April 8-9, 2005

June 17-18, 2005

The Battle For The Beach!
LB Wilson vs. LB Poly
Blocks controversy leaves Wilson standing
at the start line in Poly's 68-67 triumph
Thursday, March 24, 2005 @ Long Beach City College

Photo by Kirby Lee, The Sporting Image
In a high hurdles battle between two of America's finest athletes, Poly's Shana Woods (right)
edged Wilson's Ebony Collins, 14.0 to 14.1.  Collins was forced to use a standing start in the
race after the meet starter prohibited her from replacing a faulty set of starting blocks.
Poly won the meet, 68-67, extending their winning streak in the storied rivalry to seven years.

More Kirby Lee Photos from the Meet!

By Kirby Lee
       For now, the Poly High girls are still the team to beat in the Moore League.

       The defending state champions held off Wilson, 68-67, in a Moore League dual meet at Veterans Stadium on Thursday.

       It was the seventh consecutive victory for Poly over Wilson in the Moore League opener for both schools. The Jackrabbits, though, needed a few breaks to defeat the Bruins, who are projected to be Poly’s top challenger to its fifth consecutive Southern Section Division I title in May.

       Poly won the meet’s opening event, the 400-meter relay, after Wilson dropped the baton on the first exchange in 48.9, a time more than four seconds off its national record, with a team of three freshmen, Erin Reed, Krizia Apelar and Lakeisha Smith, and junior Julian Jenkins.

       Wilson appeared to have the edge with senior Shana Solomon, a member of the Poly’s national record and state champion 400 relay, sidelined with a quadriceps strain suffered in the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York.

        Shana Woods’ victory in the 100 hurdles was another pivotal event in a race featuring the state’s three fastest returnees with Wilson’s Ebony Collins and De Ana Carson.

        Woods got off to a quick start after Collins was forced to start from a standing start because of faulty blocks. The race starter refused to allow Collins to substitute blocks after the malfunction was discovered.

        Poly outscored Wilson, 5-4, on the 5-3-1 dual meet scoring format that later proved to be critical to the meet’s outcome.

        “I have no problem with losing a meet,” Wilson coach Terry Kennedy said. “I have a problem with kids not given a fair opportunity. That’s my problem.’’

        Woods, the defending state long jump champion, won the 100 hurdles in 14.0 and the long jump at 18-9 and placed second in the 300 hurdles (42.1) and high jump (4-10).

        “I knew if I took care of my individual events, everything would take care of itself,” said Woods, who won the pentathlon for the second year in a row, in the National Scholastic Championships for the second year in a row.

        Poly coach Don Norford placed Woods in all individual events in lieu of relays to maximize her point production.

        In the long jump, Woods, the only returning member of the Jackrabbits’ state champion and national record-setting 1,600-meter relay, defeated Wilson’s Carson, the fourth-place finisher in the 2004 state meet, by five inches.

       Woods was part of a Poly sweep in the high jump with Monique Spencer (5-0) and 800-meter runner Samantha Allen (4-8).

       The strategy helped offset sweeps by Wilson in the 100, 200 and pole vault. Poly clinched the meet with a 2-3 finish by freshman Emily Rubin and junior Tava Tedesco in the 3,200 in the penultimate event to take a 68-62 lead.

       “It didn’t’ make sense to put (Woods) in the 4 x 100 because there was no way we could win the meet without our top people,” Norford said. “We knew it was going to be close and a lot of it had to do where we placed our kids. We’re still building with a lot of freshman and giving them that valuable experience and it’s going to tell next year.’’

       The future is now for the Poly boys, who rolled to an 85-52 victory over Wilson. Sophomore Bryshon Nellum, a sophomore transfer from Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, won the 200 in 21.2 and the 400 in 48.5. [ep

       Senior Pedro Ramos was also a double winner in the 800 (1:57.7) and 1,600 (4:44.0). Senior Donnie Thompson, a transfer from Moreno Valley Canyon Springs who was a 2004 state finalist in the 110 high hurdles and high jump, won the high hurdles in 14.5 and was second to teammate Terrance Austin in the high jump at 6-4.[ep

       Austin, winner of the pentathlon in the National Scholastic Championships, won the high jump at 6-6 and was second in the 110 highs (14.5) and 300 intermediates (41.8).

Moore League
Long Beach City College
Girls
Long Beach Poly 68, Long Beach Wilson 67
100 – 1. Collins (W) 11.6; 2. Carson (W) 11.7; 3. Smith (W) 12.2;
200 –1. Hood (W) 23.8; 2. Williams (W) 24.9; 3 Carson (W) 25.2;
400 – 1. Richmond (P) 56.7; 2. Young (W) 58.0; 3. Williams (W) 58.2;
800 – 1. Young (W) 2:21.3; 2. Bournes (P) 2:21.8; 3. Allen (P) 2:22.3;
1,600 – 1. Bournes (P) 5:24.2; 2. Anderson (W) 5:24.6; 3. Tedesco (P) 5:25.1;
3,200 – 1. Anderson (W) 11:44.7; 2. Rubin (P) 11:46.1; 3. Tedesco (P) 11:46.8;
100 Hurdles – 1. Woods (P) 14.0; 2. Collins (W) 14.1; 3. Carson (W) 15.1;
300 Hurdles – 1. Collins (W) 41.3; 2. Woods (P) 42.1; 3. Smith (W) 47.5;
400 Relay – 1. Poly (Reed, Jenkins, Apelar, Smith) 48.0; Wilson (Dropped Baton)
1,600 Relay – 1. Wilson 3:52.9; 2. Poly 3:59.2;
HJ – 1. Specner (P) 5-0; 2. Woods (P) 4-10; 3. Allen (P) 4-8;
PV – 1. Friend (W) 8-0;
LJ – 1. Woods (P) 18-9; 2. Carson (W) 18-4; 3. Pegesse (P) 18-3;
TJ—1. Pegesse (P) 38-10; 2. Glack (P) 38-0; 3. Whyte (W) 37-0;
SP –1. Phillips (P) 43-0; 2. Hines (P) 31-9 ½ 3. Boyd (P) 26-8;
DT—1. Gilmore (P) 75-5.

Boys
Long Beach Poly 85, Long Beach Wilson 52

100 – 1. Patterson (P) 10.5; 2. Joseph (P) 10.6; 3. Green (P) 11.0;
200 – 1. Nellum (P) 21.2; 2. Joseph (P) 21.8; 3. Green (P) 22.0;
400 – 1. Nellum (P) 48.5; 2. Caesar (P) 52.5; 3. Wise (W) 53.8;
800 – 1. Ramos (P) 1:57.7; 2. Orywal (P) 2:00.9; 3. Vazquez (W) 2:05.8;
1,600 –1. Ramos (P) 4:44.0; 2. Durham (P) 4:45.2; 3. McCombs (W) 4:46.2;
3,200 – 1. Lopez (W) 10:03.5; 2. Durham (P) 10:08.5; 3. McCombs (W) 10:41.7;
110 HH – 1. Thompson (P) 14.5; 2. Austin (P) 14.5; 3. Brown (W) 15.2;
300 IH – 1. Brown (W) 41.2; 2. Austin (P) 41.8; 3. Lee (P) 42.8;
400 Relay - 1. Poly 42.2; 2. Wilson 44.5;
1,600 Relay – 1. Poly (No Time)
HJ – 1. Austin (P) 6-6; 2. Thompson (P) 6-4; 3. Armstrong (W) 6-2;
PV- 1. Diaz (W) 13-0;
LJ – 1. Lek (W) 18-9; 2. Phan (W) 16-2 1/2 ; 3. Lee (P) 16-0.
TJ – 1. Lee (P) 39-4; 2. Lek (W) 37-2; 3. Phan (W) 33-7;
SP -- 1. Pantuso (W) 41-8 ½; 2. Phan (W) 41-0 ¼; 3. Voorhees (P) 39-5;
DT – 1. Pantuso (W) 125-7; 2. Baca (W) 110-0; 3. Voorhees (P) 105-0;