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Los Angeles Times
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Who are the athletes to watch at this weekend's CIF State Track & Field Championships?
The 105th CIF State Track & Field Championships will take place Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis and though the thermometer is expected to rise above 100 degrees both days, many Southland sprinters also will bring the heat. The absence of last spring's 100 and 200-meter dash winner Brandon Arrington, whose leg injury in a league meet May 9 forced him to miss the San Diego Section finals and denies him an opportunity to defend his state titles, opens lanes for the fastest athletes in the City and Southern Sections to take advantage. A junior from Mt. Miguel, Arrington broke the San Diego County record (20.35) in the 200 at Arcadia in April and one week later set a new section record (10.21) in the 100 at Mt. SAC. The favorite in the 100 is Concord De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson, who enters with the best qualifying time (10.30, three hundredths of a second better than Arrington's winning time last year), but challenging him will be Antrell Harris of Birmingham (who clocked 10.92 to win the City title May 22), back-to-back Masters Meet winner Demare Dezeurn of Bishop Alemany (10.35), RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga (10.47) and Servite's trio of Benjamin Harris (10.44), Robert Gardner (10.59) and Jorden Wells (10.63). In the 200, Masters champion Sermons (20.97) will be in the first heat along with Temecula Valley's Jack Stadlman (21.24), Dezeurn (21.04) has the fastest qualifying time in the second heat, Servite's Jace Wells (21.05) and Newbury Park's Jaden Griffin (21.36) are in the third heat and joining Jefferson (21.11) in the last heat are Santa Margarita's Leo Francis (21.14) and Harris (21.66). Sermons, who announced the day before the Masters Meet that he will skip his senior year of high school to play football at USC, clocked a career-best 20.88 at the Baseline League finals and will try to beat Arrington's winning time of 20.55 last year. Servite freshman Jaelen Hunter (46.91) heads a talented group in the 400, which includes Stadlman (47.91), City champion Justin Hart from Granada Hills (47.45) and City runner-up Nathan Santacruz of Venice (47.48). Servite's 4x100 relay was first at the Masters in 40.40 followed by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (40.77), which will be in the same heat Friday as JSerra (41.44) and City champion Granada Hills (41.78), and Murrieta Valley (41.55) will be in heat four with Birmingham (41.80). Servite also has one of the faster foursomes in the 4x400 as the Friars figure to challenge for the team title, won last year by Long Beach Poly, which won the Masters race Saturday in 3:10.83. The loaded field also features Cathedral (3:12.20), Mira Costa (3:18.73), Long Beach Wilson (3:14.93), Culver City (3:14.80) and Granada Hills (3:24.15). For the girls, Redondo Union's Journey Cole and Chaparral's Keelan Wright are in separate heats but should they advance they would go head-to-head in the finals in a rematch of last week's epic 100 meter showdown (Cole prevailed by five hundredths of a second in 11.36), however not to be underestimated are Malia Rainey (11.57) and Marley Scoggins (11.60) from Calabasas (11.57) and Carson's Christina Gray, who ran 12.05 to win the City title. Wright (23.21) is the leading qualifier in the 200. Other contenders are Rosary's Justine Wilson (23.38), Scoggins (23.59) and Gray (24.62). Long Beach Poly carried the baton around the oval in 45.94 at Masters to avenge its loss to Oaks Christian at last year's state 4x100 final and the two schools could match up again Saturday alongside City winner Carson (46.84), which was third in Clovis last year. Long Beach Wilson, the state team champion in 2024, has the top qualifying time (3:43.71) in the 4x400 relay. In the distance events, Corona Santiago boasts two title contenders — Braelyn Combe in the 1600 and Rylee Blade in the 3200. Combe was second to Ventura's Sadie Englehardt last year and won the Masters four-lapper last week in 4:44.36 (more than two and a half seconds better than her winning time at the Southern Section Division 1 finals), second-best among all qualifiers behind Chiara Dailey (4:43.57) of La Jolla in San Diego. Blade ran 9:58.46 two weeks ago to break a Southern Section record that had stood since 1996 and cruised to the Masters win in 10:11.38. The Florida State-bound senior was third at state last year in 10:06.26 and she set a new meet standard of 15:20.3 at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in September. Stanford signee Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, winner of the Southern Section and Masters races the past two weeks, will try to defend his 3200 state title (he won in 8:43.12 as a junior). Aliso Niguel's Jaslene Massey and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame's Aja Johnson have the first and second best throws in both shot put and discus. Massey swept the events at Masters (49-7.50 shot put; 165-06 discus). Johnson is the defending state discus champion and won the state shot put title in 2023. In the boys high jump, Mission League rivals Matthew Browner from Chaminade and JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame both achieved 6-10 to finish first and second at Masters. Harel cleared that same height to take second at the state finals last year behind Birmingham's Deshawn Banks.
Los Angeles Times
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
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).
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Prep baseball roundup: Corona hits eight home runs in 23-3 victory
Prep baseball roundup: Corona hits eight home runs in 23-3 victory After being shut out last week and losing its No. 1 ranking, Corona baseball responded Monday by hitting eight home runs in a 23-3 Big VIII League win over Corona Centennial. Anthony Murphy hit three home runs and finished with four hits and six RBIs. Gavin Flores hit two home runs and had seven RBIs. Seth Hernandez, Ethin Bingaman and Jesiah Andrade also hit home runs. Corona had 24 hits against eight Centennial pitchers. Advertisement Corona is 20-2 and 9-1 in league. La Mirada 2, Bellflower 1: Kevin Jeon went three for three for La Mirada. Sylmar 11, Verdugo Hills 0: Alex Martinez threw a five-inning no-hitter. Rickee Luevano hit a three-run home run. Kennedy 6, San Fernando 5: The Golden Cougars won the Valley Mission League game despite three hits from Ramon Amezcua. Bell 3, Roosevelt 0: Adolfo Esquivel threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts. Laguna Beach 3, Laguna Hills 2: Thomas Gonzales struck out 11 in six innings for Laguna Beach. San Clemente 3, Mission Viejo 0: The Tritons won their seventh consecutive game. Mike Erspamer struck out 12 and gave up three hits in 6 2/3 innings. Advertisement St. Francis 1, Cathedral 0: Noah Aguilar-Tanphanich struck out seven in five scoreless innings for St. Francis. Summit 10, Grand Terrace 0: Kody Smathers threw five scoreless innings and Isaac Castanon had three RBIs during Summit's 16th consecutive victory. Los Osos 2, Upland 1: Reagan Samples struck out five in five innings for Los Osos. Damien 7, Chino Hills 3: Elius Kelly and Bobby Logue hit home runs for Damien. Etiwanda 8, Rancho Cucamonga 2: Jack Holquin and Noah Frias pitched the Eagles to a Baseline League upset. Vista Murrieta 10, Murrieta Valley 0: Vaughn Neckar struck out eight and threw a no-hitter. Advertisement Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep baseball roundup: Corona hits eight home runs in 23-3 victory
After being shut out last week and losing its No. 1 ranking, Corona baseball responded Monday by hitting eight home runs in a 23-3 Big VIII League win over Corona Centennial. Anthony Murphy hit three home runs and finished with four hits and six RBIs. Gavin Flores hit two home runs and had seven RBIs. Seth Hernandez, Ethin Bingaman and Jesiah Andrade also hit home runs. Corona had 24 hits against eight Centennial pitchers. Corona is 20-2 and 9-1 in league. La Mirada 2, Bellflower 1: Kevin Jeon went three for three for La Mirada. Sylmar 11, Verdugo Hills 0: Alex Martinez threw a five-inning no-hitter. Rickee Luevano hit a three-run home run. Kennedy 6, San Fernando 5: The Golden Cougars won the Valley Mission League game despite three hits from Ramon Amezcua. Bell 3, Roosevelt 0: Adolfo Esquivel threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts. Laguna Beach 3, Laguna Hills 2: Thomas Gonzales struck out 11 in six innings for Laguna Beach. San Clemente 3, Mission Viejo 0: The Tritons won their seventh consecutive game. Mike Erspamer struck out 12 and gave up three hits in 6 2/3 innings. St. Francis 1, Cathedral 0: Noah Aguilar-Tanphanich struck out seven in five scoreless innings for St. Francis. Summit 10, Grand Terrace 0: Kody Smathers threw five scoreless innings and Isaac Castanon had three RBIs during Summit's 16th consecutive victory. Los Osos 2, Upland 1: Reagan Samples struck out five in five innings for Los Osos. Damien 7, Chino Hills 3: Elius Kelly and Bobby Logue hit home runs for Damien. Etiwanda 8, Rancho Cucamonga 2: Jack Holquin and Noah Frias pitched the Eagles to a Baseline League upset. Vista Murrieta 10, Murrieta Valley 0: Vaughn Neckar struck out eight and threw a no-hitter.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Prep sports roundup: Cypress takes over first place in Crestview League
Prep sports roundup: Cypress takes over first place in Crestview League Cypress baseball coach John Weber. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times) Cypress has had one of the toughest nonleague baseball schedules this season, with games against Harvard-Westlake, Sierra Canyon, JSerra, Loyola, Bishop Amat and Aquinas. It has helped prepare the Centurions for their weekly battles in the competitive Crestview League. On Wednesday, they took over sole possession of first place with a 5-3 win over Foothill that featured a three-run home run from Paul Dominguez off Foothill ace Gavin Lauridsen in the first inning. Advertisement Cypress is 13-9 overall and 5-2 in league play. Foothill is 15-7 and 4-3. Oaks Christian 12, Westlake 5: Quentin Young hit two home runs, giving him 12 on the season, and brothers Ryan and Carson Sheffer also homered to power Oaks Christian to the Marmonte League win. Westlake was unable to rally in the bottom of the seventh, ending a streak of six straight home games in which the Warriors won on walk-offs in their final at bat. Sebastien Ajemian was the relief pitcher to stop the Warriors in the seventh. St. John Bosco 7, Servite 0: The Braves (15-4) continue to thrive in the Trinity League. Gavin Cervantes threw six scoreless innings, Noah Everly hit a grand slam and Jack Champlin had a two-run double. Advertisement Huntington Beach 8, Los Alamitos 1: Jake Grindlinger allowed no hits in four shutout innings and Trevor Goldenetz finished with three RBIs. Rancho Cucamonga 3, Los Osos 1: Jacob Peyton hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning for the Baseline League victory. Etiwanda 13, Chino Hills 0: Ryan Severns, Jaeden Toki and Derick Kim each had three RBIs. Michael Aleman threw a complete game with five strikeouts. Damien 3, Upland 2: The Spartans won the Baseline League game with two runs in the sixth inning. Simi Valley 2, Bishop Alemany 1: Greg Lopez threw a complete game for Simi Valley. South Hills 7, Los Altos 0: Joseph Moreno threw a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts for South Hills. Advertisement La Mirada 6, Gahr 3: After losing to Gahr in nine innings on Tuesday, the Matadores came back to record a win. Noah Rodriguez had two hits and two RBIs. Vista Murrieta 8, Great Oak 5: RJ Holmes had three hits for Vista Murrieta. Loyola 6, Cathedral 0: Three Loyola pitchers combined for the shutout. Softball Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 14, Harvard-Westlake 4: Freshman Jackie Morales hit a grand slam for the Knights. Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
