Larry Pulls a Fast One

The four teams that won titles Saturday in the boys’ competition at the Southern Section divisional track and field championships at Cerritos College were overshadowed by senior Lionel Larry of Compton Dominguez.

Spurred on by the disappointment of the top-ranked Dominguez 1,600-meter relay team’s disqualification from the divisional preliminaries May 15 for a uniform violation, Larry won the Division II 100 meters in a wind-aided 10.37 seconds, won the 200 in a school-record and Division II meet-record 20.73 and ran a 9.4-second anchor leg on the victorious 400 relay team that clocked 42.13.

Larry’s 200 clocking bettered his previous best of 20.87, was the third-best time in the nation this year and was fourth on the all-time Southern Section list, but he said it was far from a perfect race.

“That was rough,” the defending state 200 champion said. “My [calf muscles] started cramping up.... It started after 30 meters. I could feel it cramp a little bit, let go, cramp a little bit, let go. I probably could have pushed a lot harder down the stretch, but I kept cramping up so I just wanted to finish the race.”

Led by the USC-bound Larry, who has won six section sprint titles during his career, Dominguez finished second in the Division II team standings with 34 points.

Los Angeles Loyola totaled 42 points to win its second consecutive title.

The Cubs were led by junior Mark Matusak, who finished second in the 1,600 in 4:13.70 and second in the 3,200 in 9:13.29.

Matusak finished behind junior Brandon Bethke of Lake Forest El Toro, who used a strong finishing kick to win the 1,600 in a state-leading time of 4:09.53 and the 3,200 in 9:09.98.

Long Beach Poly, led by senior sprinter Derrick Jones, totaled 55 points to win its fourth consecutive Division I boys’ title.

Arroyo Grande placed second with 41 points, all of them earned in the shotput and discus.

Jones placed a disappointing second in the 100 and 200 last year while running with torn ligaments in his left ankle, but he won the 100 in a wind-aided 10.47 and the 200 in 21.15 and anchored the victorious 400 relay team to a meet-best 41.84 clocking Saturday.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, led by the winning performances of sophomore Rodney Glass in the 100 and 200, won its second title in three years in the Division III meet, and Gardena Serra won its third consecutive Division IV championship.

Serra won four consecutive Division III titles in 1996-99.