Wilson’s Demus Atones for Error

Lashinda Demus couldn’t begin to explain it. The first hurdle was in front of her and the Long Beach Wilson record-setting senior simply went around it.

“I don’t have any clue how it happened,” said Demus, who won’t defend her two state championships in the 300-meter low hurdles next week after being disqualified from the event Friday night in the Southern Section Masters meet at Cerritos College.

“I’m just as puzzled as anyone else in the stadium at what happened.”

In a night of surprising mishaps and notable achievements, Demus’ was the most stunning. At the section finals last Saturday, she broke her national high school record set earlier this year by running 39.98.

Demus atoned for the mistake by running a blistering 50.9 second leg in the 1,600 relay, teaming with Angel Tate, Ashley Freeman and Mackenzie Hill to clock 3:37.48, the fourth-best high school mark ever.

“I ran off of anger,” said Demus, who won the 110 high hurdles earlier in the meet. “[Having the record] takes a little bit of stress off [not qualifying], but I know I could have done better.”

Demus wasn’t the only surprise. J.W. North, which figured to challenge Long Beach Wilson for the state 400-meter relay title in Sacramento, was disqualified for running out of the lane during a botched handoff.

Big Bear’s Ryan Hall didn’t take it easy in the 1,600. Hall, one of a group of runners who have either challenged or broken the four-minute mark this season, ran the first 800 in 1:59.9 and finished at 4:04.24 to better his previous mark by 1.28 seconds and the nation’s third-fastest this year.

In the girls 1,600, Amber Steen of Newport Harbor pulled away from Glendale Hoover’s Anita Siraki in the final 200 meters to post a nation-best 4:43.75.