Carroll repeats sprint titles

CLOVIS, CALIF. —  Randall Carroll wasn’t idle about the chatter.

Dismissing talk that he couldn’t repeat a pair of state titles, the Los Angeles Cathedral standout sprinted his way to championships in the 100 and 200 meters Saturday night at Clovis Buchanan High.

“Everyone had something to say about it,” Carroll said of repeating as champion. “But I think I handled it well.”

The UCLA-bound senior won the 100 in 10.38 seconds, slower than the 10.34 he posted in his preliminary heat Friday and the 10.30 he ran last month at the Del Rey League finals.

All that mattered to Carroll was that he was able to recover from a poor start to catch and pass Fountain Valley junior Kyle Middlebrooks, who finished second in 10.57.

Carroll then pulled away from Crenshaw sophomore DeAnthony Thomas to win the 200 in 21.08. Thomas finished second in 21.35. With his legacy as one of the top sprinters in state history secure, Carroll allowed himself a moment to exhale.

“I feel a big relief, like a bunch of weight has been lifted off me,” said Carroll, who will next compete at the junior national championships starting June 25 in Eugene, Ore.

The evening actually got off to a rocky start for Carroll when a dropped baton prevented Cathedral from finishing the 4x100 relay, an event in which it had posted the third-fastest time Friday.

The gaffe prevented the Phantoms from winning an outright boys’ team title, but Cathedral still secured 20 points to finish in a four-way tie for first alongside Riverside La Sierra, Clovis East and Bakersfield Frontier.

Long Beach Poly scored 45 points to win the girls’ team title, with Gardena Serra finishing second with 28 points.

La Sierra’s Reggie Wyatt had another outstanding night even though he couldn’t top the national record time of 35.02 he set in the 300 hurdles in a preliminary heat Friday.

Wyatt won the 400 in a personal-best 46.13 and fended off a challenge from Woodland Hills Taft’s D.J. Morgan to win the 300 hurdles in 36.71.

“I heard him coming, so I had to pick it up just a little bit,” said Wyatt, who had hit a hurdle.

Morgan won the 110 hurdles in 13.76.

One night after failing to post the fastest times in a pair of events in which she leads the nation this year, Claremont junior Kori Carter made amends by winning the girls’ 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles.

Carter won the former event in a personal-best 13.59 and the latter in 41.26 after coming from behind to defeat Long Beach Wilson’s Nyjah Cousar, who finished in 41.70.

“I like the chase and when I get on the turn I’m in beast mode,” Carter said. “Something happens.”

San Luis Obispo Mission Prep senior Jordan Hasay won the girls’ 3,200 meters for the fourth consecutive year, finishing in 10:05.29 to post the fastest time in the nation this year. She defeated her closest competitor by more than 18 seconds.

There was a far more dramatic finish in the girls’ 400, where Serra’s Turquoise Thompson edged Long Beach Poly’s Akawkaw Ndipagbor by leaning forward at the end to win in 53.10 seconds. Thompson also anchored Serra’s winning 4x400 relay team, which finished in 3:42.91.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com