The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial
The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by an anonymous donation, in appreciation of Coach Ron Allice.
It was a green and golden day for Long Beach Poly at the CIF-SS Track and Field championships at Moorpark in 2023, as the Jackrabbits brought home the CIF-SS Division 1 team title on the boys’ side, and the silver plaque on the girls side. The Jackrabbit boys tallied up 70 points, 30 points more than the runner-ups in their landslide victory.
The CIF-SS team title was the Poly boys’ 17th as a program, and the 38th for the track program as a whole. It’s their first since 2019 and also the school’s 128th total CIF-SS championship, more than any other school.
“It’s really amazing that everyone stepped up, and that we were able to do so well for the boys,” said Poly coach Crystal Irving. “A lot of them are underclassmen as well. To see their brotherhood, to see the support from each and every one of them, it was just a magical day.”
The star of the day for Poly was junior Xai Ricks (now a Georgia signee), who easily won the 400 with a PR time of 46.57, took fourth in the 200 in 21.25, and anchored the Poly 4×400 to a second-place finish in a time of 3:15.42.
“It’s great, we had a lot of guys come in and our goal was to get here and wing a ring,” said Ricks. “We’ve got a lot of our guys coming back next year and hopefully we can do it again.”
The Long Beach Poly boys’ quartet of Cal signee Javon Hampton, frosh Malachi Dawson, Jadyn Robinson, and Caliph Johnson started the day off right with a win in the boys’ 4×100, with a time of 41.64. Johnson got the baton for the anchor leg even with a few other teams and ran a great final leg to give Poly the win.
“When I got the baton I saw people on either side of me and I just had to go and get it,” he said. The Jackrabbit pack includes three underclassmen as Dawson is a freshman and both Robinson and Johnson are sophomores.
The boys’ 4×400 of Smith, Dawson, Johnson, and Ricks (all underclassmen) went on to win the state title in Clovis in 3:12.99.
The Jackrabbits will enter 2024 as the favorites to win the boys’ state title, with a loaded squad.
