Wilson Handles Handy Work

The Long Beach Wilson girls’ track and field team was looking forward to making a statement Saturday night at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays.

Such as, they could finish a relay without dropping the baton.

Wilson, which was disqualified for a mishandled exchange for the third time this season last week at the Texas Relays, set a nation-leading time in winning the 400-meter relay in 45.73 seconds. The Bruins won the 800 relay in 1 minute 38.74 seconds.

In the invitational individual events, Ebony Collins won the 100 meters and 300 hurdles for the Bruins and teammate Tiana Hood won the 200. Collins and Hood, who ran legs on the winning relay teams, said the Bruins are proving they have what it takes to win a state title.

“As long as we hold onto the baton,” Collins said.

Collins, who finished third in state last year in the 100 and fifth in the 300 hurdles, set a nation-leading mark of 41.83 in winning the low hurdles. In the 100, she blew past Rancho Cucamonga’s Sa’de Williams at the halfway point and won in 11.57, the second-fastest wind-aided mark in the country this season.

Hood, a senior who has been slowed throughout her career by injuries and personal conflicts, won the 200 in a lifetime-best 23.97.

“I really wanted to contribute something to the team,” Hood said. “I feel like I owe it to them. I really do.”

Robert Williams of Riverside Ramona is another senior who feels he has something to prove this season. Williams did not advance past the Southern Section finals last season after he “froze up” coming out of the blocks in the 110 hurdles.

But Williams, who broke his arm playing football last fall, is proving to be one of the favorites this season after winning the high-hurdle event in a wind-aided 14.09. He finished third in the 300 hurdles behind winner Terry Prentice of Pomona Diamond Ranch (37.96).

“I figured out how to stay calm,” Williams said.

Colin Campbell of Ventura, a surprise winner in the 800 at the Arcadia Invitational, won the 400 in 48.40. The level of competition dropped off after Bryshon Nellum of Long Beach Poly and Courtney Williams of Los Angeles Dorsey scratched from the event, but Campbell wasn’t thinking about his opponents.

“I just wanted to work on my speed,” he said.

L.A. Loyola set a nation-leading time in winning the distance medley relay in 10:05.12, with Mark Matusak running the 1,600 anchor in 4:09.3. Dorsey’s sprint medley relay team set a nation-leading time of 3:27.31.

Dorsey won the 400 relay (41.04) and Long Beach Poly won the 800 (1:27.43) and 1,600 (3:17.10) relays. Among the other individual winners were Rodney Glass of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the 100 (10.66) and Danny Rohr of Arroyo Grande in the discus (192 feet 4).