Marine League Track And Field Championships: Los Angeles

Thursday, May 11, 2006 At San Pedro High School's Pirate Stadium




How did I end up at the Marine League Championships? Easy! Just get on the 405 and then go south on the Harbor Freeway [110] and finally take a left on Gaffey. San Pedro High School overlooks the Pacific Ocean and the immense harbor facilities of Long Beach. The Goodyear blimp was in the skies over San Pedro and Long Beach on the day of the meet and added to the atmosphere of the area. My wife and I were in Los Angeles to visit our son. On Thursday I had the opportunity to go to the Marine Meet. D. Figi.


The meet had over 50 events. Frosh-soph, varsity and 'AA.' The 'AA' events were students from special needs classes and are a regular part of track meets in the Marine League.

While Wisconsin track and field athletes were battling the cold weather and rain, Southern California presented the Marine League Championships with sunny weather in the 70's with a 0% chance of rain. Southern California and Los Angeles have a very strong tradition of outstanding track and field performances. Officials wear red blazers, black dress pants and a special hat to ward off the sun. Pictured above is Mr. Ed Austin one of the two officials at the meet. He is the Instructional Chairman and Assignment Coordinator for the California Track Starters Association.

The Marine League consists of six high schools that lie along the Harbor Freeway. The schools in the conference are Banning, Carson, Gardena, Narbonne, San Pedro and Washington. Each of the schools has between 3,400 and 4,200 students. Many of the athletes pictured below have a chance to be champions at the Los Angeles City meet held the week of May 15th. In order to compete in the City Championship athletes must meet minimum standards of performance. Last year Gardena, a member of the Marine League, was the Los Angeles City Champion.




Upper left: Erika Fitzpatrick, senior from San Pedro, won the high jump [5' 02.00]. Upper right: Gardena junior Phylicia Johnson won the 100m HH [ 15.06], the pole vault [ 9' 07] and ran on the winning 4x1 relay team.


Left: Gardena [green jerseys] won the 4x1 relay with a time of 48.15. Gardena also won the 4x4 relay in 3:54.46.

Above: Twin sisters senior Megan Adams [#4] and Kirsten Adams of San Pedro in the 1600m run. Megan won the 1600m in 5:31.60.





Above left: Ninth grader Kiana Cannon of Carson High School won the 800m [ seed time of 2:27.21].

Above right: 100m finals [L-R] Treasure Griffin of Gardena, Chanel Parker of Narbonne, winner Brie-Anna Hardiman senior from Carson [ 12.81] and Katrina Arnold of Washington. Hardiman also had a 4th place finish in the 300m LH [47.28].



Left and above right: Senior Myra Hasson [L] of Gardena in the 200m. To the right of Hasson is Janita Session a junior from Narbonne [seed time of 25.94]. Hasson won the 200m in 24.59 and also ran on the winning 4x1 and 4x4 relay teams.

Right: Sophomore Starasia Childs of Carson was second in the triple jump [36' 06.00], third in the long jump [18' 02.00] and finished first in the 300m LH [46.13].

Below: Myra Hasson [R] and senior Danialle Watson from Carson in the 400m. Hasson who is a USC recruit won the 400m in 54.18. Watson won the long jump [18' 10.00].


Addition to a previous feature: The text and pictures for this feature were produced on May 11, 2006.


In the City Section Championships held during the week of May 18-25 the Marine League performed well with Carson winning the City Section Championships.


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