Rodrick Pleasant shows off his Superman speed, winning a pair of state titles

They sat for most everyone else at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, then rose on the final lap with a swell, excitement building along the stands closest to the finish line at Saturday’s state track finals.

But for Rodrick Pleasant, they stood before the gun even popped.

Half the stands were already out of their seats, a mass of kids along the upper concourse with their phones trained on the starting marks for the boys’ 100-meter dash. The last preps dose they’d ever get of the Gardena Serra Superman’s 100-meter dance with history.

Gardena Serra’s Rodrick Pleasant, center, wins the state title in the boys’ 100 meters, setting a meet record. Jaelon Barbarin of Simi Valley, left, finished sixth and Anthony Flowers of South Torrance, right, was fourth.

(Nick Koza)

All eyes have been on Pleasant for months, his senior season becoming a race against himself after his renowned 10.14 state record at the Masters Meet his junior year. And even as he matched himself at last weekend’s Masters, he denied interview requests, shedding light on the toll of expectations in a humble Twitter response that night to a reporter who’d criticized him for not making time to speak.

“I love you guys for your doing your job but it’s a lot for a kid sometimes trying to please the people putting so many expectations on you,” Pleasant wrote.

Expectations loomed Saturday at state, and his hamstring nagged, as Serra coach Christopher Mack said Pleasant was trying to work through tightness around the back of his knee. Amid another loaded field, Pleasant could’ve folded.

Instead, he dashed to a state-meet record of 10.20 in the 100. And an hour later, he blazed to a major lead in front of a tough 200 field, crossing the finish line with a time of 20.67 seconds, his second gold medal of the day, and a fist thrown to the heavens like John Bender in the final scene of “The Breakfast Club.”

“Just soak it up,” Pleasant said of his mentality after the 100. “It’s been different … but just finish it, have fun, enjoy it. I’m never going to get this time again.”

Dijon Stanley of Granada Hills wins the boys’ 400 meters with a career-best time of 45.19 seconds. Xai Ricks of Long Beach Poly, left, was second and Jaden Rattay of Lincoln, right, was third.

(Nick Koza)

A few seconds after the 200, Granada Hills’ Dijon Stanley wrapped his arm around Pleasant’s shoulders in an exhausted display of camaraderie, a shining moment for two of the best athletes the Los Angeles area has produced in recent years. After finishing second in the 400 at last year’s state finals in a time of 47.34, Stanley took his speed to new heights, beating his own state-leading time to take first in 45.75 seconds.

“I kinda think of it as redemption … just coming out this year, I was like, ‘I’ma just leave it all out there, it’s my last year,’” Stanley said. “I have nothing to lose.”

In his final meet of a dazzling Granada Hills career, Stanley helped ensure City Section dominance, leading the Highlanders boys to a first-place team mark through the dash events Saturday as the Carson girls’ foursome of freshman Christina Gray, senior TaAhjah Fann, senior Reign Redmond and sophomore Kaitlyn Williams also won the 4×100 relay.

Ventura sophomore Sadie Engelhardt wins the state title in the girls’ 1,600 meters.

(Nick Koza)

Equally as impressive was Ventura High superstar sophomore Sadie Engelhardt, who ho-hummed her way to a barely qualifying time of 4:50:64 in Friday’s girls’ 1,600 prelims before pressing the gas en route to a state-meet record 4:33:45 in the final.

Other standouts

Long Beach Wilson’s Aujane Luckey and Upland’s Davis-Davis Lyric continued their respective dominance of the girls’ 400-meter and boys’ 110-meter hurdles, with Luckey winning in 53.26 and Davis-Lyric in 13.83.

Oaks Christian junior Niya Clayton continued her national-level emergence with a winning time of 11.45 in the girls’ 100-meter dash as defending state champion Redmond faltered with an injury and was unable to finish. Culver City sophomore Joelle Trepagnier, meanwhile, surprised even herself with a late kick in the 200 meters to push past Serra reigning-champ Brazil Neal and finish in 23.62.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” Trepagnier said.

In the field events, JSerra’s Brendon See won both the discus with a throw of 196 feet, 4 inches and the shot put with a mark of 62 feet, 9½ inches.