Solomon Gets Her Big Chance

Shalonda Solomon of Long Beach Poly High was overshadowed by the brilliance of fellow sprinter Allyson Felix of North Hills Los Angeles Baptist during the prep track and field season, but she’ll have a chance to take center stage this weekend when she runs in the Pan American Junior (age 19 and under) Championships at Bridgetown, Barbados.

Solomon, who will be a senior this fall, has run career bests of 11.35 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.08 in the 200 this season to move into a tie for 12th on the all-time national high school performer lists in each event. Yet she was a well-beaten second to Felix in both races in the state championships in June.

But with Felix set to represent the U.S. senior team in the 200 in the Pan American Games and World championships next month, Solomon will be among the favorites in the women’s 100 and 200 in Barbados and will also run on a U.S. 400-meter relay team that should contend for a gold medal.

The meet starts Friday and ends Sunday.

Solomon, who won the 100 and 200 in the USA Track & Field Junior Championships last month, is one of 12 athletes with ties to the Southland expected to compete in the meet.

The others are Carlos Moore and Ronald Hill of Mt. San Antonio College, Noah Bryant of USC, Angel Perkins of Arizona, Jenna Timinsky and Dawn Harper of UCLA, MacKenzie Hill of Long Beach Wilson High, Chaunte Howard of Georgia Tech, Sharon Day of Costa Mesa High, Carol Rodriguez of Anaheim Western High and Jasmine Lee of Long Beach Poly.

Moore will run in the men’s 100 in addition to the 400 relay.

Ronald Hill, a former state champion for Walnut High, will compete in the men’s long jump.

Bryant, a former state champion for Carpinteria High, will compete in the men’s shotput.

Perkins, a former state champion for Cerritos Gahr High, will run in the women’s 400 and in the 1,600 relay.

Timinsky will run in the women’s 800.

Harper will run in the women’s 100 high hurdles and MacKenzie Hill, who will start school at UCLA in September, will compete in the 400 low hurdles and in the 1,600 relay.

Howard, a former state champion for Riverside North High, will compete in the women’s high jump. So will Day, who will start school at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall after winning her second consecutive state title for Costa Mesa in June.

Rodriguez and Lee, who will be seniors this fall, are scheduled to run on the 400 and 1,600 relay teams, respectively.

-- John Ortega

Siblings dominated play at the AAU Junior Olympic beach volleyball championships this weekend at Hermosa Beach, where Tanner Sutherland teamed with Justin May, both of Corona, to win the under-21 boys’ division and Devon Sutherland teamed with Brittany San Jose of Long Beach to win the under-18 girls’ division on Sunday.

Four sisters from Manhattan Beach made division finals: Jenna Dykstra and Taylor Carico of Manhattan Beach won under 21; Devon Dykstra and Lane Carico of Manhattan Beach were second for under 14; Lara Dykstra and Mary Carls of Sherman Oaks won under 12; and Skyler Dykstra and Christine Irvin of Pacific Palisades won under 10.

California teams won all but two age divisions. Mark Van Zwieten of Pompano Beach, Fla., and Keave Adolpho of Coconut Creek, Fla., won the boys’ under-18 division and Erik Shoji and Riley McKibbon of Honolulu won the boys’ under-16 division.

Ryan Graves, a wide receiver who led the Southland in receptions last season at Pasadena Muir, has transferred to Venice. Graves caught 106 passes as a 6-foot-1, 175-pound junior.

Defending state boys’ basketball champion Westchester will join Santa Ana Mater Dei and host Fairfax in a summer tournament Thursday through Sunday at Fairfax High.

Semifinals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday and could include a Westchester-Mater Dei matchup.