Long Beach Poly, Wilson shine at Moore League track finals

LONG BEACH >> The wet weather managed to mostly avoid Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday afteoon and evening, allowing for another memorable Moore League track and field finals. With the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits already having sewn up their 22nd straight boys league title and seventh straight girls league title (by virtue of an undefeated dual meet schedule), it was no surprise that several green and gold ruers had excellent days.

Zion Bowens, Melissa Tanaka, and Ariyoa Augustine all won three races, as Bowens won the 400 (49.50), the 200 (21.87), and anchored the Jackrabbit mile relay, which bested the defending state champion Wilson Bruins by almost five seconds, with a time of 3:21.84.

Bowens, a junior, is also a receiver on Poly’s football team, where he’s gotten offers from Air Force and Navy—but he said track is more than just an offseason workout plan.

“I want to win, this isn’t just for conditioning,” he said.

Tanaka won the mile with a time of 5:10, leading a one-two-three Poly sweep, the 800 (2:15), and anchored the Poly girls’ mile relay win, as the Jackrabbits clocked a time of 3:59.81.

“This is the first time we’ve run that group for the 4x400 and it came together,” she said.

Augustine continued to look like a rising star as the sophomore doubled in the 100 (11.95) and 200 (24.25) and anchored Poly’s 4x100 to a win in a time of 48.30, as the Jackrabbits continue to operate without Arizona signee Maya Perkins, who should retu for CIF.

Poly also got a double championship from junior hurdler De’varriea Oles, who won both hurdle races handily.

Perhaps the most impressive effort of the day - and the last few years - came from Wilson senior Nic Nelson, who led a strong day for the Bruins with an incredible individual performance. Nelson tripled in the distance races, wiing the mile (4:23) and two mile (9:57) and taking fourth in the 800 (1:58.97). All three times were personal records.

The senior said the idea to run all three races came up last week, and he wanted to go for it. “I’m not ruing in college, so I wanted to live it up in high school,” he said.

Nelson’s day ended with a dramatic 3200, which saw him take a big lead, then fall into third place early in the bell lap only to push and jump back into first.

“I knew I still had my kick, and when I saw two people pass me I knew it was time to go,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in finishing strong.”

The Bruins also got wins from Chris Hall in the 800, Corie Washington in the 100 hurdles, and Kiera King in the 300 hurdles.

Advertisement

Jordan had an excellent day as well, as the Panthers won the 4x100 relay with the quartet of Willie Steels, Maesean Misher, Mark Walker, and Torieaen Hilbert, posting a time of 43.19.

The Panthers took pride in the fact that they weren’t expected to win. “We’re the sleepers,” said Hilbert. “We just wanted to come out and shut some mouths.”

The sophomore Misher also won the 100 with a time of 10.86.

Millikan got a win on the oval from sophomore Nadiri Wilson (58.24), backed up by her teammate Kiairra Mack.

The Rams also continued their excellent run in the throws, as Nanati Alailefaleula won the shot put (39-02.5), while Noah Holm won the boys shot put (46-02), and Alexandra Ibarra (98-08.5) won the girls discus.

For the first time in over 20 years, the boys discus throw was won by a Compton Tarbabe, William Pule, a transfer from Nevada who will also be a featured lineman for Compton’s football team this year. The junior threw 111-04.5, and had to admit he surprised himself.

“Well I’ve always done shot put, but that was actually my first time doing the discus,” he said. “It was a little shocking.”

Lakewood’s two wins came in the jumps, as Amani Briggs won the high jump and Semaj Lewis won the triple jump. Millikan’s Armando Tabales won the boys high jump.

The other jumps were taken by Poly, as Zhane Smith doubled in the long jump and triple jump, and Jamio Douglas won the boys long jump.

Wilson’s Devin Miller won the pole vault competition.

The top athletes from the league advance to next week’s CIF-SS Division 1 track and field prelims next Saturday at Trabuco Hills, and then the CIF-SS championships the following Saturday at Cerritos College.