Sports
Jordan Coleman shines for Granada Hills in winning effort at Mt. SAC Relays
Good things come to those who wait.
That motto has held true this track season for Granada Hills sprinter Jordan Coleman. In terms of limelight, the senior took a back seat last season to teammate Dijon Stanley, who led the Highlanders to a City Section title in football and a state title in the boys’ 400 meters before heading to the University of Utah.
This spring the spotlight has shifted to Coleman, and his blazing second leg helped Granada Hills take first in the 4×100 relay in 40.85 seconds Saturday in the 64th edition of the Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut. Long Beach Poly was second in 41.18.
Sore legs after the indoor season led to Coleman opting out of the Arcadia Invitational this month. He finally made his outdoor debut in a dual meet last week against league rival El Camino Real and teamed with Justin Hart, Kanye Martin and Timothy Wyatt to post a 40.29 — the fastest 4×100 relay time in the state this year and the fifth-fastest high school time in state history. The foursome’s latest effort validated them as state contenders.
“All things considered it was pretty smooth; it was great to show we’re still here and we can win against fast competition,” added Coleman, who has committed to Harvard.
Granada Hills set a City Section record last season with Coleman running the first leg.
“I don’t really have a preference but we discussed it with our coach and decided my running the second leg is best this year,” he said. “I like the turns, I’ve run them my whole career and I’m used to it, but second is new and exciting getting to run straight the whole way.”
After going all-out in the relay, Coleman settled for third in the 100 meters with a 10.59 — an improvement on the 10.88 he posted April 11, but 16 hundredths off his wind-aided 10.43 a year ago at Mt. SAC.
The race was a redemption of sorts for Bishop Alemany freshman Demare Dezeurn, who had not run in the 100 since taking third in a wind-aided 10.43 at Arcadia.
Poly’s Benjamin Harris, who won the 100 at Arcadia, did not enter Saturday’s race, and Dezeurn won in a wind-legal 10.47. Brandon Arrington of Mount Miguel, who was fourth at Arcadia, was second in 10.49.
“I worked hard in practice on getting out of the blocks, then driving through the finish,” said Dezeurn, who ran the 60 meters in 6.72 — the top national mark for a ninth-grader — at the California Winter Championships in February. “I had a way better start today, I was more in control of my body and I came here ready to win and show I’m here to stay. This wasn’t about time, it was about getting respect and the win.”
Bishop Alemany freshman Demare Dezeurn displays his medal after winning the boys’ 100 meters in 10.47 seconds at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 20, 2024.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
The Calabasas foursome of Lahela Ray, Paige Porter, Zoe Ray and Marley Scoggins won the girls’ 4×100 in 46.02, beating Poly (46.12) and defending City champion Carson (46.36).
“Getting to the finish line first is all that matters,” said Scoggins, who was slightly behind at the start of her anchor leg. “I believe [Poly] had a better handoff and were ahead of us, but I believe in myself.”
The pressure was on Aja Johnson in the final stages of the girls’ discus, but the Sherman Oaks Notre Dame junior rose to the occasion with a final throw of 152 feet 10 inches, which earned her the top spot over Elisabeth Driscoll of Canyon Crest Academy (144-02).
“I was nervous after the foul on the throw before so I was telling myself to chill out before the last one,” said Johnson, who won at Arcadia with a throw of 151 feet after achieving her best mark (154) at state last year. “Today I was focusing on my technique and fixing my release. This is the second-best I’ve ever thrown and it’s my seasonal best.”
Earlier, Johnson won the shotput with a heave of 44-10¾.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame junior Aja Johnson competes in the discus at the Mt. SAC Relays on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I was confident I could win both,” said Johnson, who has competed in shotput since she was 9 and discus since 11. “I’m better at shot and prefer it, but I can’t say one is harder than the other; it depends on the day. It takes a good amount of energy to do both, especially mentally, because there’s a lot of waiting. I’m glad I won the shot today because I wasn’t happy with fourth at Arcadia.”
Johnson hopes to sweep the events at the state finals. Her goal for the shot put is 47 or 48 feet — her personal record of 46-10 was achieved at the CIF Masters Meet last year — and she is aiming for 160 feet in discus.
Birmingham senior Deshawn Banks continued to raise the bar in high jump. After clearing 6 feet 9 inches to secure first place at Arcadia, he cleared 6-10 to win with ease Saturday.
“This is a bigger stage than Arcadia,” said Banks, who trains every Sunday and twice during the week after taking up the sport last year. “It’s nerve-wracking getting up to that [last] height. My second attempt was my best. … I barely tapped the bar. There’s lots of freedom. Everyone jumps a different way. I have confidence I can win state and my goal is 7-1½.”
Although the sprint events highlighted Saturday’s schedule, the distance runners captured the headlines Friday, particularly in the mile.
Ventura junior Sadie Engelhardt shattered her second meet record in three weeks, clocking a personal-best 4 minutes 31.72 seconds to better last year’s 4:38.53 and set a National Federation of State High Schools Assn. record.
Immediately following Engelhardt’s historic performance, Dana Hills junior Evan Noonan won the boys’ 1,600 in a state-leading 4:06.89.
Sadie Engelhardt reaches the finish line after running a 1,600-meter split of 4:33.95 that helped Ventura set the national outdoor record at the Mt. SAC Relays.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Engelhardt returned to Hilmer Lodge to make more history Saturday night when she anchored Ventura’s distance medley relay, which was bidding to topple the national outdoor record of 11:22.23 set by Harvard-Westlake in 2011.
Melanie True ran the opening 1,200, Valentina Fakrogha covered the 400 leg and Aelo Curtis ran the 800 before passing the baton to Engelhardt for a duel with reigning state 3,200 champion Rylee Blade of Corona Santiago. The drama grew with each stride as Engelhardt passed her rival on a blazing 67-second first lap en route to completing her four laps in 4:33.95 — good enough to make Ventura the new national record holder at 11:21.85.
“At first I had no idea how close we were, I was just trying to catch Rylee,” said Engelhardt, who has committed to North Carolina State. “Then on the last lap when I heard what we needed, I was thinking ‘We got this!”
Fakrogha added, “I love running with them and it was a great time to PR.”
Inspired by the girls’ performance, Ventura’s boys won the distance medley relay in 9:59.51 thanks to a strong closing 1,600 by senior Anthony Fasthorse, who clocked 4:07.95.
La Jolla won the girls’ 1,600 sprint medley relay in a California-leading 3:59.78, and Riverside Poly took first in the the boys’ race in 3:33.97.
Clovis (3:17.86) beat Long Beach Poly by one second to win the boys’ 4×400 relay after the Jackrabbits won the girls’ race in 3:49.66.
Carson junior Jerald Martin Evangelista impressed in the long jump with a winning mark of 23-7¾, the sixth-best leap in the state this season.
Hagop Marmarian of Pasadena Marshall won the boys’ shotput with a throw of 60-10.
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Last August, when the NASCAR Cup Series went to the road course at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen captured the checkered flag.
Now SVG finds himself at the top of the oddsboard to win again when the series goes Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, May 10 (3 p.m. ET, FS1).
Let’s take a look at where the rest of the field sits as of May 10 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen 2026
Shane van Gisbergen: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total)
Connor Zilisch: +360 (bet $10 to win $46 total)
Christopher Bell: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Tyler Reddick: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Ty Gibbs: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Chris Buescher: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Michael McDowell: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Austin Cindric: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Ross Chastain: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Chase Elliott: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Carson Hocevar: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Ryan Blaney: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Chase Briscoe: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
William Byron: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Kyle Larson: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
AJ Allmendinger: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Joey Logano: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Kyle Busch: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)
Denny Hamlin: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alex Bowman: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Daniel Suarez: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Brad Keselowski: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Bubba Wallace: +13000 (bet $10 to win $1,310 total)
Ryan Preece: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +35000 (bet $10 to win $3,510 total)
Riley Herbst: +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)
Austin Dillon: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Zane Smith: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
John Hunter Nemechek: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Erik Jones: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Todd Gilliland: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Josh Berry: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Noah Gragson: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Cole Custer: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Ty Dillon: +90000 (bet $10 to win $9,010 total)
Katherine Legge: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Josh Bilicki: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Cody Ware: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
The Favorite: Last year at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen finished eighth in Stage 1, 22nd in Stage 2 and led 38 laps on the day before getting into Victory Lane. And as it stands currently, SVG could use a win; the driver of the No. 97 car hasn’t won yet in 2026. He’s also 19th in the standings. However, he has two top 10s this year and one top-five finish. Bettors also might want to note that van Gisbergen won five of the six NASCAR road courses in 2025 and finished second at COTA earlier this year.
One to Watch: Another driver fans might want to keep their eyes on is Ryan Blaney. At The Glen in 2025, Blaney won the pole, finished seventh in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and finished the race sixth overall after leading 35 laps. On No. 12’s resume so far this year are seven top 10s, three top-five finishes and one win. He’s currently fourth in the standings.
For Sarah Gorden, Mother’s Day is special because it’s not just a celebration of motherhood. For her, it’s also a celebration of perseverance, grit and survival.
Especially survival.
Gorden became pregnant during her junior year of college and for most of the next 12 years, she tried to balance her life as a professional soccer player with her responsibilities as a single mother. It wasn’t easy.
“I honestly look back and I have no idea how we got through that,” said Gorden, who made $8,000 as an NWSL rookie with the Chicago Red Stars in 2016, less than the city’s minimum wage. “We’re making no money. We were definitely using government assistance and government aid. And then the help of family and friends.
“I’m impressed and proud of the part of me that got through that. But it was no way to live.”
As the memories come flooding back, so do the tears.
Angel City midfielder Ariadina Alves Borges walks off the pitch with her son, Luca, at BMO Stadium on May 2.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s so difficult to explain,” said Gorden, now 33 and the captain at Angel City, as she dabbed at the tears with a tissue. “Not having enough money, not having enough time, wondering if I’m being selfish, wondering if I’m making the right decision. Ultimately it came down to: I didn’t feel like I had another [choice].”
A decade later, the NWSL minimum wage is $50,500 and the league’s collective bargaining agreement guarantees mothers job protection, full salary and benefits for the duration of a pregnancy-related absence, stipends for child care and subsidized arrangements for women traveling with children up to age 14.
Angel City, founded by three mothers, has gone beyond what the league has mandated by supporting mothers with perks that include a well-stocked nursery at the team’s training facility on the campus of Cal Lutheran University.
“From the beginning, we always strive to support the whole player. Physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically,” said Julie Uhrman, one of Angel City’s founders and now a principal adviser to the team. “And then to support them if they came in as parents or became parents. That’s not just players. Staff too.”
Uhrman, who raised two children while building a successful career as a media and entertainment executive, speaks from experience.
“They can do both and they can excel at both,” she said of her players. “And we’re going to provide the support and the environment for them to do that.”
On its active roster of 25 players, Angel City has four mothers — the most in the NWSL. The work that went into the infrastructure now in place for them originated with Sarah Smith, the team’s former director of medical and performance.
Smith, who left the club in January and now advises elite athletes — primarily skiers — in Utah, said the support she got from Uhrman and others during her own pregnancy two and a half years ago inspired and informed her work with Angel City.
“Having the leadership of the club and the female leaders in the club, and then wanting to be able to support all of the players through their different journeys, through motherhood, I was really glad to be part of that,” she said. “But it really started with the fact that I had just gone through it, and I was able to share those experiences.”
Angel City forward Sydney Leroux’s 9-year-old son, Cassius, waits for his mom to leave a team huddle at BMO Stadium on May 2.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The first player she guided through that journey was Scottish forward Claire Emslie, who gave birth to a son in December.
“I’ll be honest. Having seen how much she wanted to do for moms in the game made me excited to become a mom,” Emslie said. “We weren’t even thinking about having a kid. But knowing what she wanted to do if there was a pregnant player made me want to have a kid because I knew that this is the best place I could possibly be.”
Emslie, 32, was cleared to suit up for Angel City’s game with San Diego on Saturday — the day before Mother’s Day — after missing the past 12 months on maternity leave. But she continued to train until just before giving birth and that, combined with the year off from the weekly pounding of professional soccer and the physiological changes her body went through during pregnancy, have made her better, she says.
“I feel better. I’m different,” she said. “I got a lot stronger and that’s something you can’t build while you’re in competition. My speed is back. I think I’m actually faster. And there’s also sort of an effect where you’ve got more red blood cells in your system now. So they say your cardio is actually better.”
The prime years for a women’s soccer player — between the ages of 25 and 29 — overlap with their prime reproductive years. Until recently, however, women had to make a choice between a family and a career. Now many are choosing to do both.
Sophia Wilson, a former NWSL scoring champion and MVP, and Mallory Swanson, her teammate on the U.S. Women’s National Team, both missed play in 2025 to give birth. They are among the 28 mothers in the league, and more are coming with the most recent NWSL availability report showing six teams missing players going on maternity leave.
Angel City player Claire Emslie, who is pregnant, tours a nursery the team built for players.
(Courtesy of Angel City FC)
Emslie’s own experiences tell her those numbers will continue to grow.
“I got to a point where I need[ed] to start thinking about life after football. And if I want to have a family, because of the biological clock, I need to start trying soon,” Emslie said. “It’s now kind of a normal thing to have a baby and come back.”
“Now I wish I’d done it younger,” she added. “Having a baby and continuing to play, they’re on the journey with you. So to have, say, five, six years professional football with a family, that’s amazing.”
Smith believes the willingness of star players such as Wilson and Swanson — and before them, Alex Morgan and Manchester United’s Hannah Blundell — has brought important focus to the issue of motherhood in soccer.
“That is where the game is going. I think you probably can see it across the league, the number of mothers,” Smith said. “And that’s a variety of circumstances. It may be mothers whose partners have carried children. It may be also players that are thinking about having children later and want to freeze their eggs. What I wanted to make sure is that we, we supported all of those different circumstances.”
That included designing and stocking the nursery at the training facility Angel City inherited from the NFL’s Rams in the fall of 2024.
“We put stuff in there for Caiden, for Sarah’s son, because it wasn’t just for Claire,” Smith said. “We wanted to make sure that all of the players and their partners felt good and comfortable. You just want to take a little bit of stress off of the players.”
Angel City captain Sarah Gorden with her oldest son, Caiden, during a photo shoot.
(Courtesy of Angel City FC)
When the club inherited the nine-acre practice facility in 2024 from the Rams, Angel City designated the largest of the offices for the nursery. The office belonged to head coach Sean McVay, and now it features walls painted pink and light blue and a crib, a changing table and a menagerie of stuffed animals.
“We want players to come to Angel City because we are the absolute best place for you to grow as an athlete, as a human,” Uhrman said. “And, you know, thinking about the fact that they might want to become mothers at some time or they’re coming in as mothers is really important.”
Gorden remembers a time not so long ago when that wasn’t the case. Early in her career in Chicago, she said she had to bring her son to a team meeting and was punished by being benched. Another time she couldn’t find child care on the day of a game — a Mother’s Day game.
“I just remember bawling all morning and just feeling so stressed,” she said.
Gorden has a fiance who is helping with parenting and her son Caiden, now in middle school, has grown into a sweet, empathetic boy.
“So yeah,” Gorden said, smiling through the tears, “a lot of progress. The league gets it now.”
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The highly anticipated 30th WNBA season tipped off Friday with three games, including the expansion Toronto Tempo’s first-ever contest.
The action continued Saturday with a full slate, including Caitlin Clark’s return after an injury-riddled sophomore season.
Clark and the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in a matchup featuring the four most recent No. 1 overall picks. The Wings outlasted the Fever 107-104, but the game was defined by Azzi Fudd’s — the most recent top pick — underwhelming debut.
Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers react during the first half of the Fever’s season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 9, 2026. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Fudd played 18 minutes off the bench, scoring three points — the lowest ever by a No. 1 overall pick in a WNBA debut.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez addressed Fudd’s performance after the game, encouraging the rookie to, “Keep doing what she’s doing, it’s her first year in the league. We got five really talented backcourt players.”
EX-WNBA STAR CRITICAL OF SKY ROOKIE HAILEY VAN LITH, BELIEVES POPULARITY PLAYED ROLE IN DRAFT SELECTION
In addition to Fudd, Dallas’ backcourt features last year’s top draft pick Paige Bueckers, last season’s No. 12 overall pick Aziaha James, four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale and starting guard Odyssey Sims.
Until Saturday, Kelsey Plum held the record for the lowest-scoring debut by a No. 1 pick. Selected first overall by the then-San Antonio Stars in 2017, she scored just four points in her debut. The Stars relocated to Las Vegas in 2018 and was subsequently rebranded as the Aces.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd warms up before the game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2026. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Despite the slow start to her first season in the league, Plum ended the year with All-Rookie team honors. In the years since, she’s been named to four All-Star teams and won two championships with the Aces.
The Wings’ decision to take Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick drew controversy, raising questions about whether Bueckers’ personal relationship with her influenced the selection. Late last month, Bueckers said last month it did not.
Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
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“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is as a basketball player,” Bueckers said, according to ESPN.
Neither Bueckers nor Fudd has publicly updated their relationship status since the April draft.
“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own,” Bueckers also said in April. “And what we choose to share is completely up to us.”
Next up, the Wings play their home opener on Tuesday when they host the Atlanta Dream.
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