Ten of Long Beach City College’s track and field athletes qualified in this year’s state championships highlighting a successful season for the program.
Although nobody walked out with a state championship, the women’s track & field team finished in 10th place out of 37 schools with the men finishing in 12th out of 35 schools.
“I felt this season was a success, we set out some goals to be top three in the conference, top 10 in the region, and top 15 in the state. We reached all of those goals,” LBCC Director of Track & Field Marcus Carroll said.
LBCC looks to be headed in the right direction with these goals being reached, and one of the women’s athletes who helped her Vikings reach these goals was Mia Jamerson.
The freshman jumper took fifth place in the long jump and second place in the triple jump, paving the way for an exciting sophomore season for Jamerson.
Additionally, freshman hurdler Amareah Hamilton finished fifth in the 100 hurdles race with a time of 14.80 seconds.
For women’s throwing, freshman shot putter Saryah Harris-Davis amazed once again with a fourth-place finish with a shot-put distance of 12.26 meters.
On the men’s side, sophomore mid-distance runner Luke Chibueze finished in sixth place in the men’s 800 run with a time of one minute, 55 seconds, with sophomore Jeremiah Artis finishing eighth in the men’s long jump with a distance of 6.89 meters.
With the Vikings track & field program flourishing, the coaching staff is looking to make the proper adjustments needed to be ranked even higher than what they were this year and improve in different aspects of running and throwing.
“I’ll be implementing a lot of new things that weren’t taking place. Next season will be my first full year as a coach, some coaches have different philosophies so I’ll be coming with different things and what a lot of the kids are used to from high school,” sprints coach Harley Morrison said.
LBCC is on the rise for track & field, and with the arrival of the offseason, the Vikings are now in preparation for the upcoming cross-country season.
Marcus Carroll is now in the recruiting process with many stars graduating, and the athletes returning are looking to build off of a successful 2024 track & field season.