Pleasant clocks wind-aided 10.09 seconds in Division 4 final, with Washington winning Division 1 crown with wind-legal 10.24 effort in advance of sprint showdowns at Masters meet next week; Long Beach Poly, Mater Dei, Cathedral and Oaks Christian capture team divisional championships

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

MOORPARK, Calif. – The CIF-Southern Section championship meet Saturday might not have answered many questions, but it did show that the remainder of the postseason will sizzle for the marquee sprint events.

Serra senior Rodrick Pleasant ran what would have been an improvement on his own state record – had the performance been a wind-legal effort – in winning the Division 4 100-meter dash final in a wind-aided 10.09 seconds.

Long Beach Jordan junior Jordan Washington did run a CIF-Southern Section best in winning the Division 1 100 final in a wind-legal 10.24. Both athletes also won their respective division’s 200 races, as well.

DIVISION 1 RESULTS | DIVISION 2 RESULTS | DIVISION 3 RESULTS | DIVISION 4 RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Saturday also crowned four team champions.

Long Beach Poly won the Division 1 boys crown by 30 points over Great Oak, with Mater Dei outdueling Westlake to win in Division 2.

Cathedral triumphed by 10 points in Division 3 over JSerra, with Oaks Christian winning the Division 4 team title fairly handily as part of a sweep of both championships with its girls program.

Pleasant, an Oregon commit and well-regarded cornerback, ran the fastest all-conditions performance in state history, eclipsing the wind-aided mark of 10.13 achieved in 2017 by Javelin Guidry of Vista Murrieta. The wind reading for Pleasant was +3.3 meters per second, well above the legal limit.

Pleasant still boasts the wind-legal state record of 10.14 from last season.

His 20.53 time in the 200 was a wind-legal mark and did lower his own Division 4 record, ranking him sixth among prep athletes in the nation this year under all conditions.

Pleasant said this performance “puts me in the right direction,” with the CIF-Southern Section Masters meet looming next week, and the state meet in Clovis in two weeks.

“It was exciting just to be able to execute the race like that and have a good time,” Pleasant said.

Asked if the wind legality took away from Saturday’s accomplishments, Pleasant was looking at the bright side.

“Yeah, but it’s still incredible to be able to run that fast,” he said. “It’s a blessing.”

Washington’s 100 was a more competitive race, as he outran San Bernardino Cajon senior JeyQuan Smith, who clocked 10.39. Washington elevated to the No. 2 wind-legal competitor in state history, trailing only Pleasant, as he surpassed the 1985 mark of 10.25 established by Hawthorne’s Henry Thomas that was equaled in 2021 by Mater Dei’s Domani Jackson.

“This whole year, I’ve been aiming to run 10.1 or 10-flat,” Washington said. “But as I’m getting closer and closer to this goal, it’s given me fuel to keep running at this level.”

Asked what the difference was Saturday versus other meets, Washington wasn’t sure.

“I don’t really know,” he said. “It felt relaxed, more, like last week. I didn’t push, it was a prelim and I was just chillin’. But this, I had people like (Smith) and them in my heat, so I had to give it 100 percent.”

Washington, who won the Division 1 crown in the 200 in a wind-aided 20.76, and Pleasant run head to head next week at the Masters meet, in what should be two exciting sprint races.

The top performers from the Southern Section finals, regardless of division, advanced to next Saturday's Masters meet, which will also be contested at Moorpark High.

With warmer temperatures and some winds Saturday, it didn’t turn out to be a day of tremendous personal-best marks. But there were some notable performances.

JSerra senior Jake Stafford competed in a unique double, winning the high jump in Division 3 with a lifetime-best clearance of 6 feet, 8 inches (2.03m) and then placing fourth in the discus at 164-3 (50.07m) behind winner and Glenn senior Mikei Udengwu (193 feet/59.04m) and runner-up and teammate Brendon See (179-4/54.67m).

Stafford’s high jump mark was a personal best by five inches.

“It was unbelievable,” Stafford said. “Going into the event, my PR was 6-3, and that was from the first meet of my junior year, fresh out of basketball season, and I havent hit it since then. I’ve been at 6-2 this year, and I mean, God just really provided.”

Some performances produced unexpected results.

Santa Margarita senior Roman Mendoza won the 110 hurdles in Division 3 in 14.21, but felt something at the end of the race that derailed his season in the 300 hurdles, where he entered Saturday with the top time in the state of 37.39 from April 8 at the 55th Arcadia Invitational.

“I got out of the box (in the 110 hurdles) with probably one of my best starts of the season, and then about like midway through the race …. I usually don’t do as well in the middle part of the race, but today I was feeling it, I got out smooth, fast everything and finished the race fast, as well. I felt a little something in my calf at the end, which wasn’t great.”

That little something led to him withdrawing from the 300 hurdles and when asked about next week in 110, he said he wasn’t sure and felt like he couldn’t really walk.

There weren't a whole lot of double individual winners, either, in the top divisions. But Dana Hills sophomore Evan Noonan did buck that trend by winning the traditional distance double in Division 2 in the 1,600 (4:10.69) and 3,200 (8:59.06).

"I just wanted to come here and compete with all these guys," Noonan said. "Some of the greatest runners come from the Southern Section, so I mean to be able to compete on a level with these guys and give everyone a challenge and give everyone a good race means a lot."

Redondo Union senior Kai Deines had one of two other doubles in the upper divisions by winning the shot put (60-0.50/18.30m) and the discus (180-8/55.08m) in Division 1.

South Torrance senior Anthony Flores had the other, winning the Division 2 100 (10.35) and 200 (20.95). The 100 time was a new Division 2 record.

Upland senior Davis Davis-Lyric nearly pulled the same feat; he won the 110 hurdles in Division 1 in 13.87 seconds and was second in 37.91 behind Loyola junior John Mueller in the 300 hurdles, who ran 37.76.

Long Beach Poly junior Xai Ricks won the 400 in 46.57. His victory, along with Lamarr Kirk Jr. in the 800 (1:54.13) and the 4x100 relay team (41.64), helped the Jackrabbits to their team win.

Other Division 1 winners included Great Oak junior Gabriel Rodriguez in the 1,600 (4:13.15), Long Beach Millikan junior Jason Parra in the 3,200 (8:58.26), Northwood senior Dominic Cotton in the high jump (6-7/2.01m), Redondo senior Dylan Curtis in the pole vault (15-9/4.80m), Rancho Cucamonga junior Rahim Wright II in the long jump (22-4/6.81m) and Vista Murrieta senior Obi Nwafor (46-11.50/14.31m) in the triple jump.

Mater Dei's victory came with 62 points and was a narrow win over runner-up Westlake, which finished with 54. The Monarchs benefited from wins by Logan Lyght in the 110 hurdles (13.95), sophomore Brandon Gorski in the high jump (6-6/1.98m) and senior Jared McDuffie in the triple jump (46-4.50/14.26m).

Westlake kept it close with wins by junior Ifeoluwaleyi Orekoya (400, 48.97), who also ran the anchor leg of the victorious 4x400 relay team (3:20.40) in Division 2.

Also winning in Division 2 were Calabasas senior Luke Sawyer in the 800 (1:56.13), Thousand Oaks senior Pyrce Edwards (38.05) in the 300 hurdles, Newport Harbor's Leo Davis in the pole vault (15-3, 4.65m), Sultana senior Elijah Crooks in the long jump (22-7.75/6.90m), Ventura senior Wyatt Schrader in the shot put (56-6/17.22m) and J.W. North senior Justice Mephors in the discus (175-4/53.45m).

Cathedral stamped a banner day in Division 3 with a rousing 4x400 victory in 3:17.74. Junior Emmanuel Perez, the state's Division 4 cross country champion, brought home a double with wins in the 1,600 (4:13.98) and 3,200 (9:05.64), with junior Ambodai Ligons winning the 800 in 1:52.62. That gave them the team title with 66 points to JSerra's 56.

In Division 4, Oaks Christian surged to a 34-point victory thanks, in part, to a sweep of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and sophomore Chase Hansen’s win in the 400 in 47.89.