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Despite “Wizard of Oz”-like winds that were either a pain – or push – in the rear depending on which way you were running, athletes from both St. Mary’s and Berkeley High made quite a splash over the weekend at the state track and field championships in Cerritos. 

Propelled by their nationally renowned sprinters, the BHS girls placed second overall, while the St. Mary’s boys finished third, helped in large part by Ebon Glenn’s eye-catching 7-foot high jump. 

“That was a great finish for us, we totally exceeded expectations,” said St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson. “Going into the meet we thought if we ran well, we’d be in the top six, and I honestly didn’t really think we’d finish in the top three. But we had personal bests almost across the board for the kids that went down there, so we had a great meet.” 

The Panthers’ third-place performance was especially clutch considering highly ranked triple-jumper Solomon Welch was unable to compete due to an injury. 

“He’s one of the top five in the state. We thought between him and Ebon Glenn, they were the two most important people for us to get us a lot of points,” Lawson said. “Solomon didn’t get a chance to do the triple jump because he was hurt in the long jump. Everyone else performed their best marks of the year and Ebon did a great job winning state.” 

Glenn managed to wrest the state title away from Palmdale’s Jerrick Holmes, the only other prep athlete in California to clear 7 feet this year. The Panthers star is ranked seventh nationally among high-schoolers. 

Also registering strongly for St. Mary’s was Halihl Guy, who finished third in the 300 intermediate hurdles at 37.95, and the 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams, which placed fourth and fifth, respectively. The 4x100 team registered a 41.84 time, good enough for a school record. 

Serra took the competition with 38 points, followed by Long Beach Poly’s 24 and St. Mary’s 20. 

The swirling winds on Cerritos Junior College’s track were more of an impediment to the BHS girls’ team, with an emphasis on sprinting. Sprint times were slower than usual, including those of the Yellowjacket standout Aisha Margain. 

“The track conditions were terrible,” said BHS head coach Darrell Hampton, whose team scored 29 points, finishing second to J.W. North High’s 45. “If you look across the board, 11.90 wins the state meet – never before.” 

That 11.90 mark belonged to Monterey’s Sani Roseby, who finished three-hundredths of a second ahead of Margain, who placed third. Margain’s 11.93 time is a full three-tenths of a second slower than the time with which she blew away the competition at the Meet of Champions. Margain, a senior, also finished third in the 200 with a 23.73 time. 

The ’Jackets finally took advantage of the winds in the 4x100 relay, as Katrina Keith, Margain, T’carra Penick, Simone Brooks won state with a 45.96 time. BHS took third in the 4x400 relay at 3:45.53, with junior Raqueta Margain – Aisha’s sister – running in place of Brooks. 

Individually, Penick finished sixth in the 400, while BHS’ sole male representative, Daveed Diggs, landed third in the 110m high hurdles at 14.23. 

“He was very good, another PR (personal record), another qualifier for junior nationals,” said Hampton. “We’re going down to Denton, Texas on the 23rd of June.” 

Also qualifying for the junior nationals along with Diggs were Penick and both Margain sisters. 

“You always hope for better, but for the program in its first year like this, I’m very happy,” added Hampton. “Some people go a lifetime never making state, and we popped up to take second place in our first time out – well, my first time out. We’re getting a lot of comparisons to the great teams (coach) Willie White had (in the mid-’70s to mid-’80s), and that’s all good for the city.”