Track Notebook: South Pasadena Jumping to New Heights

It took the South Pasadena boys track team more than half a century to produce a triple jumper that could jump 45 feet.

Now the Tigers are on the verge of having two 45-foot jumpers in the same season.

Senior Sean Nang jumped 44 feet, 11 inches to finish second in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays ‘seeded’ flight of the triple jump on Saturday.

This comes after Mayan Schexnayder jumped 45-5 1/2 on March 19 at the Cougar Classic at Azusa Pacific University.

This broke the previous record of 44-5, which had been held since 1941.

“We’ve been doing it for four years,” Schexnayder said of himself and Nang. “The triple jump is such a technical event, it is rare to have someone jump 45. It’s hard to make big improvements.”

Schexnayder finished eighth in the ‘invitational’ flight of the triple jump going 43-11 ¼. Arcadia’s Ismail Naeem followed him with a best of 43-8 ¾.

South Pasadena coach PJ Hernandez said hard work by his athletes and coaches have made the success possible.

“The jumps coaches, CB Richards and Eugene Hutchinson, are the reason for success of the athletes,” Hernandez said. “Plus these kids have been around since their freshman year and have developed well, improving annually.”

The Tigers had a strong weekend that also saw Blake Parson win the boys’ seeded 300-meter hurdles in 39.23 seconds.

“Blake Parson is flourishing in his senior year and gaining more and more confidence every track meet,” Hernandez said.

Defending 3,200-meter state champion Sam Pons stepped down to the 1,600, where he finished second in 4:12.93. Pons’ time was less than a second behind Loyola’s Elias Gedyon, who is also one of the nation’s best.

The Tigers boys’ 4x1,600 relay team of Paul Messana, Jacob Kabealo, Alex Tranquada and Pons finished second in the open division in 18:24.75 to set a school record.

For the Tigers girls’ team, Elaine Horng finished seventh in the open long jump with a best of 16 feet, ½ inch. The event was won by Arcadia’s Hayley Greep, who went 16-7 ¾. Horng was sixth in the open triple jump with a best of 32-6 ¼.

The Tigers girls’ 4x400 relay team of Jessica Moog, Helena Van Loan, Anika Renken, and Kamia Rodil-Willis finished fourth in the open division in 4:04.57. Rodil-Willis, who is a freshman ran 57.6 seconds on her leg.

The girls’ 4x1,600 relay team of Andrea Ramirez, Kaylee Anderson, Van Loan, and Renken finished third in the open division in 22:31.82.

The sprint medley relay team of Sam Amido, Rodil-Willis, Van Loan and Renken competed in the invitational heat and took seventh in 4:25.43.

******

Arcadia bounced back from not winning the invitational 4x1 mile at their own invitational, by taking the title at Mt. Sac by running 17:32.35.

Francis Lee, Ryan Vargas and Allen Leung ran the first three legs before handing off to Ammar Moussa.

The Apache ‘B’ team of Eric Garibay, Zach Marriott, Esmond Wei and Charles Shen finished sixth in 17:53.5.

Arcadia’s boys’ distance medley team of Vargas, Tony Mosley, Marriott and Moussa finished fourth in 10:06.54. Moussa anchored with a 4:06 leg over 1,600-meters. Loyola High won in 10:02.23 and was anchored by Elias Gedyon, who also ran a 4:06 split for his final 1,600.

“We knew we were strong in the 4xMile,” Moussa said. “If we would have won both it would have been great. We were really (to do better) than the week before.”

Because of his 4:06 split in the 1,600 leg, Moussa said he has not decided what event he will focus on in the postseason. He could attempt both the 1,600 and 3,200 or focus on one or the other.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do yet,” Moussa said.

The Apache girls’ distance medley relay team finished 12^th in the invitational heat in 12:39.22.

******

San Marino junior Omhunique Brown also had a stellar weekend as she won the girls’ seeded 100-meters in a personal best 12.04. She also won the seeded 300 hurdles in 43.53.

Her time is the 17^th best by an individual in the nation this season.

******

Crescenta Valley had a number of solid performances at Mt. SAC.

The Falcon girls’ 4x1,600 relay team of Anneke Kakebeen, Diane Lombardi, Claudia Pham and Cali King ran a season-best 21:51.18 to finish 12^th in the invitational heat.

The girls’ distance medley relay team of King, Tiernan Hebron, Lombardi and Kakebeen finished eighth in the invitational heat in 12:36.50. This was also a season best.

The boys’ 4x1,600 relay team of Bob Anderson, Mike Duncan, Aaron Esparza and David Owens finished fifth in the open division in 18:34.89, also a season best.

Senior Jessica Beerman finished ninth in seeded girls’ 100 with a solid time of 12.61.

The Falcon boys’ 400-meter relay team of Bryan Yaung, Levi Walker, Parker Averill and James Maturan won their open heat in 44.59.

High jumper Andrew Roide finished fifth in the invitational flight by clearing 6 feet, 2 inches. His personal best last season was 6-6.

******

Flintridge Sacred Heart put together a fine effort in the seeded 4x400 relay at Mt. SAC.  The team of Drew Washington, Rebecca Armstrong, Daelyn Moon and Stephanie Vargas placed fourth in their heat in 3:58.49, a season best.

“Our 4x400 has a chance to make it to state,” FSHA coach Mario Aguilar said.

The Tologs, who are currently on spring break, finished 4-1 in the Mission League in dual meets this season, which included a victory over Harvard-Westlake, which has the fastest time in the nation this year in the girls’ 4x800, sprint medley and distance medley relays.

“We got geared up for that one,” Aguilar said of the March 2 meet. “It was monumental for our program.”

The Tologs lone loss came to Notre Dame.

“If we would have won that, we would have won league,” Aguilar said.

Mission League preliminaries are May 2 at Los Angeles Valley College and league finals are May 5. The meets will begin at 2 p.m.

*******

Muir had a pair of boys’ relay teams compete at Mt. SAC and they showed that they still have some strong sprinters.

The Mustangs team of Daityevon McFadden, Kevon Seymour, Karl Holmes, and Keith Callum finished fifth in the seeded 4x100 in 43.28.

The same four ran the 4 x 400 in 3:25.39.

“It really showed our guys that we can compete with some of the best athletes in the state,” Muir coach Thomas Abich said. “I am tremendously proud of my guys and how this type of performance helps us rebuild this once proud program.”

Seymour is the lone underclassman in the group. He is being recruited in football as a defensive back and already has offers from the likes of UCLA, Florida and Nebraska.

******

La Salle attended the Russell Cup in Carpenteria.

The Lancers received a victory from Itohan Aikhionbare in the girls’ discus, as she won with a best throw of 130-6.

Michelle Johnson won the triple jump with a best of 34-8 ¾. She was second in the long jump with a best of 16-3 ½.

Freshman Alexandra Ghantous became the school’s fastest ever in her grade class in the 400 as she finished in 1:00.77.

Christopher Alvarado was solid for the boys’ team, finishing seventh in the discus with a best of 133-2.

******

Flintridge Prep also attended the Russell Cup and had some fine performances.

Freshman Kate Kennedy won the 300 hurdles in 48.51.

Freshman Kate Evans was eighth in the 800 in 2:29.33. Evans was 10^th in the 1,600 in 5:27.27.

Senior Jason Bunn led the boys’ team as he finished 10^th in the 3,200 in 10:11.56.

******

Although it may be a holiday weekend for some, there will still be some weekend events going on.

The sixth annual San Gabriel Valley Championships will be held at West Covina High on Saturday. The meet begins at 10 a.m.

Also, South Pasadena High will host for the first time the Frosh-Soph Classic. It begins at 11 a.m.