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Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
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Who are the athletes to watch at this weekend's CIF State Track & Field Championships?
Chaparral senior Keelan Wright (middle) is the favorite to win the 200-meter dash at this weekend's CIF State Track & Field Championships. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) 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. Advertisement 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). Senior Antrell Harris (middle) of Birmingham was first in the 100 and 200 meters at the City Section finals May 22 in Lake Balboa. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) 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. Advertisement 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). Advertisement 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. USC-bound RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga will try to double in the 100 and 200 meters at the CIF State Track & Field Championships. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) 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). Advertisement 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. 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.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Sport
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Palisades boys' tennis team wins 16th consecutive City Section title
Senior Lorenzo Brunkow dropped two games in three sets at No. 1 singles to lead Palisades to its 16th consecutive City Section boys' tennis championship. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) The matchup was familiar and so was the outcome Thursday afternoon in the City Section Open Division boys' tennis final at Balboa Sports Center in Encino. Top-seeded Palisades won its 16th consecutive title — the longest active streak by any team in any sport in the section — and 41st overall with a 23-6.5 triumph over Granada Hills, which was unable to pull off an upset without top player Kristian Sharma, who was ineligible. Advertisement The schools were facing off in the finals for the 10th straight time, the last seven in the Open Division, and the Dolphins took command early by sweeping all seven matches (four singles, three doubles) in the first rotation. Palisades clinched victory before the third-seeded Highlanders notched their first point. 'To win 16 in a row is hard to believe,' Palisades head coach Bud Kling said upon being doused with a bucket of water after collecting his 53rd City title (32 with the boys, 21 with the girls) since taking over the program in 1979. 'Granada Hills has been a formidable opponent over the last decade or more but every team has a down year here and there. We've been the underdog three or four times during this run and managed to find a way to win.' UC Santa Barbara-bound senior Lorenzo Brunkow won his first three sets, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, before being subbed out in the last rotation. No. 2 player Neel Joshi also cruised in his first three sets, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, before he was replaced and the Dolphins' No. 1 doubles team of Caleb Scott and Max May took their first two sets, including the title-clincher, then watched freshmen Bennett Murphy and Josh Glaser prevail in a tiebreaker in round three. The No. 3 duo of Tristan Kiperman and Zach Stuffman got an unexpected 1½ points by surprising Granada Hills' No. 1 tandem of William Stanfield and Ashton Park, 6-3. Even using reserve players with the match already decided, Palisades took four of the last seven sets. 'All credit to Palisades … they were the better team today,' Highlanders coach Troy Aiken said. Advertisement Christian Camarillo, who has won the last two City individual doubles titles with different partners, lost to Brunkow (the reigning City singles champion) but swept his last three singles sets, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Granada Hills senior Christian Camarillo won three of his four singles sets during the City Section Open Division boys' team final at Balboa Sports Center in Encino. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) Palisades' latest dynasty started in 2009 with a nearly identical 26.5-3 victory over Granada Hills, which has yet to win a City boys' title. Kling, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, is the winningest high school tennis coach in state history, having amassed more than 1,440 victories. 'We graduate seven starters so next spring is going to be a rebuilding year,' he said. 'We'll see if we can keep [the streak] going.' 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.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Prep talk: Beach volleyball playoffs to decide Southern Section champion this week
Mira Costa players celebrate after defeating Redondo Union for the CIF Southern Section Division 1 girls' beach volleyball title at Long Beach City College last year. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) Can any team defeat No. 1 Mira Costa in girls' beach volleyball? We'll find out this week as the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be held in Southern Section Division 1. Edison will take the first chance against Mira Costa in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The other matchups have Santa Margarita facing Los Alamitos, Redondo Union taking on San Marcos and San Juan Hills playing JSerra. Redondo Union has the only win against Mira Costa this season. Advertisement The championships will be Saturday at Long Beach City College. The City Section will hold its beach championships on Friday at Santa Monica State Beach. Venice is seeded No. 1 in the 16-team field. 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.
