At the state track and field championships, Jayden Rendon of Carson was in the lead of the 300 intermediate hurdles on Saturday when he struck the final hurdle and fell to the ground. So ended his opportunity to repeat as state champion.
Did he pout? Did he lose his composure? Did he blame something or someone?
Absolutely not.
“You live and learn,” he said. “It does no justice dwelling when I can do so much more.”
He’s headed to USC, and what a student athlete he will become. He was honored on Tuesday, receiving a $1,500 scholarship from the City Section for his academic and athletic commitment. He wrote an essay on how schools in the Southern Section were trying to convince him to leave Carson.
He said absolutely not.
“Growing up in the track world since I was 8 years old, I watched many of my friends and teammates make a decision to attend schools outside of their community,” he wrote. “Their reasoning was based around sports because they believed that the CIF Southern Section schools were more competitive and would give them more opportunities for success. When I was in middle school, my family moved to Long Beach from Carson, which made my home school Long Beach Poly. The majority of my youth team friends decided to attend LB Poly, and I was often questioned on why I chose to stay in Carson instead of following the crowd. My parents and I were told that I would never reach my full potential in the City Section.
“My decision to stay in Carson and compete for the City Section was not just about competition, but about connection. While preparing to compete in the multi-events at the Junior Olympics, when I was 10, I had to run the hurdles. Coach Jojo coached hurdles at Carson so my mom asked him if he would be willing to train me in the summer. I grew a bond with Coach Jojo and developed a love for the hurdles. Both my mother and grandmother went to Carson but it was Coach Jojo who showed me what it truly meant to be part of the Colt family. Besides my family, he was my biggest supporter, he believed in me and made me feel like I belonged to something bigger: a legacy. I didn’t care what anyone said, I knew that if I had Coach Jojo by my side and if I set my mind to it, I could be successful.
“I never would have believed that from the start of my freshman year, the sport that I love, would hit me with life: In January 2023, just a few months before my first high school track season began, I lost Coach Jojo to cancer. After being a pallbearer for my beloved Coach Jojo, I made a promise to him to finish what we started. The way I saw it, I had two choices, I could feel sorry for myself or I could push through the pain and stay focused on my goals of becoming a USC Trojan.”
Rendon fulfilled his promise to his coach and community.
“I wanted to stay in the City Section,” he said. “It was my roots. I wanted to be the hometown hero. I didn’t think I needed to move to be great.”
He was right again.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
