The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by Joe Carlson & Debbie Hughes.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
History felt inevitable for Wilson’s Clara Adams, Brooke Blue, Brooklyn Fowler and Saniah Varnado. The quartet spent the season dominating 400m races, and it was only a matter of time before they made their mark together in the 4×400 relay.
That history arrived in the form of a U.S. high school national record of 3:33.83 at last week’s Masters Meet, breaking a 22-year-old mark in the girls’ 4×400 relay. The foursome then capped the season by leading Wilson to a fourth consecutive girls’ state championship at the CIF State Finals in Clovis on Saturday to finish out a historic season for the Bruins’ quartet.
The four girls accounted for 53 of the Bruins’ school-record 70 points at Saturday’s state finals, surpassing Wilson’s previous mark of 46 set last year. Their combined total alone outscored every other team in the meet and would have established a new school record on its own.
“They’re hard workers,” Wilson co-coach Shannon Fisher said of the four. “They put in the work, they don’t take runs off, and having them together makes practice feel like a track meet every single day.”
The quartet came up with their record-setting time at last week’s Masters Meet ahead of the state qualifiers, where the Bruins broke the previous record by more than 1.5 seconds. The mark had been held by league mate Long Beach Poly since 2004, when Shantae McKinney, Jasmine Lee, Shana Woods and Shalonda Solomon ran a 3:35.49.
Wilson even left itself with a chance to lower its own national record when the four took the track for the girls’ 4x400m state final on Saturday, and the Bruins once again cruised to victory in 3:36.17.
Three of the four athletes also competed in Saturday’s individual 400m state final, where the Bruins claimed three of the top four spots in dominant fashion. Clara Adams took home gold in 52.28, while Saniah Varnado finished closely behind her in second in 52.98 and Brooklyn Fowler in fourth with a 54.41. The trio accounted for 23 team points in that race alone.
Wilson had already had a successful history with some of the state’s top mid-distance talent coming into the year, but found perhaps the cherry on top when Adams decided to transfer to Wilson for her junior year. Adams came to the Bruins from North Salinas, where she crossed the finish line in first in last year’s 400m state final before later being disqualified following a celebration on the infield.
Adams not only got her redemption by officially winning the individual state title in the 400m, but also won another title in the girls’ 200m in come-from-behind fashion with a 23.40. She later helped Wilson’s state-champion 4×400 relay to secure her third gold medal of the meet and the first team state title of her career in her first season with the Bruins.
“It just takes weight off me,” Adams reflected after the state meet of the talent around her at Wilson. “Even if I don’t have a good race, somebody else is going to step up. Everybody contributes to the team one way or another in every event, and I’m just happy to be on a team where I’m not carrying everyone—I’m just another asset. Especially coming to a team like Wilson after moving to Long Beach. It was worth it.”
“As soon as Clara Adams came to the team we knew we were going to break that 4×400 record,” Fowler said of her teammate. “We already had three dogs that ran fast in the 400, so with the addition of Clara we knew we were going to run some crazy times this year. We didn’t know what we’d accomplish, but we knew we’d set some crazy times.”
Varnado also had her hands full at the state meet this year before running in the anchor leg for Wilson’s 4×400 at the end of the meet. The junior is Wilson’s top hurdler and won a gold medal in the 300m hurdles, breaking Olympic gold medalist Lashinda Demus’ Wilson school record of 39.98 that has stood since 2001. Varnado walked away from Saturday with a pair of gold medals to go along with her silver medal in the 400m.
“I really love being a part of a team like this where we all come together and push each other to be our best,” Varnado said. “Everyone’s always checking to see if we’re okay and we work together to do what we have to do. We just get out there to push each other to do great things like today.”
Fowler is the youngest member of the group and ran a 54.41 for fourth in the 400m state final as just a sophomore in addition to running on Wilson’s 4×100 relay team. Fowler has already established herself among some of the nation’s top talent as a big peace in helping Wilson capture another state championship, giving her two team titles after just her sophomore year.
“Coming off last year, when I had only run one race, I’m really proud of myself for coming in this year and scoring points in all three races as a sophomore,” Fowler said. “The older runners have really helped motivate me and always have helpful words before each race. Even when I’m nervous, they give me the reassurance to do what I know I’m capable of.”
The only athlete departing from the group is Blue, the relay’s lone senior, who concludes one of the most decorated high school careers imaginable. She is the only athlete at Wilson to have been a part of all four of the Bruins’ consecutive state championships, leaving with four championship rings to show for a remarkable career.
“I feel very grateful,” Blue said. “I’m honestly just kind of shocked. Coming into high school, I obviously knew Wilson was a good school, but I didn’t know we had the potential to do something like this. As a freshman, I was just trying to improve and get faster, but I’m grateful to walk away with everything we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Blue will continue her track career at UNLV next year, while the other three legs of Wilson’s historic 4×400 relay squad are set to return. The trio will have its own U.S. high school national record to chase and will look to make Wilson the first program in California ever to win five consecutive state championships.
