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The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
It’s the sign of a historically dominant program when even your bad days end with gold.
Despite injuries to two of their top sprinters and a DNF, nothing could stop Long Beach Poly from continuing its reign at the CIF-SS track finals on Saturday at Moorpark High School. Though the setbacks will affect their entries into the CIF State meet, the Jackrabbits still walked away as CIF-SS Division 1 champions for the boys and runners-up for the girls.
“We’re just excited to see this team have this type of success after so many adverse situations happening,” said Poly coach Crystal Irving. “Adversity makes you stronger, so I’m glad that we’re able to come out on top and move on to next week. We’re very blessed and pleased with the outcome.”
It is the 133rd CIF-SS championship in school history for Poly and the 19th for boys’ track & field. It’s also the Jackrabbits’ first time going back-to-back as CIF-SS track champions since 2007.
The Jackrabbits will be back at Moorpark next week for the Masters Meet, where they’ll look to qualify as many entries as possible into the CIF State finals. The CIF State finals will be held at Buchanan High School in Clovis on May 30–31.
Boys
The Long Beach Poly boys came into the meet without their top sprinter in Julius Johnson, who was the Moore League champion in both the 100m and the 200m. The sophomore has been nursing a foot injury that should keep him out for another few weeks.
On top of that, the boys opened their first race with a DNF in the 4x100m, where they were favored to earn at least six points for their team. The error came on the final baton exchange, bringing the Jackrabbits to a complete halt. They immediately pleaded for interference by the lane next to them — but to no avail.
The combination of setbacks left Poly trailing heading into the final race, where the Jackrabbits needed a win in the 4x400m to clinch the title. Gus Armstrong, Jarrius Hill, Darieon Shufford, and Noah Smith found that win with a 3:13.20 — 36 hundredths ahead of Rancho Cucamonga who finished second in the overall scoring.
“Just seeing my team put the work in and put me in that spot, I knew I had to close it out like that,” said Smith, who anchored a tight final leg.
Smith also came in second in the 400m with a time of 47.79. Due to injuries last year, it’s the first time Smith was able to run in an individual event at the CIF-SS finals.
“Last year it was definitely a hard year for me,” he said. “It kinda hurt me a little bit [not running in the 400m] and not being able to showcase what I can do and help my team out in different ways. So this year I knew I could put points up for the guys and I tried my best to win.”
The Jackrabbits had another second place finish in the 110m hurdles where Lynnox Newton ran a 13.96. The time comes as a new personal-record for Newton and it’s the first time he’s gone under 14 seconds.
Poly picked up another nine points in the 200m where they had a total of three different runners. Malachi Dawson came in fourth with a 21.72 and Hill finished sixth with a 21.86. Jaylen Mcneil ran as an alternative for Johnson and finished in eighth with a 21.98.
Girls
The second-place finish for the Poly girls marks the eighth consecutive CIF-SS finals in which they’ve claimed one of the top two spots. The Jackrabbits entered the day as defending champions, having won the title a year ago. They finished 32 points behind Wilson in first place, but 39 points ahead of Santiago Canyon in third.
Poly opened the day with a win in the 4x100m, where Leila Holland, Jaylin Hunter, Aniyah Brooks, and Brooklyn Lee ran a 46.05. The Jackrabbits finished just ahead of Wilson in second place by nearly a second.
The Jackrabbits had their only CIF-SS individual champion in the field events, where Jillene Wetteland finished first in the high jump. Wetteland cleared 5-6 to give her team ten points.
It’s the third time Wetteland has won the high jump at the CIF-SS Finals. She also won the event as a freshman and again last year as a junior.
“I was just clean through 5-6. It wasn’t like my best day ever but that’s all I really needed,” she said. “I’m mad I didn’t win it sophomore year but I think three out of four is pretty good and I’m happy with it.”
The Jackrabbits faced another injury to Hunter during her 400m where she finished in eighth place. Hunter was carted off the field to Poly’s tent and was later a scratch in the 200m.
Kadence Bain had a pair of podium finishes for Poly in both the 110m hurdles and the 300m hurdles. Bain ran a 14.51 in the 100m hurdles in third place and finished second in the 300m hurdles with a time of 42.97.
Bain was one of three runners for the Jackrabbits in the 300m hurdles, where Joy Anderson also finished in fourth place and Miyana Gramata-Massey came in eighth. Poly came out of the event with 14 points.
Boys’ Results
4×100 – (Jarrius Hill, Malachi Dawson, Jaylen Mcneil, Donte Wright) DNF
110m Hurdles – Lynnox Newton, 2nd, 13.96
400m – Noah Smith, 2nd, 47.79
400m – Jarrius Hill, 5th, 48.35
100m – Julius Johnson, DNS
100m – Malachi Dawson, 6th, 10.76
200m – Julius Johnson, DNS
200m – Malachi Dawson, 4th, 21.72
200m – Jarrius Hill, 6th, 21.86
200m – Jaylen Mcneil, 8th, 21.98
4x400m – 1st (Gus Armstrong, Jarrius Hill, Darieon Shufford, Noah Smith), 3:13.20
Long Jump – Jonathan Weston, 7th, 21-4.25
Shot Put – Jaden Akens, 9th, 43-5.50
Girls’ Results:
4x100m – 1st, (Leila Holland, Jaylin Hunter, Aniyah Brooks, Brooklyn Lee), 46.05
100m Hurdles – Kadence Bain, 3rd, 14.51
400m – Aurya Beatty, 4th, 56.52,
400m – Jaylin Hunter, 8th, 58.37
100m – Leila Holland, 5th, 11.98
100m – Brooklyn Lee, 3rd, 11.84
300m Hurdles – Kadence Bain, 2nd, 42.97
300m Hurdles – Joy Anderson, 4th, 43.38
300m Hurdles – Miyana Gramata-Massey, 8th, 45.00
200m – Jaylin Hunter, DNS
200m – Aurya Beatty, 4th, 24.33
200m – Nevaeh Lewis, 7th, 25.08
4x400m – 2nd (Aurya Beatty, Brianna Wells, Aliyah Stokes, Nevaeh Lewis), 3:52.25
High Jump – Jillene Wetteland, 1st, 5-6
High Jump – Joy Anderson, 5th, 5-4
