The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by Joe Carlson & Debbie Hughes.
It was a thrilling day at Long Beach Poly as Long Beach’s best converged at 1600 Atlantic for the Moore League track and field Finals on Thursday.
Long Beach Poly and Wilson put on a show winning 28 out of the 32 events – proving that both programs are in position to compete for titles at upcoming CIF Southern Section and State track meets.
The Bruins won eight of the 16 events on the girls’ side and Clara Adams, Saniah Varnado, Nadia Mejia put the Bruins’ depth on display as the trio each won two events. Adams ran a 52.80 in the 400m setting a new California season high and the No. 6 time in the country.
Adams was followed by Varnado (53.19, 2nd), Brooklyn Fowler (54.21, 3rd), and Brooke Blue (54.29, 4th) as Wilson swept the top four spots in the event and all finished with top six state times.
“I’m very proud of my team,” Adams said. “That one, two, three, four – that’s our 4×400 team. So, that’s who you got to look out for. I’m glad that we were all able to push each other as a team.”
Mejia capped her senior season winning her third gold medal in the 1600m and 3200m running a 5:07.06 and 11:08, respectively.
“In the 3,200, my teammates and I were really focused on qualifying for CIF,” Mejia said. “Our times are all pretty close, which I’m super grateful for because we’re able to push off each other. The goal was to hit the standard, around 11:50, but we were aiming for about an 11:20 pace. I ended up around 11:07 or 11:08. The pacing slowed a little at times, but we picked it back up and were where we needed to be. I’m really proud of how I ran, especially over the last three laps, and I’m proud of my teammates too since we’re all moving on to CIF.”
Wilson coach Neil Nelson was very proud of his team’s performance especially considering he believes the Bruins still have room to get better.
“I told you I was happy from Arcadia and Mt. SAC, but I knew it was going to come together,” Nelson said. “We’re not done – we’re still training. This is coming together. I’m still happy. I’m going to still knock on wood and just, each day, I pray that we stay healthy.”
Wilson continued their great afternoon on the girls side winning the 4×400 and Hannah Turndorf won the pole vault with a 10-6. Journii Spencer had a great performance winning gold in the triple jump, setting the No. 8 time in California with a 39-03.5.
Long Beach Poly freshman Laila Kirk won her first Moore League title in the 800m running a 2:10.29, the ninth best time in California this season and a season high. It was a close race as Kirks narrowly defeated Wilson’s Shirayah Lewis-Williams by .16.
“I knew we were definitely gonna battle,” Kirk said of the race against Lewis-Williams. “It’s really fun and I knew in that last curve, I was just thinking that I need to get in front of her and just push.”
Poly won six events on the girls side as the Jackrabbits won the 4×100, 100m, high jump and the Chucky Hampton Long Jump. Zayla Ridley won the long jump with a 17-08, while Aniyah Brooks won the 100m with a 12.07.
Kadence Bain won the 100m hurdles with a 14.37 for the gold beating Varnado by .5.
Lakewood and Millikan each won an event as the Lancers’ Kasey-Rian Henson won the shot put and the Rams’ Hannah Turndorf won the pole vault.
If Wilson’s performance was an indication of things to come for the girls’ team, the Long Beach Poly boys’ team put Southern California on notice as they won 10 of the 16 events as they look to win their fourth consecutive CIF-SS Division 1 title.
Malachi Dawson won two individual events in the 100m and 200m and was part of the Jackrabbits 4×100 that took gold.
“Honestly, I just wanted to qualify,” Dawson said. “I just wanted to get through the rounds healthy. We put work in every day. We ain’t no slouch. We’ve been slept on a lot but we’re coming.”
While Dawson dominated the sprint events, Lynnox Newton won the 110m and 300m hurdles. Newton set a personal best in the 300m hurdles with a 38.34 slightly besting Jackrabbit teammate Armon Bly .22.
“You know I got someone behind me that’s just as fast as me,” Newton said of racing Bly. “So it just helped me with the competition.”
Jephte Tchami made sure it wasn’t just his track teammates having fun as the senior won the discus and shot put to take home a couple gold medals. Tchami sets a pair of personal bests with 57-10 and 164-09 in the shot put and discus, respectively. Khalen Shepherd took gold in the triple jump with a 43-05.
Ben Montooth took gold in the pole vault on Thursday with a 10-6.
“I was very pleased to see not one, but several athletes stepped up in their individual races today,” Long Beach Poly coach Crystal Irving said. “We’ve had some struggles over the last few months where some injuries are just, some people are just not running at the same level as last year, but I’m glad to see those times starting to drop.”
It was a special afternoon for Wilson’s Jeremiah Murphy, a newcomer won a Moore League title in his first final with the Bruins as he won the Chucky Hampton long jump with a 22-04.5. Tommy Pincherli and Jordan Kincherlow joined Murphy taking gold in the 3200m and 800m, respectively.
“I was just looking forward to hitting a PR and I did that,” Murphy said. “I was struggling through my first three jumps, but on the fourth one my coaches helped me adjust my landing approach, and we got the job done.”
While the regular season has come to an end, these track teams will now prepare for the postseason as the CIF-SS preliminaries on May 9 before the CIF-SS Championship finals at Moorpark on May 16.
Girls’ Varsity Moore League Champions:
4×100: Long Beach Poly (Faith Magee, Aniyah Brooks, A’nylah Turner, Brooklyn Lee), 46.43
1600: Nadia Mejia, Wilson, 5:07.06
100m Hurdles: Kadence Bain, Long Beach Poly, 13.84
400m: Clara Adams, Wilson, 52.80
100m: Aniyah Brooks, Long Beach Poly, 12.07
800m: Laila Kirk, Long Beach Poly, 2:10.29
300m Hurdles: Saniah Varnado, Wilson, 42.00
200m: Clara Adams, Wilson, 23.94
3200m: Nadia Mejia, Wilson, 11:08.00
4x400m: Wilson (Brook Blue, Brooklyn Fowler, Saniah Varnado, Shirayah Lewis-Williams), 3:52.62
High Jump: Cynthia Mercado, Long Beach Poly, 5-02
Long Jump: Zayla Ridley, Long Beach Poly, 17-08
Triple Jump: Journii Spencer, Wilson, 39-03.5
Shot Put: Kasey-Rian Henson, Lakewood, 34-05.00
Discus: Ellie Carr, Millikan, 109-09
Pole Vault: Hannah Turndorf, Wilson, 10-6
Boys’ Varsity Moore League Champions:
4x100m: Long Beach Poly, 41.26a
1600: Aiden Ransom, Millikan, 4:25.28
110m Hurdles: Lynnox Newton, Long Beach Poly, 14.34
400m: Kaedyn Burroughs, Wilson, 46.65, 2026
100m: Malachi Dawson, Long Beach Poly, 10.82
800m: Jordan Kincherlow, Wilson, 1:55.45
300m Hurdles: Lynnox Newton, Long Beach Poly, 38.34
200m: Malachi Dawson, Long Beach Poly, 21.38
3200m: Tommy Pincherli, Wilson, 9:46.55
4x400m: Long Beach Poly, 3:15.28
High Jump: Marqice Simmons, Lakewood and James Velez-Cadena, Long Beach Poly, 5-11
Long Jump: Jeremiah Murphy, Wilson, 22-04.5
Triple Jump: Khalen Shepherd, Long Beach Poly, 43-05
Shot Put: Jephte Tchami, Long Beach Poly, 57-10
Discus: Jephte Tchami, Long Beach Poly,
Pole Vault: Ben Montooth, Long Beach Poly, 10-6
