CIF State Track: Team Chase Is On

By Mark Tennis

       Oh, it’s great to be back at CIF state track. I went to my first state meet in 1976 as a high school junior, 30 years ago, went for the second time in 1979 and then didn’t miss one until 2003.

       Last year, I couldn’t get there, either, because I had to cover Riverside Poly’s possible attempt to be No. 1 in the state for baseball in the CIF Southern Section baseball championships.

       This year, since the No. 1 races for both baseball and softball were wrapped up before the state meet by Bellarmine of San Jose and Freedom of Oakley, respectively, I am honored to be able to write about the state meet again both
for CalHiSports.com and our hugely popular sister site, DyeStatCal. The first day of the event was held on Friday afternoon and evening at Cerritos College in Norwalk with running event and field event trials. The championship finals
on Saturday will begin at 2 p.m. for field events and 4 p.m. for running events.

       Simply put, the CIF state track meet is quite likely the greatest gathering of high school athletic talent at any one event on any day in the entire nation. It’s not just the track athletes, but the amazing collection of talent across the board. Every year I’ve gone, there’s been somebody to rave about. And because the CIF state meet isn’t broken up into divisions and
includes the trials and finals on back-to-back days, it’s also the one event that prep sportswriters I know across the country wish it was the same in their states. They don’t say that about any of our other state championships.

       For my coverage of the meet, I will concentrate on the race for the boys and girls team titles. It’s amazing how many of the kids running for teams with a chance at those titles seem to have that one tiny extra jolt in their strides over ones that don’t.

       As usual, the first place to look for the team title chase is the city of Long Beach where the Wilson and Long Beach Poly girls came into the meet as the favorites while on the boys side there’s Poly again, along with Dominguez of
Compton, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and J.W. North of Riverside.

       Poly already has seven CIF boys team titles with eight for the girls. One more for the Jackrabbit boys and they would tie L.A. Jefferson and Muir of Pasadena for the most ever. The girls already are first on their list. As a school, Poly also has already won a CIF state team title this year in girls basketball.

       Two factors that make the girls team title chase more wide open, though, are injuries to Wilson’s DeAna Carson and Poly’s Lashinda Woods. If both were healthy, their points in the long jump and hurdles probably would have made
both teams too tough to handle.

       Here is a team-by-team update based on what happened during Friday’s prelims:

Boys

Dominguez (Compton) – Stanford-bound football star Richard Sherman qualified for the finals in three events – triple jump (over 50 feet), long jump and 110 high hurdles – and the Dons should get team points as well from Dandre Hall in the 400. They also have both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams in the finals.

J.W. North (Riverside) – The Huskies will have to get huge outings from Ennis Jones in the 200, Reginald Wyatt (a freshman) in the 300 hurdles and from Nevin Gutierrez in the 400. If that happens, they will have a chance as they should get at least a second-place finish in the 4x400 relay.

Poly (Long Beach) – The team title could come down to the 4x400 relay, but it also could be over by then and Poly may not have to beat J.W. North to nab its record-tying eighth crown. Bryshon Nellum was probably the star of the
first day with his 20.94 in the 200 and 47.14 in the 400. Travon Patterson also looked strong and capable of scoring points in both the 100 and 200. The key for the Jackrabbits may be the high jump where both Terrence Austin and Nick Armstrong qualified. High jumpers are notoriously difficult to depend on, though, as two top finishes could also just as easily become an eighth and a ninth. Poly being disqualified in the 400 relay recently also could turn out to be a good thing as Nellum will be running two less races.

Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) – Last year’s 100-meter runner up, Rodney Glass, looked impressive on Friday in the 100, but not as strong in the 200. The Golden Knights also have Chris Barton in the 400 and looked like one of the
favorites in the 4x100 relay. The depth isn’t there for a team title, so Glass will have kick some (you know what) for this group to beat the others.

Taft (Woodland Hills) – It’s not likely the Toreadores will be in the team title hunt, but Jamere Holland in the 100 (who could win) and Jeshua Anderson in the 300 and 110 hurdles may be able to pile up some points.

Girls

James Logan (Union City) – Two years ago, the Colts won the boys team title and this time their girls have a strong opportunity. No, they don’t have an Ebony Collins, but there’s definitely enough depth for them to overcome the field. There’s Tracey Stewart in the long jump and triple jump, Jaleesa Jefferey in the shot put, Tierra Ward in both hurdles events, Kristina Davis in the 100 and Victoria Humphrey in the 400. Logan also should score a couple of points in the 4x100 relay.

J.W. North (Riverside) – Always-tough Huskies will be a factor in the team race with both relay teams plus Kiersten Kirkland in the 300 hurdles and Sharaviah Richardson in the 100 and 200.

Mt. Pleasant (San Jose) – The Cardinals look like a long shot to us, but deserve attention with Jeneba Tarmoh in both sprints and with Vashti Thomas in the long jump and 100 hurdles.

Poly (Long Beach) – It looks to us like the Jackrabbit boys have a better shot at it than the girls. Coach Don Norford’s bunch features both 4x100 and 4x400 relays with Jasmine Joseph in the 200 and 400, Kimarie Black in the triple jump and Turquoise Thompson in the 400.

Wilson (Long Beach) – Ebony Collins hopes for another sensational showing for the Bruins in the 100, 300 hurdles and in both relays. With her two events and the relays, that could be 40 huge points for Wilson. Shelise Williams could pick up an extra point or two as well in the 200 and 400.

Note to DyeStatCal readers: Check out our coverage of prep football this fall on CalHiSports.com. No one will paint you a clearer picture of what’s going on as the CIF gears up for its historical state championship bowl games in December.