Warren, Downey shine at Suburban Valley Conference Track & Field Championships
Warren’s Fayth Randolph (center) crosses the finish line first with Downey’s Nyla Nolan (left) placing second in the 200 Meters during the Suburban Valley Conference Track Championship at Downey High School on Wednesday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
DOWNEY – There was Downey and there was Warren at the Suburban Valley Conference Track and Field Finals. And then, there was all the rest.
Eleven schools participated in the annual conference championships, but the two Downey schools dominated finishing one-two in the girls and boys competition Tuesday and Wednesday (April 8,9) held at Downey High.
The top five girls placers were: Warren, 1st (248), Downey, 2nd (205), La Mirada, 3rd (50), Paramount, 4th (21) and Bellflower, 5th (18).
“In terms of competition with our conference, I couldn’t be more elated and am excited for our girls,” Warren Girls coach Jay Waldron said.
The boys top five finishers were: Downey, 1st (222), Warren, 2nd (165), Paramount, 3rd (44), Norwalk, 4th (41) and Mayfair, 5th (34).
In the boys competition, Downey won nine of the 16 events, while Warren won five.
On the girls side, Warren won seven of 15 events, while Downey captured six.
“There are a lot of teams here as this is a big conference and I have a tremendous coaching staff and all the events are run by our coaches,” said Downey coach Robert Gleason, who is hosting the SVC Championships this year. “For the conference it’s all about these two days.
“The hard that they (athletes) put into it is great.”
Leading the way for Warren was sophomore sprinter Fayth Randolph with individual wins in the 100 (Personal Record), 200 (24.98) and 400 (PR) and was a member of the second place 4x100 relay team.
“It was really amazing,” said Randolph, of her wins. “I was really focused on my events (Tuesday) in the 100 (12.27) and 400 (58.47). I was really hoping to get a PR and I got them.
“I went (against) Nyla (Nolan) and that was very hard because she is my biggest rival from Downey. It was really exciting to against her because she makes me go faster. I got my revenge from last year. I’ve been working for this for so long.
Also with three individual wins was Downey senior distance runner Natalie Gonzalez. She won the trifecta of the 800 (2:19.65), 1600 (5:15.28) and 3200 (11:223.86). Her win in the grueling 3200 was a personal best. She also finished the 400 in third place, which was her first time running the event this season
“Keeping a controlled effort and not trying to max out and PR or do anything crazy is the goal,” said Gonzalez, of her schedule of four events. Gonzalez also won the 1600 and 3200 at last years SVC Finals.
“This year was my first year winning the 800 and I was pretty excited for that. “
Downey was led by senior distance runner Jalen Kennedy, also with three individual wins in the 100 (10.87), 200 (PR) and 400 (49.61), along with a second place in the 800.
“He made it the CIF Finals last year in the 400, which was quite an accomplishment,” Gleason said. “He broke the school record today. I had a feeling he was going to get it.”
Kennedy breaks school record in 200
“I’m very excited,” said Kennedy, of his three wins. “I ran a personal best in the 200 (21.85), but I still ran pretty fast. It’s not what I expected.”
Kennedy also set a school record in the 200 and said, “Initially, I thought the school record was a little bit faster than that. I didn’t think I got it, but I’m pretty happy about it.
“Just thinking about hard I trained to get where I’m at now and all of the people I have behind me supporting me, it feels great.
“My coach (Robert Gleason) played a really big part in where I’m at now. I’m really grateful for all the time he put in for me.”
Two-time winners were Downey junior distance runner Adrien Guerrero in the 800 (1:58.86) and the 1600 (4:27.85), while Warren sophomore hurdler Jeremiah Boyette captured the 110 (15.75), PR and 300 (40.99) Hurdles. He was also a member of the first place 4x100 Relay team and finished third in the high jump.
“At the beginning of the season, we just like to take a couple meets to see where we are at,” said Guerrero, of the schedule. “From there we don’t focus on our end of the season goals right away.
“After our dual meet against Warren (a loss), we like to come back and win the championship (SVC Championships) where it matters.
Boyette said of his two wins: “I love the experience here (SVC Championships) and I just want to get more and make a name for myself.
“I broke the school record for sophomores in the 110 Hurdles and want to get the record for the 300.
“This is very big and there are a lot of good schools out here. It’s very competitive.”
Warren junior Richard Nichols won the Pole Vault competition with a vault of 12 feet and placed fourth in the 100. It was his second consecutive year as PV champ.
He also was the anchor on the 4x100 team.
“Honestly, I went out there and did my best,” Nichols said. “Downey still brings out our competition. I feel like I could have done better (in the 200).
“I feel like these two schools (Downey and Warren) are at the best they can be and Downey has a really good kid and a couple of good jumpers that can sprint as well. No matter what year or time of day we can still compete with each other at any sport at all.”
Downey won three of the six field events, which also include senior Jamar Andrews in the Triple Jump (46’), senior Lenear Williams in the high jump (6’) and junior Faletausala Amu in the Discus. Andrews was Athlete of the Meet at the Trabuco Invite recently.
Amu, who placed second in the Shot Put, won the final event (Discus) of the day late in the championships after 8:00 in the evening with an enormous throw of 173’ 3”. The throw was over 30 feet farther than second place finisher Adrian Gonzalez (142’ 2”).
“Last year I wasn’t as good as I am now,” said Amu, who recently was still competing after midnight with additional throws at the Trabuco meet. “It was my own choice to keep competing.
“This meet (SVC Championships) is to see where we are at for CIF. I just physically got better overall.”
In the relays, Warren won the 4x100 and Downey won the 4x400.
The only two boys events of the 16 that weren’t won by Downey or Warren was Dominguez in the Long Jump and Norwalk in the 3200.
Winning two events for the girls was Warren junior Ashley Jenkins in the 300 Hurdles (46.05), and the Long Jump (16’4”). Both events were personal best for Jenkins.
Warren junior Avery Carrillo took first in the Pole Vault with a jump of 10 feet, which was a personal best. She also finished second in two running events – 100 and 300 Hurdles.
“It was really exciting because I’m the first girl at Warren to vault 10 feet in 20 years,” she said. “I want to get the school record (10’, 10”) now.
“In my training we’ll work on sprints one day and the next with pole vault. We have dedicated days to work on these two events. Last year was my first time competing in the pole vault.”
The other two events not won by either Warren or Downey was Gahr in the 100 Hurdles and La Mirada in the High Jump.
What they said:
Logan Maravilla, junior, Warren: “I hurt myself about two months ago throwing shot here (at Downey). It hasn’t healed yet. It was hard, but I was able to push through it. The only thing that kept me going was the adrenaline, but we made it.
It was a definite improvement for me from last year to this year. My coach (Richard Sitan) works with us, and he commits four hours every day to help us.”
Ramon Miranda, Warren boys coach: “For the kids, it’s very important as track is very popular at Warren and as you can see it’s very important here at Downey. For those two schools, there’s nothing better than that rival.
We’re looking forward to the end of the year (CIF, etc.) and next year.
Of all the years, I really have enjoyed this year because we have a lot of committed kids. We have 180 boys on the track team. We have great coaches and great support from the parents.”