After his first win of the day, Dijon Stanley sprinted down the track at Arcadia High and flexed until the veins popped from every muscle, screaming in pure awe for his Granada Hills brothers that had made the rest of the men’s 4-by-100 field look silly.
For Stanley, for Coleman, for others from Granada Hills and a dominant Carson girls’ team, Saturday night’s Arcadia Invitational was about sheer pride. Bigger than the medals around their necks. Bigger than first-place times. Here were City Section programs that felt undervalued, underappreciated, underrepresented, coming out at a national-level meet and putting on an absolute show.
“It’s huge,” said Granada Hills coach Johnny Wiley. “I feel like we’re not only here for track and field, we’re here for all the sports in the L.A. City Section. We want to be that team to carry the standard and say, ‘We’re competitive at this level, too.’” It’s created a natural chip on the shoulder for every athlete in the section. Take Redmond’s words: They feel counted out. Outside the conversation. So Saturday night’s wins were huge as a “recruiting tool,” Carson sprints coach James Shannon said — another accomplishment to further draw high school athletes to stay in their local community.
And few athletes in recent City years have compiled a more impressive resume than Stanley, who led Granada Hills to a City Section football title last fall and continued blazing trails on the track Saturday. His time of 45.92 in the 400 meters came second only in Arcadia history to now-world-record-holder Michael Norman in 2016.
“I gotta make a name for myself somehow,” said Farrell, also a receiver for Oaks Christian’s football team. “Gotta get people looking at me. So that’s how I do it.”
Entertainment Entertainment Latest News, Entertainment Entertainment Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ksatnews - 🏆 442. / 53 Read more »
Source: FOXLA - 🏆 445. / 53 Read more »