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South Pasadena High School athletes Keeran Murray and Mia Holden placed 6th and 4th at the CIF Track and Field State Championships held at Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California on Saturday May 27, 2023.
Murray auto qualified in 3rd place with a time of 1:54.63 in the 1st heat of 3 on Friday at the CIF State Preliminaries in the 9th position of 12 after being ranked 13th of the 27 entries in the 800m.
Mia Holden time qualified in 3rd place with a PR (Personal Record) of 43.27 in the 1st heat of 3 on Friday at the CIF State Preliminaries in the 6th position of the 9 qualifiers after being ranked 10th of 26 entries in the 300m hurdles. Both were a hopeful outcome given the difficulty of having to be at their very best to move into the Saturday State Finals.
“Saturday’s Final in the 800m saw Keeran in a tough place, boxed in the middle of the pack with pushing and clipping much of the race,” Coach Mike Parkinson tells us. “Patience prevailed as Keeran was able to break free in the last 100 meters to move up to 6th place medal of the 9 awarded in the 12 man field in a new personal record of 1:53.79.”
Mia drew lane 8 of the 9 in the final of the 300m hurdles and Coach Parkinson said “she got out fast to the first hurdle, negotiating the curve aggressively to position herself for a very competitive last 100m home stretch grabbing 4th place in a massive personal record by 1 full second of 42.27, a new school record!” Coach Parkinson went on to say “Mia and Keeran both performed beyond rankings and expectations, peaking at the perfect time with personal records at the ultimate place, the California State Championship. I’m ecstatically excited for them as juniors and look forward to great things in their senior year in 2024.”
“It’s always great to see our athletes achieving success and making everyone in South Pasadena proud,” echoes Track and Field Coach C.B. Richards. “The dedication, perserverance and talent displayed by Keeran and Mia through the hard work and commitment to excellence were on full display throughout the entire State CIF Track competition. By surpassing their own limits, both have shown that hard work and perserverance can lead to extraordinary results – they both left everything they had on the track – securing podium finishes and earning State CIF medals. Their performance not only brought glory to our school but have place them among the elite track athletes in the state of California and nationally.”
Coach Richards went on to praise his South Pasadena coaching staff recognizing “Assistant Coach Distance, Coach Mike Parkinson and Assistant Coach Hurdles, Coach Andrea Lust – the coaches played an integral role in our athletes success. Their coaching expertise, training and competition guidance and unwavering support have helped shaped these young athletes into the champions they have become and allowed them to peak at the right time. I have no doubt that this is only the beginning of even greater accomplishments in the future for both of these athletes and expect more Tigers to follow them in the near future to State. Congratulations once again, and thank you for representing our school with such distinction.”
PHOTO: Mike Parkinson | The South Pasadenan | SPHS Track and Field athletes Mia Holden and Keeran Murray after receiving their medals at the CIF State Championship 2023.In the past 12 years of CIF State Track Championships (Minus 2020/2021 which saw no State Championships), South Pasadena High School has had Tiger track and field athletes medal at the State Track Championships in the following events:
- 300m Hurdles (4th place) 2023
- 800m (6th place) 2023
- Shot Put (3rd place) 2022
- Discus (6th place) 2022
- Pole Vault (state prelims) 2019
- Triple Jump (3rd place) 2019
- Triple Jump (5th place) 2018
- Pole Vault (State runner-up 2nd place) 2016
- Pole Vault (9th place) 2015
- 4×400 Relay (9th place) 2013
- 400m (7th place) 2013
- High Jump (9th place) 2013
- High Jump (State Champion) 2012
- 3200m (State runner-up 2nd place) 2011
- 3200m (State Championship) 2010
- 3200m (9th place) 2009
- 110m Hurdles (state prelims) 2009
