TRACK AND FIELD / STATE HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Muir and Long Beach Poly Win

With a capacity crowd of 12,000 chanting his name, Obea Moore of Pasadena Muir High obliged by running a victory lap at the conclusion of the state meet Saturday at Cerritos College.

Muir retained its boys’ team title, but it was Moore’s theatrics that brought the crowd to its feet. During the final lap of the 1,600-meter relay, the sophomore made up 25 meters and brought the Mustangs from third place to first with a time of 3 minutes 13.08 seconds. Inglewood Morningside finished second in 3:13.3.

Moore’s relay split time of 45.4 may be the fastest quarter mile run in high school this season. It completed a productive day in which the 16-year-old won the 400, finished second in the 200 and anchored Muir’s 400 relay to third place.

The Mustangs finished with 38 points to win their third title since 1990. Dana Hills was second with 24 points and Morningside third with 18.

“If there were ever any doubters about Obea’s ability, I think he made believers out of them today,” Muir Coach Clyde Turner said.

Turner credits Moore’s loss in the 200 for his come-from-behind victory in the 1,600 relay.

“He was so upset that he didn’t win the 200, that he wanted to give the crowd something to remember him by,” Turner said.

Moore said he was so emotional during the 1,600 relay that he could not even hear himself think.

“I was so high off of the crowd that it was a feeling I’ve never experienced before,” said Moore, who stepped on a set of spikes Friday and had to put bandages on the bottom of both feet in order to compete. “It made my forget that I wasn’t feeling so well.”

In the girls’ team competition, Long Beach Poly needed a victory in the 1,600 relay to edge Union City James Logan for its third title in four years. Poly finished with 52 points and Logan with 50. Riverside North was third with 34.

Poly trailed Logan, 44-42, entering the 1,600 relay, but the Jackrabbits easily won the race in a near-record time of 3:39.53. Logan was third in 3:46.67.

Logan proved its own worst enemy. The Colts were running neck and neck with Poly in the 400 relay when anchor Kelli White dropped the baton with 50 meters to go. Logan figured to finish second or third at worst, which would have given it the necessary points to win the team title.

Poly won the 400 relay in 45.1, eclipsing the national record of 45.11 set by Hawthorne in 1985. The record was later nullified, however, because it was hand timed and not automated.

There were many impressive performances on the day. LaKeisha Backus of Long Beach Wilson won the 100 and 200 against two of the most balanced fields ever assembled in those events. Joanna Hayes of Riverside North easily swept the 110-high hurdles and 300-low hurdles, and Melissa Price of Kingsburg bettered the American record in the pole vault with a mark of 12 feet 6 inches.

In the boys’ 1,600, junior Michael Stember of Carmichael Jesuit set a meet record of 4:04.0, the fastest prep time in the race since 1987. Aaron Richberg of James Logan upset Michael Granville of Bell Gardens in the 800 with a winning time of 1:48.40. Bryan Howard of Moreno Valley Canyon Springs, who entered the meet as the favorite in the 100, scratched the finals because of an ankle injury.