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Lakewood Track & Field

CIF Track: Lakewood’s Cherish Washington Claims CIF-SS Title

It’s been a special season for Lakewood senior Cherish Washington, and the CSUN signee wrote a happy ending to it with a strong performance at the CIF-SS Division 1 championships at Trabuco Hills High.

Washington claimed the CIF-SS title in the shot put with a heave of 43-1 and was the runner-up in the discus with a best mark of 135-1. Teammate Samaria Usher, a junior, was the runner-up to Washington in the shot put with a 41-0 mark, giving the Lancers a gold/silver finish. The duo performed well enough to give Lakewood a fifth-place finish in the girls’ team championship race, despite the Lancers only have two athletes competing.

“This means everything to me,” said Washington. “I’m really passionate about the sport, and I hope that representing in the throws for Long Beach and Lakewood makes more girls from our area want to come and do it.”

Washington said that as great as it was to end her career with CIF-SS gold, having Usher by her side at the awards ceremony was even better.

“I’m so glad that she was my teammate and that we made it this far together,” said Washington. “It was a great way to end my high school career.”

Lakewood Results

Girls’ Shot Put: Cherish Washington (Lakewood, 1st) 43-1

Girls’ Shot Put: Samaria Usher (Lakewood, 2nd) 41-0

Girls’ Discus: Cherish Washington (Lakewood, 2nd) 135-1

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Mike Guardabascio
An LBC native, Mike Guardabascio has been covering Long Beach sports professionally for 13 years, with his work published in dozens of Southern California magazines and newspapers. He's won numerous awards for his writing as well as the CIF Southern Section’s Champion For Character Award, and is the author of three books about Long Beach history.
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