The Long Beach sports year once again concluded in Clovis, where Wilson continued its track and field dynasty with a fourth consecutive CIF State championship. That sustained success under Neil Nelson and Shannon Fisher once again earned the pair this year’s Coaches of the Year honors.
The Bruins took the state title in historic fashion this year at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School, finishing with a school-record 70 team points. That total tied Long Beach Poly’s 2014 mark for the third-highest score by a girls’ team in CIF State history and was more than double the runner-up total, as Santiago Corona finished with 30 points.
“For as long as I’ve been here, this is probably No. 1,” Fisher said of this year’s championship. “When we have kids come in wanting to work hard and carry on the legacy at this school, it never gets tiring winning these state championships. These girls come in wanting to be like the ones before them, and it never gets old watching that legacy grow.”
The Bruins broke two school records in the process while collecting four gold medals and seven podium finishes, becoming just the second girls’ team in California history to win four consecutive state championships after leaguemates Long Beach Poly’s did it from 2008-11. The championship is the eighth for Wilson and the sixth for the Bruin girls, who sit at second in state history for the most championships.
Nelson and Fisher also coached Wilson’s 4x400m relay team to a new NFHS record, continuing the pair’s remarkable run of developing elite track and field talent especially in the mid-distance. The relay included North Salinas transfer Clara Adams, who also won individual CIF State championships in the 200m and 400m, while Saniah Varnado captured the 300m hurdles title and broke Lashinda Demus’ longstanding Wilson school record.
Nelson has been coaching at Wilson for nearly four decades, with Fisher alongside him for more than two. Fisher spent the first 19 years of his coaching career at Wilson as an assistant before officially being named head coach of the boys’ team in 2022. The pair are widely regarded as co-coaches of the Wilson track and field program as a whole.
