Pali High Track Teams Dominate Venice

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Palisades High boys and girls track teams were in fine form in last Wednesday’s Western League dual meet versus Venice at Stadium by the Sea and took that momentum into Saturday’s Mustang Relays in Manhattan Beach.

In the varsity boys 400 meters Nickolas Mendes (52.76) was seventh and William Mullins was ninth in a personal-best 52.93  Saturday. Chandler Hooks clocked a personal-best 16.18 for eighth in the 110 hurdles and Nnamdi Onwaoze was sixth in the 300 hurdles in a personal-best 42.05 and Kenny Davis was eighth (42.29).

Junior Kyrick Curl ran a personal-best 11.48 to tie for ninth in the 100-meter dash.

Palisades’ 4×100 varsity relay was sixth in 44.57,  the 4×400 relay was third in 3:30.19 and the 4×800 relay was third behind Loyola and Rowland in 8:16.03.

For the girls’ Cassandra Hernandez won the 800 meters by one step against Venice in one of the most exciting races of the dual.

On Saturday, Lilyan Garside took fourth in the varsity 400 in 1:00.36 with Molly Ryan and Mia Emerson finishing 11th and 12th.

The Dolphins took fourth in the 4×100 relay (51.09) and third in the 4×400 relay (4:18.38).

Junior Jane Nwaba, who led the Pali High girls basketball team to the City championship and the Southern California Regional finals a few weeks before, cleared a personal-best five feet for third in the high jump. Garside leaped a personal-best 17 feet, one inch for fifth in the long jump and Nwaba leaped a personal-record 15 feet, nine and a half inches for 12th. Nwaba also took ninth in the triple jump in a season-best 32 feet, four inches.

Junior Erica Bagby cleared a season-best 11 feet, six inches to take third in the pole vault, which Amari Turner of Redondo Union won with a height of 12 feet.

Palisades is set to compete in the Pasadena Games on Friday.