Track Teams Make Marks at Section Finals Meet

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

There were plenty of handshakes and high-fives under Palisades High’s tent in the bleachers at Birmingham High after the Dolphins took third place in the girls standings with 44 points and sixth in the boys standings with 28 points at the City Section Track & Field Championships on May 22.     

Boys 4×400 relayers Harrison Carter, Jayden Joch, Armani Lindley and Ronin Sherertz earned a trip to the state meet in Clovis, beating Granada Hills by 17 hundredths of a second in 3:23.98.

The 4×100 relay team of LeHenry Solomon, Carter, Lindley and Sherertz, clocked a PR 43.66 to finish seventh and Sherertz ended up in the same spot in the 400 meters with a time of 52.43. Justin Hart of team champion Granada Hills won in 47.45.

Andrew Razo clocked 2:01.16  to take eighth in the 800 meters and Jackson Taylor was 11th in 2:04.27. One of the most thrilling finishes of the meet came in the 3200, where Zach Cohen led for most of the eight laps before being passed at the end by Venice senior Charles Simon, who won in 9:38.77. Cohen, a junior, took seond in a personal-best 9:40.94 and advanced to the state finals.

Marley Duff was seventh in the 300 hurdles in a personal-best  41.66 and the Dolphins’ 4×800 relay team of Taylor, Odino Spadavecchia, Zach Amster and Razo    took second in a PR of 8:13.41.

The girls’ 4×800 relay earned a state finals berth after winning in  9:46.13. It was a PR for Dalia Harinck, Vitalija Schafer Gabriella Gilyard and Annabelle Refnes, who beat second-place Granada Hills by almost 13 full seconds.

The Dolphins took second to Carson in the girls 4×400 relay. The Colts won in 4:02.70 while Palisades’ foursome, comprised of Skyla Jones, Shannon Cantwell, Kalee Herd and Refnes, clocked its fastest time (4:02.77)   

In the 4×200 relay, Palisades was third in 1:54.27 on the strength of the foursome of Javayah Sole, Mikaia Solomon, Lucy Ames and Seanna Coleman. Crenshaw won the race in 1:53.51.

Jones ran the 400 in a personal-best 59.41, good enough for fifth overall (Savannah Williams of team points champion Granada Hills won in 57.22) and Refnes set the pace in the 800 meter race before taking second in 2:18.15 behind fellow junior Ananya Balaraman of North Hollywood (2:16.90). Gilyard was also in the field, finishing seventh in 2:23.68.

Three Palisades girls qualified for finals in the 1600, which was won by Balaraman in 5:03.75. Kendal Shaver (5:33.15) was seventh, Zoey Morris (third in the 1600 and first in the 3200 as a ninth-grader last year) was 11th in a time of 5:38.90 and Amelia Halpin was 12th in 5:46.20. Four Dolphins were among the 23 entries in the 3200 and Morris was the first to complete the eight-lap race, finishing 12th in 12:19.57. Shaver (12:24.93) PRd’ to finish 16th, Halpin was 18th in 12:35.43 and fellow freshman teammate Hanna Sadzik was 19th in 12:39.67.

Ava Bondar (49.33) was fifth in the 300 hurdles, Malon Rose placed third in the shot put with a throw 33 feet, and Mahagoni Sinclair cleared four feet, 10 inches to take third in the high jump. Refnes  was fifth at 4-08.  Marshall’s Oleana Taalman Koch won at a height of 5-02. No Dolphins qualified for finals in the girls sprint events.

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