The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2023-24 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl. There was a time when the Monson Maniacs filled the far side of Walter Pyramid to support their men’s basketball team, but now the best student section in the city and at Long Beach State has been for national […]
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Clutch Performance of the Year 2024: Jovani Ruff, Long Beach Poly & Ryann Bennett, St. Anthony
No one was surprised when local basketball stars Jovani Ruff and Ryann Bennett took over CIF postseason games and carried their teams to victory. That’s because they’d been doing it all year. It didn’t look like Bennett had brought her A-game when St. Anthony took on Moreno Valley in the CIF Southern Section Girls’ Basketball […]
Multisport Athletes of the Year 2024
Unfortunately as specialization is pushed at younger and younger ages, the high school multisport athlete is largely becoming a thing of the past, with year-round commitments crowding out the old-school approach. As such we wanted to recognize four Long Beach athletes competing in multiple sports at a high level this year. On the boys’ side, […]
Spirit of Long Beach 2024: LBCC’s Randy Totorp
Each year we present the Spirit of Long Beach award to a person or group of people that’s inspired us over the course of the school year. This year, LBCC Dean of Kinesiology, Athletics, and Public Health Randy Totorp is our obvious selection. Anyone who’s seen the revitalization of LBCC’s sports facilities knows that they’re […]
Heartfelt Moment of the Year 2024: St. Anthony’s Alan Mitchell Dedicates Title to Father
Every year features emotional highs and lows, and 2023-24 was no different. But no moment moved us more than seeing St. Anthony boys’ basketball coach Alan Mitchell pointing to the sky in memory of his father after leading his Saints to the CIF-SS Division 2AA championship. Mitchell lost his father just a month prior to […]
Top 10 Long Beach Sports Moments 2024
Every year we look back to reminisce on the games, players, coaches and accomplishments that defined Long Beach sports over the last 12 months. No. 10 Avalon Volleyball Makes School History No. 9 Poly and Millikan Open Football Season in Hawaii No. 8 A Banner Year for Flag Football No. 7 Wilson Boys’ Swimming Gets […]
2024 Top 10 Long Beach Sports Moments: No. 1 Long Beach Dominates State Track & Field Championships
The top spot on our list goes to the last event of the school year, as Long Beach’s athletes saved the best for last. The CIF State Track & Field Championships have been hosted in Clovis since 2009, but in many of those years, the path to a championship has come through Long Beach. The […]
2024 Top 10 Long Beach Sports Moments: No. 2 St. Anthony Basketball Doubles Up
It’s rare for a high school to have its boys’ and girls’ basketball teams win CIF Southern Section championships in the same season and St. Anthony has now done it twice. Both Saints basketball teams won titles in 2000, and not only did they repeat the feat in February, they did it on the same […]
2024 Top 10 Long Beach Sports Moments: No. 3 Jason Parra Runs into Record Books with Millikan Cross Country
The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2023-24 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer. The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by an anonymous donation, in appreciation of Coach Ron Allice. The Millikan Rams dominated the boys’ cross country season last fall, led by super senior Jason Parra. The Rams hadn’t […]
2024 Top 10 Long Beach Sports Moments: No. 4 Sammie Hamilton Wins CIF State Championship
Anyone who watched Wilson senior Sammie Hamilton swim this year has witnessed history, and that’s certainly saying something considering she’s a swimmer from the Aquatic Capital of the World. Hamilton added her name to the incredible aquatic history at Wilson by winning the 500-meter Freestyle at the CIF State Swimming & Diving Championships at Clovis […]