Recently in Track Category

Taft of Woodland Hills track star and running back DJ Morgan has been selected the boys' State Sophomore Athlete of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports, beating out another outstanding area 10th-grader, Oaks Christian of Westlake Village's Malcolm Jones.

Morgan, who took second in the state in the 110-meter hurdles in a lifetime-best 14.19 seconds, won City Section titles in the 100-meter dash, 110 and 300 hurdles.

He also won the 110 and 400 hurdles in the intermediate boys' division at the U.S. Track and Field Youth Outdoor Championships in late June in Charlotte, N.C.

During his varsity football debut, Morgan rushed for 1,185 yards, added 235 receiving yards and scored 13 touchdowns, gaining at least 100 yards in eight of 12 games.

Jones rushed for 2,025 yards and scored 29 touchdowns, but didn't qualify for the Southern Section finals in an individual event in track.

Jeremiah McKibbins, a junior sprinter from Crespi HIgh School in Encino, is recovering from a thumb injury. He broke it during the first round of football playoffs, almost three months ago. But he didn't have surgery on it until about four weeks ago.
He got his cast off last week and ran the 100 meters on Saturday at the Percy Knox Invitational track meet at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. It was his only race of the day.
"It's got better," McKibbins said. "Just practicing, nothing big right now."
It might seem like a silly question, but how does a broken thumb affect a runner?
McKibbins said his biggest hurdle has been in the starting blocks. He has to lean on his hands before the start of a race, and adjusting to his broken thumb has been a bit of a challenge.
Mark Watley, a senior at Crespi and one of the top 400 runners in the state, ran a 48.22 at the meet, the best reported time in the state so far this year.
"It's alright," Watley said modestly.
He said he wants to get in the 45.2 range for CIF state finals. He was also on the team's 400 meter relay team which set the school record with a mark of 42.00, even though coach Jess Garner had them at 41.69.

The track meet at College of the Canyons attracted some of the top runners in the state. The boys 100-meter race featured three of the top runners in California: Randall Carrol from Cathedral, Adam Long from St. Bernard's and Austin Shanks from Crespi.
All three topped the best recorded time in the 100 meters in the state this year, set by Nick Mixon of Vista Murrieta.
As good as the 100 was, the 400 was a little bit of a let down.
Mark Watley from Crespi won the race with the top reported time in state this year, but it was a race without Long Beach Poly's Joey Hughes, expected to be one of the top runners in state in the event.
Crespi coach Jess Garner said he wished Hughes would have been in that race. It would have been a more accurate gauge for Watley to see how he stacks up against one of the better 400-meter runners in the state.
Without Hughes, the relays were blowouts as well. Crespi won the 400-meter relay, setting a school record in 42.00 and beating Inglewood by .30 seconds. Long Beach Poly wasn't a factor in the 400 relay.
Crespi also won the 1600-meter relay, coasting to a seven-second win over Long Beach Poly.
As fast as the sprints were, the long distance races didn't provide much competition, especially for freshman phenom Melissa Bauer from Paraclete High School in Lancaster.
She won the 1,600 and the 3,200, but did not post her best times in either event. Andy Helme, the middle distance and long distance track coach at Paraclete, said the field for the races "wasn't as fast as we had hoped."
She won the 1,600 in 5:19.54 and the 3,200 in 11:46.64.
Helme and Bauer expected better times from the meet, but the competition didn't allow for them. She won the 3,200 by nearly 13 seconds.

Several local athletes made the trip to Fresno on Monday to compete in the Run for the Dream Classic at the Save Mart Center. Here are some of the highlights:

GIRLS' MILE
5. Roseanne Fleming (Oaks Christian) 5:30.86
7. Katie Shirley (Saugus) 5:37.16

GIRLS' HIGH JUMP
2. Camilla Dencer (West Valley Christian) 5-5

GIRLS' POLE VAULT
3. Lauren Radke (Oaks Christian) 10-0

BOYS' MILE
3. Clayton Graham (Calabasas) 4:33.97

BOYS' 55-METER HURDLES
2. D.J. Morgan (Taft) 7.68

BOYS' 4 x 145-METER RELAY
1. Southern California 66.91
Chris Owusu (Oaks Christian), Evant Orange, Darryl Brown, Adam Long

BOYS' 4 x 400-METER RELAY
1. Southern California 3:34.41
D.J. Morgan (Taft), Nico Reaves, Crispin Collins, Joey Hughes

BOYS' SHOT PUT
1. Nigel Davis (Loyola) 58-5 1/2