Ariyonna Augustine named Dream Team track athlete of the year

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: ARIYONNA AUGUSTINE, Long Beach Poly, Jr.

Junior sprinter Ariyonna Augustine will be the first to admit that this year caught her off guard. After winning state titles in the 100 and 200, Augustine shook her head when asked if she could believe what had just happened.

“No, not really,” she said. “Honestly, I thought that next year would be my year. I just wanted to run well at State this year.”

She did more than that with a pair of no-doubter championships that had the announcer in Clovis shouting into the microphone as she blew away a talented field that included Oregon signee Jasmin Reed. Augustine registered times of 11.58 in the 100 and 23.41 in the 200.

While it may have surprised Augustine and many pundits that she arrived a year early, her coaches weren’t surprised at all. Poly sprints coach Doc Moye kept a running tally of the team’s projected score all day to track whether or not Poly would claim the team state championship, and he had Augustine down for two 10-point wins from the start of that Saturday’s action.

Augustine’s 20 points at the CIF State meet ended up making the difference, as she and teammates Zhane Smith (10 points) and Melissa Tanaka (one point) ended up tallying 31 points, enough to win the state title by just a point, besting Agoura’s Tara Davis, who scored 30 points by herself.

Augustine was proud to have helped bring success to her school, and is looking forward to wrapping up the college recruiting process next year, as well as hopefully bringing home another state title.

“Everyone at Poly knows about the history, and when you know you’ve contributed to that it’s really special,” she said.

COACH OF THE YEAR: CRYSTAL IRVING, Long Beach Poly

Crystal Irving did the impossible this year.

The Poly alum has been coaching at her alma mater for 20 years but has been the head coach of the track program for just three, and they’ve been rough. Multiple high-profile athletes transferred out of Poly, with a few making disparaging remarks about the program in the media.

This year, when several of those transfers were predicted to win a second straight track state title at Carson, it was instead Irving’s Jackrabbits who brought home the historic title with one of the most improbable results ever. Poly scored just 31 points, the lowest point total for a winner at the state meet in 20 years, and had just three athletes running in Clovis.

“I just want to say thanks to everyone who’s been down with Long Beach Poly track like four flat tires,” Irving said afterward. “This means so much, for Zhane, and Ari, and Melissa, they decided to be part of our team when others left. They worked hard, they believed in their coaching, and this is the fruit of their efforts.”

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It’s also the fruit of Irving’s efforts, and her faith in her program and her coaches. For the 15th time, the Poly girls came out on top in State, along with the coach that brought them there. Poly has a state-leading 37 state championships across all sports, more than double the second-closest school. Irving can lay claim to a special piece of history as the first woman to be the head coach of a state championship at the school.

FIRST TEAM

Nanati Alailefaleula, Millikan, Sr., Shot Put

Millikan 4 x 100 Relay (Nadiri Wilson, Jr.; Chandra Atkinson, So.; Chudney McGehee, Jr.; Kiarra Mack, Jr.)

Kallie Given, Los Alamitos, Sr. High Jump

Hannah Hubbard, Lakewood, Sr., Triple Jump

Kiera King, Wilson, Sr. 100, 200, Long Jump

Marian Ledesma, Valley Christian, Sr., 800

Delaney Sanacore, Los Alamitos, Jr., 800

Zhane Smith, Poly, Sr., 100, Long Jump, Triple Jump

Faimalie Sale, Los Alamitos, Jr., Shot Put, Discus

Melissa Tanaka, Poly, Sr., 800

SECOND TEAM

Brooke Anger, Los Alamitos, Sr., Pole Vault

Maya Archer, Valley Christian, Sr., Shot Put, Discus

Misty Diaz, Norwalk, Jr., 1,600

Sisilia Fineanganofo, Paramount, Sr., Discus

Jade Galloway, Los Alamitos, Jr., Long Jump

Kaitlin Natividad, St. Joseph, Sr., 1,600

Kenya Payne, Poly, So., 300 Hurdles

Brenda Rosales, Poly, Sr., 800

Danielle Scott, Poly, Sr., 800

Wilson 4 x 400 Relay (Kiera King, Sr.; Ashanti Gaither, Fr., Dionna Griffith, So.; Mya Ferguson, Jr.)

HONORABLE MENTION

Citlalli Anguiano, La Mirada, So., 100 Hurdles

Ryann O’Bannon, St. Joseph, Fr., High Jump

Cyrena Chavers, Warren, Jr., Shot Put

Angela Crittenden, Whitney, Jr., 100

Ruby Galindo, Norwalk, Jr., 1,600

Emily Hawk, La Mirada, Jr., 100, 200

Nicole Blue, Cerritos, Fr., 400

Joy Umeh, Mayfair, So.,Triple Jump

Poly 4 x 100 Relay (Zhane Smith, Sr.; Kenya Payne,So.; Jaelyn Predium, So.; Ariyonna Augustine, Jr.)

Poly 4 x 400 Relay (Kenya Payne, So.; Danielle Scott, Sr.; Jaelyn Predium, So.; Quwshaya Peters, So.)

Tanya Reyes, Warren, Sr., Shot Put

Valley Christian 4 x 400 Relay (Cheyenne McKinnie, Sr.; Marian Ledesma, Jr.; Keely Long, Jr.; Kathryn Tamminga, Fr.)

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