Southland’s Track Dominance Continues

The dominance of Los Angeles City and Southern Section athletes was illustrated in last weekend’s State high school track and field meet at Cerritos College.

Athletes from these two sections won 18 of the 31 boys’ and girls’ events, and finished second in 13. In team competition, Southland teams Hawthorne and Dorsey went 1-2 in the boys’ competition, and winner Pasadena Muir finished just ahead of Oxnard Rio Mesa in the girls’ competition.

With his most recent title, Hawthorne Coach Kye Courtney tied the state coaching record for team championships with seven, and moved into the top spot in the boys’-only category with his sixth title.

And Courtney has a strong group of runners returning, among them three from the record-breaking 400-meter relay team. The Cougars ran a state-record 40.24 seconds in a preliminary heat Friday night but finished second in the final, then were disqualified for an illegal baton pass.

The leadoff runner, junior Chris Alexander, who also plays tailback on the football team, finished fifth in the 100 meters, running 10.68, and also was impressive on the 1,600-meter relay team, which also finished second.

Multi-talented junior Anthony Smith, who ran the second leg of the 400, finished fifth in the long jump, with a leap of 23 feet 11 1/2 inches.

The Cougars’ third runner, sophomore Erik Allen, was the surprise of the season, finishing fourth in the 200 meters in 21.53.

The bad news for Courtney is that anchor Curtis Conway is graduating.

Conway, who will be at USC on a football scholarship in the fall, has been a mainstay for the Cougars since his freshman year, reaching the state meet each season.

On Saturday, Conway finished his prep career by running personal bests in every event he competed in.

In winning the 100 meters, Conway had to recover from a slow start and catch Barry Smith of San Francisco Mission, who had set a state record in his heat Friday. The victory was Conway’s first individual state title and his time of 10.42, just missed Smith’s record of 10.41.

“I was real emotional after that race, probably the most I have ever been,” Conway said. “I knew it was my last high school 100 meters and that I had finally achieved what I had been working for all of these years.”

In the 200 meters, another slow start cost Conway, and he finished second to Smith, who ran the second-fastest time in the country this season, 20.89.

Conway also ran impressive legs on the Cougars’ two losing relay teams.

In the 400-meter relay, his come-from-behind anchor run that almost caught winner Long Beach Poly and Andre Green, went to waste because of the disqualification.

And in Conway’s last high school running event, the anchor leg of the 1,600-meter relay, he could not catch Dorsey’s Beno Bryant, his former Junior All-American football teammate.

Bryant ran a smart race in protecting Dorsey’s 10-meter lead, making Conway run hard to close the gap to four meters and then pulling away in the last 100 meters. For Bryant, the City 400-meter record-holder, the victory finished a perfect night.

Despite a groin pull, which prevented him from running on the Dons’ third-place 400-meter relay team, Bryant won the individual 400 meters in 47.52 and was timed at 46.3 on the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay.

In the girls’ competition, Muir Coach Jim Brownfield also has a young but experienced team returning.

Leading the way for the Mustangs figures to be junior sensation Inger Miller, who finished second to Rio Mesa senior Angela Burnham, the two-time defending state sprint champion, in the 100 and 200 meters.

Miller also anchored both senior-less relay teams, which won the 400 and finished second in the 1,600.

Also returning will be sophomore Taminika Terry, who contributed with a fifth-place finish in the 200.

There will also be several individual state champions returning at other schools.

Junior Felice Lipscomb of Santa Monica won the 100-meter low hurdles with a wind-aided time of 13.69. She also finished sixth in the 100 meters in 12.04.

Junior Kim Toney of Atascadero won the 800-meter title, defeating defending champion Kathi Roldan of Visalia Mt. Whitney, with a time of 2:09.33, second best in the country this season.

Sophomore jumper Juliana Yendork of Walnut won both the long and triple jumps, with leaps of 20-2 1/2 and 41-10, respectively. In the preliminaries Friday, she went 42-6 3/4 in the triple jump, which made her the third-best prep performer on record.

Freshman Twila Sims of Lompoc gave a preview of her potential in the 300-meter low hurdles, winning in a national-best time of 42.54. It was the fastest time ever run by a freshman.

In the City baseball finals last Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, Kennedy of Granada Hills kept alive the San Fernando Valley’s streak of 4-A Division championships.

Kennedy’s 4-3 victory over Palisades, gave the Valley its 17th consecutive City title. Most of the players on either team were not even born when Venice, the last non-Valley winner, won the title in 1972.

In the 3-A Division, Franklin defeated Bell, 3-2, in eight innings, thanks to its football team.

Franklin baseball Coach Rick Campbell credited the seven players who had played on the Panthers’ football team for his team’s winning attitude.

“They played on this year’s undefeated regular-season football team and on both City championship teams,” Campbell said. “They just know what it takes to win.”

Prep Notes

Other Southland state track and field champions: Mark Wilson of Covina Charter Oak, who won the high jump with a leap of 7 feet; Angela Rolfe of Dorsey, who won her third consecutive 400-meter title in the country’s fastest time this season, 53.97, and Rayna Cervantes of Montebello, who won the 3,200 meters in 10:32.95.