Latest news with #ShermanOaksNotreDame
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Servite's ‘Fab Four' show their blazing speed at state track and field prelims
CLOVIS, Calif. — Call them the 'Fab Four.' Servite's boys' 4x100-meter relay team, consisting of freshmen Jace Wells, Jaelen Hunter, Kamil Pelovello and Jorden Wells got Friday's CIF State Track and Field Championships off to a blazing start by winning the first heat in 40.28 seconds and earning the top qualifying time — not bad for the foursome's first go around the oval. Robert Gardner ran the anchor leg behind Jace Wells, Hunter and Pelovello six days earlier when the Friars clocked 40.40 to win the Southern Section Masters Meet and fellow sophomore Benjamin Harris joined Jorden Wells, Hunter and Gardner when Servite set a state and meet record at the Arcadia Invitational in April. Friday was all about the 'youth movement.' They left Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High believing that they could return Saturday to break the state meet record of 40.24 set by Hawthorne in 1989. 'This is the first time that all four of us have been in the same relay,' Hunter said. 'We're going after the record tomorrow.' Sherman Oaks Notre Dame won Heat 2 in 40.83, the second-fastest time. Hunter showed why he's the fastest freshman in the country one hour later when he looked like he was saving his energy for the finals even while winning his 400-meter heat in 47.43, the third-fastest prelims time behind Temecula Valley senior Jack Stadlman (46.99) and Culver City's Duaine Mayrant (47.38). Jace Wells clocked a personal-best to win his 200 meters heat in 21.03 while Stadlman (21 flat), Antrell Harris (21.14) and Leo Francis (21.16) from Santa Margarita also advanced to the finals ahead of USC-bound RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga, who raced Nicolas Obimga of Torrance head-to-head at 11 p.m. for the last qualifying spot after they tied to the thousandth of a second for ninth. Sermons won by 20 hundredths in 21.11 with the stadium empty to secure his spot in the finals. 'I've never been in a run-off before,' Sermons said, shaking his head. 'I had a bad start the first time. No one to blame but me.' Servite capped its impressive day by winning its 4x400 meters heat in 3 minutes 10.94 seconds, holding off Cathedral (3:11.13) for the second-fastest qualifying time behind Long Beach Poly (3:10.70). Maintenance crews will be working overnight trying remove the scorch marks on the track after the boys' 100 meters. All nine sprinters to advance to Saturday's finals clocked 10.51 or under led by De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson, whose wind-legal 10.01 bettered the California record of 10.14 by Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena Serra in 2022. Second in the heat was Obimga (10.20) and third was City Section champion Antrell Harris of Birmingham, giving a single heat the first, second and fourth-fastest times in the state this year. USC-bound RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga bounced back from a subpar Masters race, where he finished fourth in 10.47, to win his heat in 10.40 and Demare Dezeurn, who repeated as Masters champion in 10.35 seconds, also topped his heat Friday in 10.43. Benjamin Harris won Heat 4 in 10.49. 'Today was all about qualifying for finals, said Dezeurn, a 10th-grader from Alemany. 'It's great competition. I have to go hard tomorrow. If I can beat him at the start I can beat him in the race. He [Jefferson] is good, though. Seeing those times just makes me love the game even more. I want to prove I belong here. I run to win!' Carson's Christina Gray anchored the Colts' 4x100 relay, which posted the fastest qualifying time (46.16) while Journey Cole's late kick on the anchor leg in Heat 2 allowed Redondo Union (46.33) to clip last year's state champion Oaks Christian, which posted the same time (46.39) as Long Beach Poly. Gray followed with a personal-best 11.47 in the 100, beating Chaparral's Keelan Wright by two hundredths of a second for second in her heat. Calabasas sophomore Malia Rainey yelled 'C'mon' after winning her heat in a personal-best 11.57 while teammate Marley Scoggins won Heat 4 in 11.67. Wright bounced back to post the best time (23.58) in the 200 while Gray finished second in 23.71, the second-fastest time and much swifter than her 24.62 at City Finals. 'In the 100 I had a great start, now I just have to work on the finish,' Gray said. 'It's still a great time for me. I'm feeling pretty good, there was no negative wind and winning the relay gave me confidence as I was feeling doubtful before that but after the 4x100 I knew I'd do well the rest of the day. Reigning discus champion Aja Johnson Sherman Oaks Notre Dame struggled Friday but secured the 12th and last finals spot with an effort of 139 feet 3 inches. Camarillo's Trinity Tipton was the top qualifier at 152-06. The 2023 shot put state champion, Johnson was the top qualifier Friday at 45-05, beating Aliso Niguel's Jaslene Massey by six inches. Transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley was the leading qualifier in the girls' long jump (19-11.75), triple jump (40-09.75) and high jump (5-05.00).
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Prep talk: Seven of eight women's College World Series teams have SoCal players
Former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame softball star Ella Parker leads Oklahoma into the College World Series. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times) If you want to win a Women's College World Series championship in softball, you probably need one, two or even three players from Southern California, which is loaded with high school softball talent. Seven of the eight teams that will begin action in Oklahoma City this week have at least one SoCal product making major contributions on the roster. Only Texas Tech is missing the SoCal connection. Advertisement Let's start first with Ella Parker, the standout from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame who leads Oklahoma with a .416 batting average, 13 home runs and 49 RBIs. Florida has Taylor Shumaker from Esperanza, a freshman hitting .389 with 22 home runs and 86 RBIs. Texas has freshman pitcher Cambria Salmon from Beaumont. She's 7-1 with a 2.37 ERA. Tennessee has Sophia Nugent, a Los Alamitos graduate with 17 home runs. Ole Miss has Persy Llamas, a freshman from Eastvale Roosevelt. She's batting .355 with 10 home runs. Oregon relies on freshman Rylee McCoy from Oaks Christian. She's second in hitting with a .399 average, 19 home runs and 58 RBIs. Advertisement And there's UCLA, which has Godinez grad Savannah Pola. She leads the Bruins in hitting with 96 hits, a .440 average, nine home runs and 48 RBIs. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email 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
5 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep talk: Seven of eight women's College World Series teams have SoCal players
If you want to win a Women's College World Series championship in softball, you probably need one, two or even three players from Southern California, which is loaded with high school softball talent. Seven of the eight teams that will begin action in Oklahoma City this week have at least one SoCal product making major contributions on the roster. Only Texas Tech is missing the SoCal connection. Let's start first with Ella Parker, the standout from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame who leads Oklahoma with a .416 batting average, 13 home runs and 49 RBIs. Florida has Taylor Shumaker from Esperanza, a freshman hitting .389 with 22 home runs and 86 RBIs. Texas has freshman pitcher Cambria Salmon from Beaumont. She's 7-1 with a 2.37 ERA. Tennessee has Sophia Nugent, a Los Alamitos graduate with 17 home runs. Ole Miss has Persy Llamas, a freshman from Eastvale Roosevelt. She's batting .355 with 10 home runs. Oregon relies on freshman Rylee McCoy from Oaks Christian. She's second in hitting with a .399 average, 19 home runs and 58 RBIs. And there's UCLA, which has Godinez grad Savannah Pola. She leads the Bruins in hitting with 96 hits, a .440 average, nine home runs and 48 RBIs. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Prep talk: Aja Johnson of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is thriving in the shotput, discus
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame's Aja Johnson competes in girls' discus at the 2024 state track and field championships. Johnson won the state title in the event. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) Nick Garcia, the throws coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, calls shotputter and discus thrower Aja Johnson "the dragon slayer." She's only 5 feet 3 but slays taller girls competing in those events. Advertisement Last weekend, she won the Southern Section Division 3 shotput and discus titles. This weekend she will try to qualify for the state championships when competing at the Masters Meet at Moorpark High. She won the state discus title last year. She was state champion in the shotput in 2023. Aja Johnson of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times) Under Garcia's guidance, Johnson uses technique, athleticism, agility and explosiveness to excel in the two events. She has committed to Louisville. Notre Dame athletes have won every Division 3 shotput or discus title since 2021. … The City Section Division I baseball semifinals will be held Wednesday at Stengel Field in Glendale with a trip to Dodger Stadium on Saturday at stake. Carson will play Taft at 3 p.m., followed by Banning taking on Verdugo Hills at 6 p.m. Advertisement This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email 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
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep talk: Aja Johnson of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is thriving in the shotput, discus
Nick Garcia, the throws coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, calls shotputter and discus thrower Aja Johnson 'the dragon slayer.' She's only 5 feet 3 but slays taller girls competing in those events. Last weekend, she won the Southern Section Division 3 shotput and discus titles. This weekend she will try to qualify for the state championships when competing at the Masters Meet at Moorpark High. She won the state discus title last year. She was state champion in the shotput in 2023. Under Garcia's guidance, Johnson uses technique, athleticism, agility and explosiveness to excel in the two events. She has committed to Louisville. Notre Dame athletes have won every Division 3 shotput or discus title since 2021. … The City Section Division I baseball semifinals will be held Wednesday at Stengel Field in Glendale with a trip to Dodger Stadium on Saturday at stake. Carson will play Taft at 3 p.m., followed by Banning taking on Verdugo Hills at 6 p.m. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email
