Once again, it was a great spring season full of honors for Long Beach Poly and Wilson. The two oldest schools in the city both won four Moore League Player of the Year awards.
Baseball
A pair of center fielders were named co-Players of the Year as Millikan’s Moises Guzman and Lakewood’s Carter White shared the honor. Guzman hit leadoff for the Moore League champion Rams, while White led the league in batting average (.406) for the second consecutive season.
The pitchers who made the first-team were Millikan’s Julian Aguiar and Kelly Hawkshaw, Lakewood’s Sebastian Irwin, Wilson’s Aiden Alaniz, Cabrillo’s Dylan Gambino and Jordan’s Adrian Lopez. The infielders included Millikan’s CJ Yogi and CJ Baker, Lakewood’s Eddie Gaxiola and David Baruch and Poly’s Chris Murphy.
The entire Wilson outfield of Ryan Guerero, Kyle Clothier and Nolan Ornelas all made the first-team along with Poly’s EJ Andrews and Nolan Brown, and Lakewood’s Devan Semper. Millikan catcher Michael Barrientos and Cabrillo’s catcher Brian Murillo also made the first-team.
Compton won the Moore League Sportsmanship Award.
Softball
Wilson was rewarded for its first Moore League title in five years by having senior Joey Vega win pitcher of the year, and George Molina win coach of the year. Lakewood’s Jordan Kaeka and Poly’s Evelyn Sablan were named co-players of the year.
Katelyn Howard, Michelle Dominguez, Sinclair Lawhorn, Ava Trachta and Natalya Rodriguez also made the first-team for Wilson.
Jordan won the Moore League Sportsmanship Award.
Girls’ Swimming
Poly’s Anja Oca was named Swimmer of the Year after winning three gold medals at the Moore League finals at Cabrillo High. She was a member of the winning 200-yard medley relay (1:48.06), the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:39.68) and won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.52).
Millikan’s Jenna Sonnenberg was named Moore League Diver of the Year after winning a CIF championship. Poly’s Emily Lester also won three events at league finals as the Jackrabbits won a historic league title. She was on the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay, plus she won the 50-yard freestyle (24.60).
Boys’ Golf
Wilson’s Tyler Schafer won his third consecutive Moore League individual title this year, and the senior was joined on the first-team with four fellow Bruins Tyler Allan, Brandon Bennett, Samin Bhagat and Andre Calubid who all qualified for CIF postseason play. Lakewood’s Matthew Paige, Millikan’s M.J. Delacruz and Poly’s Jacob Betts also made the first-team.
Boys’ Swimming
Wilson’s Max Berg was named Moore League Swimmer of the Year after winning the 100-yard freestyle (47.47) and helping the Bruins’ 400-yard freestyle relay team win the title (3:15.62) at the league finals. Fellow relay teammates Garret Harryman and Gabriel Fields also won two titles. Harryman won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.91) and Fields won the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.30).
Poly’s Chris Correa won the 50-yard freestyle (21.91) and was on the first-place Poly relay teams in the 200-yard medley relay (1:37.92) and the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:28.15).
Girls’ Track & Field
Poly’s Ariyonna Augustine and Kenya Payne were the only athletes to win three events at the Moore League Finals that were held at Wilson High’s new track for the first time. Augustine won the 100m (11.71) and the 200m (23.53) and was the anchor for the 4×100 relay (46.99). Payne was also on the 4×100 team, and the 4×400 relay (3:53.22) plus she won the 300m hurdles (45.30). The Jackrabbits won 15 of the possible 22 league championships.
Boys’ Tennis
Poly’s Darren Hall won the Moore League singles title, and teammates Felippe Dacudao and Alex Dunn joined him on the first-team. Dacudao and Dunn were also honored with their respective doubles partners, Kimsan Phy and Theo Lee. The Jackrabbits took three of the four doubles honors with Poly’s Stanly Chung and Cole Armstrong making the list.
Boys’ Track & Field
Poly took nine of the 22 All-League spots, and Wilson was second with seven honorees. There were six athletes with wins in multiple events at the Moore League finals. Poly’s Kenyon Reed won the 200m (21.53) and was on the 400m relay (42.61) with Kejuan Markham, who also won the 100m (10.64).
Wilson’s Andrew Richards, Emari Bennett and Steve Camacho were all members of the 4x400m relay team. Richards also won the 400m (49.03), Bennett won the triple jump (42’10.5”) and Camacho won the 800m. Millikan’s Noah Holm won the shot put (52’3”) and discuss (137’5”).
Boys’ Volleyball
Kyler Tufuga was the unanimous Moore League Player of the Year after leading Lakewood to a league championship and top CIF ranking. He is joined on the first-team with teammates Teilon Tufuga, Emanuel Matai and Beaukalani Tiedemann. Lakewood’s Devon Taylor was named coach of the year, Millikan’s Tristan Cox won the Dylan Stump Award, and Jordan won the Sportsmanship Award.
Badminton
After Poly won the last five co-ed league championships, Cabrillo and Lakewood unseated the Jackrabbits this year to claim an historic co-championship. It’s the third Moore League championship in Cabrillo history, and the Jaguars got nine of the the 19 All-League honors.
Cabrillo’s Mykel Mendoza and Diego Mayen were boys’ singles honorees, and Kaithlyn Reyes was recognized in girls’ singles. The mixed doubles teams of Aron Camain/Rheanne Bergenholtz and Kyle Fernando/Maricar Reyes made the list while Fernando, Reyes, Bergenholtz and Ivene Sumicad were also honored in boys’ and girls’ doubles.
Gymnastics
Millikan’s Julia Fielder repeated as Gymnast of the Year after she led the Rams to an eighth league title in the last nine years, while winning another individual title of her own. Millikan also had Laura Faynor, Amanda Berman, Amanda Dover and Natalie Evora make the first-team.