Track: Pons, Schexnayder and Kieffer-Wright Compete In Masters Meet

The act of passing the torch from one class to another is a yearly tradition in high school sports.

It’s a transient athletic culture. Careers are fleeting, and every year new faces come up from the younger ranks to replace the departed.

When South Pasadena’s Sam Pons, Mayan Schexnayder and Claire Kieffer-Wright compete during the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet on Friday night at Cerritos College in Norwalk, the juxtaposition in old guard and the young up-and-comer will never be more apparent.

On one side you have Pons (who will compete in the 3,200-meter race) and Schexnayder (triple jump), representing the old. The two seniors on the cusp of ending one of the most successful runs in South Pasadena track and field history, while Kieffer-Wright attempts to make a name for herself as a freshman in the girls high jump.

Kieffer-Wright set a school record with a jump of 5 feet, 4 inches during last week’s CIF-SS finals, and needs to clear 5-5 to qualify for the CIF State Track and Field Meet held June 3-4 in Clovis.

“My goal going into masters is definitely 5-5,” Kieffer-Wright said. “If I could jump 5-6 that would be awesome, too. Anything above and beyond the qualification.”

While Kieffer-Wright’s career at South Pasadena is just about to take off, Pons and Schexnayder look to put the final stamps on theirs.

Pons and Schexnayder each hold school records—Pons owns multiple top marks including the 3,200 and 1,600 and is the defending state champ in the 3,200, while Schexnayder recently took over the school’s triple jump record.

But their individual success is just half of the legacy they’ll leave at South Pasadena. The two are also a part of a Tigers senior class that for four years never dropped a single duel meet and won four straight Rio Hondo League championships.

“It’s amazing to look back and see how well they’ve done,” South Pasadena head coach P.J. Hernandez said. “Mayan’s had a little different road. Mayan’s been varsity the past two years. Sam’s been on varsity the past four years.”

Schexnayder said that his class’s ability to continue the rich history of track at South Pasadena is a point of pride for him and his fellow seniors.

“It really is huge; it’s part of a legacy,” said Schexnayder, who plans to walk-on the track team at the University of Oregon. “It’s a huge amount of pride and anyone who joins the South Pasadena track team should understand that we have that level of excellence expected and anything below that is unacceptable.”

Pons said he began to see the potential in his classmates during their sophomore year when they finished third in Division 3 during the CIF-SS Finals and were not far from taking second.

“At that point I know that my team was going to be really strong,” Pons said, who's headed for Princeton in the fall. “We had yet to lose a duel meet at that point.”

Said Schexnayder: “If anyone believed that we could do it, it was definitely our class. We like to call ourselves the ‘Golden Age.’ Our coaching staff really preached excellence and at no point was losing a duel meet acceptable and we understood that. … Very few people can say that they’ve never lost a duel meet and it’s great. And usually we have the end of year banquet and other teams are talking about we can improve or we could have done better. We usually end the season with no regrets.” 

For Schexnayder, a trip to state in Clovis next week would be the perfect exclamation point for his career. Schexnayder made the choice to drop football his senior year to concentrate on track year-round and advance past the CIF-SS Prelims. He spent the summer running the harsh hills and valleys of Runyon Canyon Park in Hollywood, and his 100 percent commitment to track paid off in a big way this spring.

Schexnayder traded the school triple jump record with fellow senior Sean Nang throughout the season, but he made a statement when he reset the school record with a jump of 47 feet during the Rio Hondo League prelims.

“Prelims I really wanted to prove a point that I’m here and I’m here to stay. So when I jumped the 47, I really tried to put my statement,” Schexnayder said. “I took the league record and the school record, so it felt pretty good.”

Schexnayder qualified for the Masters Meet with a jump of 45 feet, 4 inches and needs to hit 46-9 in order to qualify for the state meet.

“He’s come a long way,” Hernandez said. “He’s worked hard from last summer all the way until now. And it’s paid dividends for him greatly. It’s a true sign of his hard word.”

In last week’s CIF-Finals, Pons set a personal record in winning the Division 3 1,600 in 4 minutes, 10.37 seconds before turning around to win the 3,200 in 9:02.42. Pons sole focus will be on qualifying for state in the 3,200 where he’ll look to fend off Arcadia’s Ammar Moussa and Elias Gedyon of Loyola for another title. While Pons certainly would like to be a repeat champ, he said he doesn’t view these next two weeks as a championship-or-bust situation.

“I don’t like to go into races with expectations,” Pons said. “Especially with fast runners that are in my grade, Moussa and Gedyon and stuff like that. I don’t think that I’d be disappointed to get second place but I certainly want to get first place and defend my title.”

While Moussa, who ran the 3,200 in 8:54.85 last weekend for the fastest time of the meet, might be considered the favorite in the event, Hernandez said Pons at a similar level to where he was last year.

“He’s kind of been right on point,” Hernandez said. “Some of the races have been a little faster. His mile time for him is a personal PR that means his speed is coming along. He’s always had the strength. But now his 800 and 1600 have greatly improved.”

*The headline originally read "Track: Pons, Schexnayder and Keifer-Wright Compete In Masters Meet." Kiefer-Wright was spelled incorrectly.