state discus champion and 2023 state shot put champion Aja Johnson of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame took second in both with marks of 158-08 (discus) and 45-08 (shot put).
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