Skip to content
Jordan’s Darryll Stevens is the athlete of the year – Press Telegram
Long Beach Jordan’s Darryll Stevens, the California State champion in the 300-meter hurdles, is the Press-Telegram Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, June 8, 2023. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
PRESS-TELEGRAM BOYS TRACK AND FIELD DREAM TEAM 2023
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Darryll Stevens, Jordan, Sr.
Jordan senior Darryl Stevens has been a hurdler for only two years but he’s leaving high school as a state champion.
“It feels really good,” Stevens said. “Once I first won, I didn’t have any emotions about it but it feels really good. I get congratulated by all the staff and everybody who knows that I won state.”
“Darryl Stevens is the ultimate competitor and not only that, he’s a great guy,” said Jordan coach Sharaud Moore. “I’m proud of him for all the work that he’s done.”
Stevens was surprised when he learned he was chosen the Press-Telegram Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
“Wow. That’s crazy,” said Stevens, who was visibly at a loss for words. “That’s wild because I didn’t think that would happen. I knew there were a lot of other athletes who in my opinion performed pretty well in multiple events, but the fact I was able to get athlete of the year with just the hurdles, it feels really good.”
Stevens, who recently committed to run at the college level for Cal Poly Pomona, is the first boy to win an individual CIF State track title for Jordan High School in the school’s 89-year history.
“That’s a testament to Darryll’s hard work,” Moore shared. “His junior year he came to me and said Coach Moore I want to try hurdles and because it’s my beloved event I said sure.”
In Stevens’ first year as a hurdler, he helped Jordan win the CIF-SS Division 2 team title in 2022. Stevens also made the CIF State meet and finished sixth in the 300-meter hurdles with a then-personal best of 38.10 seconds.
“When we left the track (in 2022), I said we’re going to be back next year and we’re going to win it next year,” Moore recalled. “He was a little disheartened coming into the year because he busted his butt all of the fall and then we got so much rain and on our field, we were underwater from December 7th to about May 6th.
“We couldn’t train here (at Jordan), so we would do plyometrics in the gym, hurdle hops and stuff like that and we would lift weights. But due to construction, we couldn’t even run on the bridge, so we had nowhere to train. And so in the earlier part of the season, he was frustrated like ‘coach, I don’t feel like I’m getting better,’ and you could see it in his face. … We finally found a facility in which we could train at and that was in March. So really, Darryll’s speed training season started in March and from March to May, he progressed well enough to make him the state champion so I’m really proud of him sticking through.”
Stevens won the Moore League title in the 300 hurdles this year but finished third and second, respectively at the CIF-SS Division 1 Finals and CIF-SS Masters Meet. However, that was enough to qualify for the CIF state meet.
“I just knew I had to give it my all,” Stevens said. “It was my last 300 hurdles race. I know I’m going to have to do 400-meter hurdles in college so I just had to use the phrase, last one, best one.”
At the state meet, Stevens’ “all” translated to the fastest time in the prelims and finals, ending with a 37.44 personal best in the 300 hurdles. He won the state title in a photo finish, edging the second- and third-place finishers by three-thousandths of a second.
“I’m sad that I have to see him leave, but I’m happy for his next chapter,” Moore added. “To have talent, character, and work ethic, he’s a triple threat.”
COACH OF THE YEAR
Crystal Irving, Long Beach Poly
Long Beach Poly boys track coach Crystal Irving has been selected as the Press-Telegram Coach of the Year after leading the Jackrabbits to the CIF-Southern Section Division championship, which is the program’s 17th section boys title. Poly also finished fourth as a team at the CIF State meet.
The Jackrabbits capped the state meet by winning the 4×400 relay in 3:12.99 with a quartet of freshman Noah Smith, freshman Malachi Dawson, sophomore Caliph Johnson and junior Xai Ricks.
DREAM TEAM
(All race distances in meters)
100: Jordan Washington, Jordan, Jr., Devin Bragg, Los Alamitos, So., Malachi Dawson, Long Beach Poly, Fr.; Dre’londe Johnson, St. Anthony, Sr.; Javon Hampton, Long Beach Poly, Sr.
200: Jordan Washington, Jordan, Jr.; Xai Ricks, Long Beach Poly, Jr.; Noah Smith, Long Beach Poly, Fr.; Malachi Dawson, Long Beach Poly, Fr.; Caliph Johnson, Long Beach Poly, So.; Jordan Shaw, St. Pius X-St. Matthias, Sr.
400: Xai Ricks, Long Beach Poly, Jr.; Noah Smith, Long Beach Poly, Fr.; JT Kraemer, Wilson, Jr.; Kendal Handy, St. John Bosco, So.
800: Xai Ricks, Long Beach Poly, Jr.; Lamarr Kirk Jr., Long Beach Poly, Sr.; Marcell Francis-Mitchell, Sr.; Cameron Rhone, Long Beach Poly, Sr.
1,600: Cameron Rhone, Long Beach Poly, Sr.; Jason Parra, Millikan, Jr.; Matthew Kluber, Valley Christian, Sr.
3,200: Jason Parra, Millikan, Jr.
110 hurdles: Ahrian McNeil, St. John Bosco, Sr.; Jacob Hernandez, Jordan, Sr.; Sedwitz Dumont II, Wilson, Jr.
300 hurdles: Darryll Stevens, Jordan, Sr.; Ethan Bartee, Wilson, Jr.; Ahrian McNeil, St. John Bosco, Sr.
4×100 relay: Long Beach Poly; Jordan; St. Anthony
4×400 relay: Long Beach Poly; Wilson; Gahr
4×800 relay: Long Beach Poly, Wilson
Long jump: Javon Hampton, Long Beach Poly, Sr.; Jadyn Robinson, Long Beach Poly, So.
Triple jump: Jordan Jones, Warren, Jr., Jermar Andrews, Jordan, Fr.
High jump: Jerman Simms Jr., Jordan, Jr.; Oshinachi Agaranna, Cerritos, Jr.; Konnor Handy, St. John Bosco, Sr.; Kendal Handy, St. John Bosco, So.
Shot put: Jaylon Wells, Warren, Sr., Eman Goodloe, Warren, Jr.
Discus: Mikel Udengwu, Glenn, Sr., Jaylon Wells, Warren, Sr.
Pole vault: Gabriel Gandara, Los Alamitos, Sr.
100 ambulatory: Carson Fox, Los Alamitos, Jr., Gabriel Tyler, Long Beach Poly, Sr.
200 ambulatory: Carson Fox, Los Alamitos, Jr., Gabriel Tyler, Long Beach Poly, Sr.
400 ambulatory: Gabriel Tyler, Long Beach Poly, Sr.
Shot put ambulatory: Carson Fox, Los Alamitos, Jr., Gabriel Tyler, Long Beach Poly, Sr.
