Track and field: All hugs for Compton-Centennial’s Flowers

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The day’s not only about victories or defeats -- it’s also about hugs.

Just ask Gwendolyn Flowers, the Compton Centennial sprinter who received the biggest hug of the day when a woman overwhelmed her with a giant embrace just after she won her 100-meter heat at the Southern Section-Toyota Division III preliminaries. It was lots of hugging and lots of smiles.

‘Is this your mom?’ I asked Flowers.

The woman hugged her again.

‘No, this is my auntie,’ she said, beaming a brilliant smile. Flowers ran an embrace-worthy 12.24 seconds and qualified for next week’s division championship, where she’ll undoubtedly earn another ‘hug of the day’ from her auntie.

-- Anthony Stitt