Photo of Mackenzie Dagrosa
It was a championship sweep for the Reagan track and field programs on Thursday. All four teams won their respective District 28-6A titles at Heroes Stadium. The Reagan varsity girls team has won every district title since the 2016 season. Johnson finished with runner-up team honors in all four categories as well.
The meet opened on Wednesday morning with cooler temps that were perfect for the 3200m runners. In the girls race, Johnson's Isabella Porter led a pack of six runners through the first mile when the pack fell to four runners, then three runners and finally to just her and Clark's Jade Perez, the 28-6A cross country champion. Porter kept Perez on her outside shoulder the entire way around the track on the last lap and held her off through the finish line winning in 11:18.43 to Perez's 11:18.49.
In the boys 3200m, Reagan's Gavin Chapa and Brandeis' Hayden Scott bolted to the front immediately and never gave up the lead. Chapa led through the first six and a half laps before Scott put on a strong final 600m push to win going away in 9:13.50. There were a total of eight runners who broke 10 minutes and it took a 9:39.55 to advance on to the Area meet.
From there, the meet shifted to the field events. The morning session provided some big fireworks starting with Reagan's Mackenzie Dagrosa clearing 6-0 in the high jump, something she has been close to doing for four years. The jump puts her #1 in the nation and gave the Rattlers 22 points in the event with teammates Aryiel Sherman and Divine Ajuzie taking second and fourth, respectively.
The girls discus finished around the same time as the high jump and it was a surprise winner in the circle, Lexi Boggan of Brandeis. The senior set three personal records in the event and ended up with a winning throw of 125-4, over 17-feet more than her previous best.
The morning session for the boys featured Reagan's Ian Armstrong long jumping over 23-feet for the first time and Roosevelt's Jeremiah Bustamante edged out a crowded field in the shot put. Armstrong jumped 23-0.5 and knocked off the only other jumper in the district who has gone 23-feet this year, Churchill's Ty Webb who finished second with a jump of 22-2. Bustamante was seeded fourth coming into the meet but launched his best throw of the season for the win, 48-4.75. He held off Madison's Keith Jones and Churchill's Brandon Schuster who each finished less than 10 inches off the lead.
The next varsity events were the girls triple jump and the boys high jump. Rachel Nwankwo of Clark was a slight favorite in the triple jump and she lived up to the billing by leaping 37-3.25 to hold off Sherman who jumped 36-3.75. The boys high jump was thought to be a toss-up with nine athletes who jumped between 6-0 and 6-2 during the season. It ended up being Madison's Jehiel Small who was the only one to clear 6-2 on the day to take the gold medal.
The afternoon session was busy with five different varsity events. The girls long jump went to Reagan's Isabella Dagrosa who was heavily favored and won with a jump of 18-6.75. However, it was not as easy of a win as could have been expected because Madison's Mia Stewart went 18-2, a personal record by over a foot, to earn second place. Nwankwo also advanced in the long jump with a mark of 17-3.75.
In the shot put, Mariana Salazar picked up the win after taking runner-up honors last year for Reagan. She threw 37-4.5 to hold off Johnson's Jera Salters who threw 36-9.75. Salters was also runner-up in the discus giving the sophomore the most points by a thrower in the meet.
The final event of the day for the girls was the pole vault. Johnson's Taylor Fuentespina cleared 12-1 to set a new personal best en route to winning the event. Four others went at least 10-0. At the end of the day, Reagan sat in first place with 69 points while Johnson had 47 points and Clark had 31 points.
The Reagan boys put on a dominating performance in the discus going 1-2-3 behind Hector Ucha, Ryan Ramirez and Hurst Tyler. Ucha won with a toss of 158-1, his best mark of the season.
In the triple jump, Ty Hawkins of Johnson was a fairly heavy favorite and he held up his end of the bargain by winning with a season best jump of 44-11. His teammate, Jaden Perez, had not jumped all season but came through with a second-place leap of 43-5.5. Heading into the second day it was Reagan with the lead with 58 points, thanks to 24 from their discus throwers while Johnson was in second with 46 points and Madison was third with 26 points.
Thursday started a little ominously as swirling winds made it extremely difficult to pole vault. Reagan's Samuel Abati won with a clearance of 15-6, his lowest height of the season. Johnson's Thomas Bucks nabbed second with a height of 14-6.
The track action on Thursday began with a bit of a surprise with the Johnson girls winning the 4x100m relay. The Jaguar quartet of Pinkey Karngbaye, Madisun Sparks, Jada Humble and Jordan Peters knocked off over a second from their previous best time of the year to finish in 46.94, just ahead of Reagan in 47.16. The boys 4x100m held true to form with the Rattlers winning in 41.89 behind Demario Chapa, Joseph Baruwa, William Calk and Rayshun Hurt. Roosevelt nearly pulled off the upset, but still ran a big season best of 41.95. Madison was the big surprise taking third place after entering the meet seeded next to last.
The half-mile proved to be one of the best events of the meet. The Brandeis girls made a statement in the 800m by sweeping the top three spots. Ada Mathias won with a time of 2:20.29 and she was closely followed by teammates Danelly Carrion and Violet Ostrowski. The boys race promised great things and it delivered. Churchill's Alejandro Rosales pushed the pace right from the start and never let up. Gavin Chapa and Hayden Scott tried to run him down but could not. Rosales won in 1:52.74 while Chapa crossed the line in 1:53.18 and Scott finished in 1:54.96. Rosales and Chapa both broke the previous district record and there were eight runners who broke two minutes.
Isabella Dagrosa took gold in both the 100mH (14.55) and 300mH (43.73). In each race, LEE's Kendall Jones took home runner-up honors with quality times of 15.49 in the 100mH and 45.98 in the 300mH. The Rattlers put three girls through to the Area meet in the 300mH with Morgan Schlueter and Isabella Gaylord joining Dagrosa.
The boys hurdle events did not feature the dominance of the girls. Madison sophomore Jordan Clay got a late start to the track season but has come on strong and won the 110mH in 14.85. Another sophomore, Caiden Rodriguez of Brandeis had a disappointing finish in the 110mH but rebounded in a big way in the 300mH. He won in a season best time of 39.80 and took control of the race early. Reagan's Derek Davisson was the only runner to advance to the Area meet in both events.
The 100m dashes were two similar races. In the girls race, freshman London Graham of Brandeis nipped Reagan's Kiana Douglas at the finish line running a 12.49. The top four girls were all within 0.20 of the winner. Hurt was the boys winner in an exciting race where the top four all finished with 0.21 seconds.
The Reagan girls took care of business in the 4x200m relay. The team of Katie Burnett, Romina Reyes, Nnenna Opara and Mackenzie Dagrosa did not run their best time but the 1:40.43 was good enough to win after their top rival, Brandeis, dropped the baton on the first exchange.
The Johnson boys 4x200m team of Chris Tijernia, Lorenn Johnson, Mikail McCreary and King Johnson pulled off an upset win in 1:29.23. Madison's squad of Devin Edwards, Lavonta Henry, Clement Ngalamulume and Miguel Macias nabbed the silver medal giving the Mavs two strong finishes in the sprint relays.
The 400m provided a pair of fun races to watch. In the girls race, Johnson's Brianna Taylor passed Madison Prado of Madison with about 60m and then held off a hard-charging Katelyn Ogden (Clark) who would have won if the race was two more meters. Taylor won in 59.96 and Ogden crossed in 59.98. Ben Tealer was the heavy favorite to win the boys race for Brandeis despite being a freshman. However, Abdou Ndiaye of Johnson pushed him to the limit before falling off right at the end. Tealer won in 49.28.
The Reagan girls picked up big points in the 200m with Opara and Mackenzie Dagrosa coming across the line nearly together in the top two spots in just over 25 seconds.
LEE's Ian Lea appeared ready to win the boys 200m, but he was nipped at the finish by Tijernia who posted a time of 22.57 to Lea's 22.60.
The girls 1600m was similar to the 3200m save for one big difference, Jade Perez was able to run past the leaders for victory. She finished in 5:10.24 and all of the top four finished in 5:16 or better. LEE's Virginia Lessner led for the majority of the race but had to settle for third after being passed by Perez and Porter, the 3200m winner.
Scott became a double-winner for Brandeis when he used a similar formula in the mile as he did in the two-mile. He stayed with Chapa until 600m remained and then made a strong push to the finish. Scott won in 4:15.68 while Chapa was second in a time of 4:19.47. All six scoring runners finished in under 4:26.
The final event of the meet provided some fireworks. The Reagan girls have the fastest time in the area in the 4x400m this year but it was Brandeis that took the gold in 3:56.85 behind Leila Smith-Harris, Kayla Radtke, Faith Ponds and Graham. The Brandeis boys appeared to be inspired by their girls team and also took the victory. The squad of Jamley Austin, Brian Sorrell, Rodriguez and Tealer won in 3:24.26 to hold off a solid Reagan squad.
As a reminder, the top four finishers in each varsity event will advance to the Area meet next week.