The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by Joe Carlson & Debbie Hughes.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
With CIF section and state title expectations, the Long Beach Poly and Wilson track and field programs were focused on those goals heading into their Moore League dual meet on Tuesday at Poly.
Both teams let their young runners shine throughout the day and let some compete in new events as both teams used the meet in more of a training capacity as opposed to next week when the gloves will be off at league finals and the postseason to follow.
“We mainly just wanted to make sure the lower levels got a good workout and a good run,” Wilson coach Shannon Fisher said. “At the varsity level, we treated a lot of it like training runs and worked on a few things so we wouldn’t push each other too hard with CIF coming up.”
Long Beach Poly coach Crystal Irving echoed a similar message following the meet – focusing on what’s ahead of both teams and how they need to make sure the Jackrabbits are ready for the postseason.
“Originally, this meet was supposed to be a month ago, but we had that extreme heat wave,” Irving said. “As coaches from both schools, we decided to move it to this week. We have Moore League prelims and finals next week, which really sets up the rest of our season for the next five weeks. We understand how important athlete health is, so today was more of a training day for both teams. We let the lower levels compete. We’re excited about the possibilities and opportunities ahead. I think Long Beach, with Poly and Wilson, will definitely be on the map on the road to state.”
While neither teams hit marks that we’ve seen throughout the season, there were some notable performances as multiple athletes hit personal bests during the meet.
Poly’s Lynnox Newton won the 300m hurdles with a 39.76 and set a new personal best in the 100m finishing second with a 10.86. Newton was one of five Jackrabbits to take a top 6 finish in the 100m – while Wilson’s Kyle Harris won the event with a 10.84.
On the girls’ side, Wilson continued to showcase their depth as Clara Adams took first in the 100m with a personal best 11.96 which is a top 40 time in California this season.
Along with Adams, Saniah Varnado had an impressive afternoon winning the 100m hurdles and setting a season best time in the 400m with a 55.31 the 15th top time in the state.
“On the girls’ side, we have a lot of depth,” Fisher said. “We shuffled some relays to give more athletes opportunities. We’ve got some decisions to make going into CIF, but the depth from top to bottom is strong. That’s why you saw different girls running — we wanted to see what they could do on a big stage. It’s a good problem to have. Now we have to figure out who will run which relays, but in the league you’ll see strong competition within our own team. We could have five or six girls competing for spots in events like the 400, and they’re all capable. It should be interesting to see how it plays out.”
Neither team elected to compete in some of the relay events, but both teams will be ready to compete when the spotlight gets brighter starting next week.
