ANDERSON LEADS TAFT TO CITY TITLE JUNIOR SCORES 38 OF TEAM'S 70 POINTS.

Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL Staff Writer

Jeshua Anderson came up short in his quest for a record but still dominated the City Section track and field finals Thursday at Birmingham High of Lake Balboa.

Anderson won the 300-meter hurdles, 110 hurdles and long jump while taking second in the high jump to lead the Taft of Woodland Hills boys' team to its first City team title since 2001.

``Other sports this year, we kept getting runner-up,'' Anderson said. ``In football, basketball, girls' volleyball and boys' volleyball. There's a lot of football players on this team, so we really wanted a ring.''

Anderson totaled 38 points, more than half of Taft's 70-point tally. By himself, he outscored all but oneschool.

About the only thing Anderson didn't do was break the City record in the 300 hurdles. His time of 37.0 seconds, though a personal best, fell shy of the 36.84 needed.

``I had just finished the high jump and was a little tired at the end of the race,'' said Anderson, a junior. ``But I still have next year to go for it.''

Anderson also might make some noise in the 110 hurdles. He improved his top time to 14.40 from 14.83 to move up to eighth in the state from 32nd. He won the long jump at 22feet, 1 1/2 inches, then took second in the high jump with a leap of 6-2.

The top three finishers in each event advanced to the state preliminaries June 2 at Cerritos College. Anderson will focus on the hurdles at that meet, dropping out of the high jump and long jump.

Jamere Holland showed he is not going to give up his 100-meter state title without a fight. The Taft sprinter, who has been battling a nagging hamstring injury for months, won the city title in 10.64 against the wind. It was the first time since Holland suffered the hamstring injury at the Arcadia Invitational in early April that he broke 11 seconds.

``It was a nice little run for me,'' Holland said. ``I just wanted to see how far the leg would take me. I felt no pain.''

Holland hadn't practiced the past three weeks to rest the hamstring. After the race, he said he was strong enough to practice the rest of the way leading up to the state meet.

Taft failed to advance in the 1,600-meter relay, with Holland dropping the handoff on the final leg and falling from second to fifth.

Birmingham's Nijia Nelms upset defending champion Myra Hasson of Gardena to win the 200 title, adding it to the 100 victory she took earlier in the evening. She ran personal bests in both races, improving from 12.04 to 11.97 in the 100 and making a big drop from 24.80 to 24.32 in the 200, in which she held off a hard-charging Hasson in the final meters.

``I thought she was going to pass me,'' said Nelms, who also led the 400relay squad to a first-place finish. ``I thought I could defend my title in the 100, but I wasn't even thinking about winning the 200.''

Nelms helped Birmingham to a third-place finish among girls' teams with 63 points. Carson won the girls' title with 89 points.

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(color) Taft's Jeshua Anderson wins the 300-meter hurdles at the City Section finals. Anderson won three events as Taft took the boys' team title.

Photog here/Associated Press