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Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
CdM's Max Douglass races to school record in 1,600 meters at state meet
The weather was a hot topic of discussion heading into the CIF State track and field championships, but in many cases, it was the athletes that brought the heat last weekend. Corona del Mar coach Bill Sumner looked at the temperature and saw it was a scorching 101 degrees when Max Douglass — the Sea Kings' distance running star — toed the starting line at Clovis Buchanan High on Saturday. Douglass had dug in during the state preliminaries on Friday to secure the school record in the boys' 1,600 meters. It could have been the last four laps of an illustrious high school career. That qualifying effort earned the Notre Dame commit a spot in the state final, a chance he took advantage of to drop his time to 4 minutes 7.65 seconds in a sixth-place, medal-winning performance. Sumner shared that he resorted to a trip to the hardware store to drive home race strategy during the postseason. He first utilized traffic cones and then string to make Douglass exercise patience in picking his desired spot on the field from the start. 'I put a string from the cut-in mark to the 200 lane one,' Sumner said. 'And I said, 'Max, you cannot cut in. You have to stay on the right side of that string for the whole workout.' … Sumner said that Douglass noticed a difference right away. The message was clicking. 'I said, 'That way, you get to pick your spot of where you want to be,'' Sumner recalled. 'When you get to the end of the first 180 [meters], you're going to say, OK, let me run there, and then you go there.' He's a strong enough kid, he gets to do that if he's fast enough. 'We practiced that for three weeks, I had put a string out, and he would not cross over that string. … Not the last meet, but the two meets before it, he stayed out there, came over, got third place or second place, whatever he wanted, and just tried to stay there as long as he could.' Douglass shed nearly two full seconds off his time from the day prior, creating separation between himself and Jim Robbins, who had held the CdM record in the event at 4:10.74 since setting the standard in the Southern Section Masters Meet in 1988. Sumner added that both Robbins and Brian Hunsaker, the Sea Kings' record-holder in the 3,200 at 8:53.7 since 1975, reached out to Douglass after the race. Douglass received an invitation into the Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. 'If you would have told me he was done Sunday morning, I was fine,' Sumner said. 'Every goal that he set, we reached — every single one. Everything that he wrote down, we did. It's like, 'You've got nothing to prove, you got the school record, you got a 1:53 [in the] 800, you got a sub-nine-minute two-mile [time].' That's it. That's a lot of stuff, but he still wants to give it one more try, man. One more try before he goes on to be a big college guy.' Ocean View's Jack Paavola also closed his career on the podium, claiming eighth in the boys' discus throw with a mark of 174 feet, 4 inches. The Seahawks senior's state performance was just half a foot off his career-best throw at the Masters Meet. Paavola has committed to Harvey Mudd.
Los Angeles Times
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Benjamin Harris and Servite showcase their speed at Southern Section track championships
In comic book terms, Servite's group of talented sprinters would be described as 'faster than a speeding bullet.' There's so many of them that a rival coach quipped, 'They run so fast no one can see them.' Under an overcast sky and with unusually cool temperatures for May, Saturday's Southern Section track and field championships at Moorpark High was not conducive of record times, but that didn't prevent the Friars from turning on the speed. It started with winning the Division 3 4x100-meter relay in 40.43 seconds but really got going when sophomore Benjamin Harris ran a career-best time of 10.32 seconds to win the 100 meters, an event in which the Friars accumulated 20 points. 'I feel I have more in the tank,' Harris said. 'It's not my favorite weather. I like running in heat, but you have to adapt.' Later in the 200 meters, he won in 20.96 seconds and Servite athletes also claimed third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Freshman Jalen Hunter won the 400 in 47.10. Brandon Thomas, Servite's coach, has used his many fast runners to push each other in practices. 'The next three weeks we're going to be real hot,' he said. Servite could be a state title contender, but despite its sprinter success, the Friars fell short to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for the Division 3 team title. The Knights found enough depth in the field events to finish with 106.5 points to Servite's 104. JJ Harel made major contributions with a win in the high jump, second place in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump. Aaron Uzan got a surprise win in the 110-meter hurdles. The Masters Meet next Saturday at Moorpark, which features the 18 best qualifiers, will have a memorable 100. Rodney Sermons of Rancho Cucamoga, a USC commit, won the Division 1 100 in 10.36 seconds. He also took the 200 in 20.29. Sophomore Demare Dezeurn of Bishop Alemany set a Division 4 100 record in 10.42 seconds. In the girls Division 1 100, Georgia-bound Keelan Wright of Chaparral repeated as champion with a time of 11.50. Marley Scroggins of Calabasas set a Division 3 100 record at 11.59 and won the 200 in 23.84. Wright also won her 200 in 23.32. Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, one of the top distance runners in the nation, broke his own record in the Division 1 1,600 meters, winning in 4:03.71. The Stanford commit is aiming for his best performance to come next month at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. He has limited his appearances this spring trying to peak at the right time. 'I wasn't planning on it today but it was fun,' he said of his record. 'I don't feel 100% fresh but am moving in the right direction.' Junior Alden Morales of JSerra set a Division 3 record in the 800 meters at 1:50.79. Sophomore Darren Haggerty of Viewpoint, the school's top wide receiver, surprised himself with personal bests to win the Division 4 long jump at 22 feet, 8 inches and high jump at 6-6. 'It just happened,' he said. Viewpoint tied Gardena Serra for the Division 4 team title. Aja Johnson of Notre Dame, headed to Louisville, won the Division 4 girls shotput at 46-2. Kaylin Edwards, the Long Beach Wilson senior who won a state championship in the 300-meter girls hurdles as a sophomore, showed she has regained her form in the 100 hurdles, winning Division 1 in 13.90. Wilson won the team title. Braelyn Combe of Corona Santiago won her second straight Division 1 girls title in the 1,600 with a time of 4:46.99. She finished second at last year's state final to Ventura's Sadie Engelhardt.
