Long Beach Poly Keeps Southland on Top

SACRAMENTO — After waiting 10 years to host the state high school track and field meet again, Northern California discovered Saturday that it will take a lot longer before its schools can compete against the best teams from Southern California.

Before a crowd of 15,875 at Sacramento City College, Long Beach Poly used its all-around depth to become the first school to win both the boys’ and girls’ team titles in the same year since Berkeley did it in 1981.

“We hung in there as a team to win,” said senior Kenyon Rambo, who won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and finished third in the 110-meter high hurdles to lead Long Beach Poly to an upset victory over Pasadena Muir in the boys’ division with 39 points.

Muir, which was trying for its fourth consecutive title and ninth overall, saw its chances disappear when junior Sultan McCullough suffered a leg injury in the 100 meters after anchoring the Mustangs to a victory in the 400-meter relay.

With senior standout Obea Moore skipping the meet because of a hamstring injury, Muir simply did not have enough after McCullough was injured to offset the balance of Long Beach Poly, which had not won a boys’ title since 1965.

Rambo, who ran a leg on Poly’s second-place 1,600-meter relay team, said: “It’s been four years for me. It feels good to finally get it done.”

In the girls’ division, Long Beach Poly, which has won two of the last three titles and four of the last six, was led by junior Bunmi Oguneleye, who won the long jump and finished second in the 400 to go along with legs on both of the Poly’s scoring relay teams.

Senior Cynthia Ademiluyi won the shot put with a toss of 47-feet, 5 inches was the only other event winner for Long Beach Poly, which had to overcome a mid-race fall in the 1,600-meter relay to defeat Playa del Rey St. Bernard with 49 points to 48 1/2.

One highlight of the meet came early when St. Bernard broke its own national record in the 400-meter relay with a time of 44.70 seconds.

“That was a perfect race,” said Miesha Withers, who teamed with Regine Caruthers and sisters Malika and Miya Edmonson to establish a record for the second consecutive week. “We kept getting [our baton passes] wrong in practice but in meets, we get it just right.”

Other local meet winners included:

--Kinshasa Davis of Long Beach Wilson, who won both the 200 (22.90) and 400 (52.66).

--Angela Williams of Chino, who won the girls’ 100 by over 10 meters with a time of 11.15.

--Justin Fargas of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, who beat out Miguel Fletcher of Alemany and Daryl Rideaux of Long Beach Poly in the 100 with a mark of 10.52.

--Dominique DeGrammont of Tustin, who won the 110-meter high hurdles (13.48) over Sharif Paxton of Crenshaw.

--Nicole Hoxie of Riverside North, who repeated as girls’ champion in the 100-meter high hurdles (13.35).

--Scott Moser of Huntington Beach, who won the discus with a throw of 203 feet 2 inches.

--Compton Dominguez boys’ 1,600-meter relay team won with a time of 3:12.51.