Pali High Athletes Impress at Redondo Nike Track Festival

Text & Photos by STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High’s boys and girls  track and field teams traveled  south last Saturday for the annual Redondo Nike Festival, hosted by Redondo Union High and numerous Dolphins achieved personal bests in their respective events. For the varsity boys, senior Amari Yolas, also a center fielder on the baseball team, was fifth in the 100-meter dash in a personal-best 10.89 seconds. Ronin Sherertz was 24th in the 400 meters in 52.50 and fellow sophomore Zachary Amster was 29th in a PR 53.30. Kenneth Ojtojich (54.37) PR’d and Vafa Vosough ran the one-lapper in a season-best 56.92.   

Junior Max Fields, the reigning City cross country and 3200 meter champion, placed 11th in the 3200 meters in a personal-best 9:19.01. Sophomore Owen Lewicky was 36th in a PR 9:35.67 and junior Axel Mammen was 78th in 10:22.05.

Senior Javier Tiscareno was ninth in the 110-meter high hurdles in a personal-best 15.88 and senior Henry Cary-Williams was 30th in 17.44.    

Palisades was 10th in the 4×100 relay in 44.12 and fifth in the 4×400 relay in 3:38.43. Senior Zaire Peters threw the shot a personal-best 54 feet, eight inches for fifth place.

Sophomore Kayson Lee cleared a personal-best five feet, two inches for 23rd place in the high jump.

In the frosh/soph boys division, Blake Sigworth was fifth in the 3200 in a PR 9:56.70 while Andrew Razo was ninth in 10:03.33. The 4×100 relay took sixth in 45.82 seconds.

Pacing the varsity girls were junior Mikayla Murphy (36th in 12.96) and senior Alexis Ticer (61st in a PR 13.38) in the 100 meters;  freshman Annabelle Refner (35th in 1:03.04) and senior Elysha Chae (57th in 1:05.49) in the 400; and senior Ava Baak, who achieved a personal-best 11:34.26 to place 18th in the 3200.   

Senior Naomi-Alyssa Pippins ran the 100 hurdles in 17.73 and the 300 hurdles in a season-best 54.48.

The 4×100 relay clocked 52.03 seconds and the 4×800 ran 10:34.14. Junior Anisa Watkins and Refner both cleared 4-6 in the high jump and senior Cyan Williams leaped 14-3 in the long jump. Watkins was 39th in the triple jump at 29-0.25.

For the frosh/soph Iliana Fisher ran the 400 in a PR 1:03.18 and Kate Swain ran the 100 hurdles in 18.62.