Long Beach State University Athletics
Track & Field Completes Unique Recruiting Cycle With Seven Commitments
2/10/2021 9:21:00 AM | Track and Field
These seven future student-athletes have chosen to come and represent the Beach.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Closing out a unique recruiting cycle, Long Beach State Track and Field is excited to announce seven new commitments to come and represent the Beach next year in the 2021-22 campaign. The Beach welcomes in four high school women while turning to the college ranks for three new men joining the program."
"We identified our program's needs early on and we've been focused on building this foundation since then," noted Director of Track and Field Andy Sythe. "It's good to see the positive results of that work with this outstanding group and we are really pleased to have these student-athletes become part of our team. It is now upon us to help them develop personally, academically and athletically so that they can have more success in life because they were part of the program here at Beach.
"When the NCAA eliminated face to face contact back in April, we adapted and took to recruiting virtually," continued Sythe. "In an unexpected way, I feel we have become more effective as recruiters because we've been able to better convey who we are as program and as coaches on a more personal level. It also gave us the opportunity to showcase the support we have in every area of our program, whether it is administrative, academic, sports medicine, sports science, or personal development."
Tayah DeSousa – Hurdles/Long Jump/Multis
St. Thomas, Canada (Central Elgin Collegiate Institute)
Top Marks:
100m Hurdles - 14.22
Long Jump - 18'4 ¼" (5.59m)
60m Hurdles - 8.72
Pentathlon (Indoors) - 3210 pts.
An outstanding athlete with great potential in multiple disciplines, Tayah DeSousa is an International student who comes to the Beach from Ontario, Canada, where she had a strong youth career in the province. She was in indoor champion on two occasions, winning the Long Jump at the U20 level and the 60m hurdles at the U18 level. She also won the 80m hurdles at the OFSSA Junior Championships.
Entering as a freshman, her intended major is criminal justice.
Rahni Turner – Hurdles/Jumps
Mesa, Ariz. (Westwood High School)
Top Marks:
100m Hurdles - 14.10
300m Hurdles - 44.58
400m Hurdles - 64.21
Long Jump - 17'11" (5.46m)
High Jump - 5'4.25" (1.63m)
Rahni Turner burst onto the stage with a tremendous meet at the USATF Region 10 competition, winning both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Success in both distances is no fluke for Turner, who as a sophomore was the Arizona Division I state runner-up in the 100m hurdles. She also earned All-American honors at the USATF Junior Olympics, qualifying in the 400m hurdles.
A freshman, Turner's intended major is Psychology.
Maya Rush – Heptathlon
Covina, Calif. (Covina HS)
Top Marks:
Heptathlon - 4394 pts.
Javelin - 42.35m (138'11")
800m - 2:14.22
400m - 56.28
200m - 25.49
100m - 12.39
A two-sport athlete while in high school, the athletic versatility of Maya Rush will serve her well in the heptathlon. Competing at Serra High School in girl's basketball, she won the 2018 Southern Section and CIF State championships as a sophomore in 2018 before going on to captain her team at Covina High School.
Her primary focus has been track and field, and that has shown with great success both regionally and nationally. She is a three-time Junior Olympics national champion, repeating in the Javelin in 2015 and 2016 while also winning as part of the 4x800m relay. In three straight years from 2015 to 2017, she was the USATF Junior Olympics Athlete of the Year, scoring the most points in her age group and finished as an All-America at the event in four straight years, culminating in the 2017 Junior Olympics where she earned the honor in the Pentathlon, 400m, Javelin and both the 4x100m and 4x400 relays.
Coming to the Beach as a freshman, Maya plans to pursue a major in Kinesiology or Cinematic Arts.
Allie Scimia – Distances
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (Rancho Cucamonga HS)
The Beach also has added one distance runner as well as part of the class. The team captain of this year's Rancho Cucamonga High School track and field team, Scimia was the runner-up at the 2019 Baseline League Finals in the 1600m, and has a best time of 5:12 in the event as well as a best time of 10:56 in the 3200m.
Joining the program as a freshman, Allie plans to major in Psychology.
Zachery Glick – Jumps
Visalia, Calif. (Golden West HS/College of the Sequoias CC)
Top Marks:
Long Jump - 23'11.85" (7.30m)
Triple Jump - 48'4" (14.73m)
High Jump - 6'6" (1.98m)
Zachery Glick won the only meet of his junior college career so far, taking the long jump championship at the 2020 Battle of the Regions while competing for the College of the Sequoias. In high school, he qualified for the CIF State Championships in both the triple jump and the long jump and was the Central Section champion in both events, winning the triple jump in 2017 before winning the long jump in 2018.
Glick has three seasons of eligibility remaining, and will follow his father Joel to the Beach, who played Tight End for the football team during the final two years of the program.
Zachery looks to major in Kinesiology.
Elijah Harris – Jumps/Sprints
Benicia, Calif. (Benicia HS/Diablo Valley CC)
Top Marks:
Long Jump - 23'10" (7.26m)
100m - 10.80
Elijah Harris competed for Diablo Valley College briefly prior to the COVID shutdown in 2020, taking the top spot in the long jump twice at both the De Anza College Invitational and the Chabot Relays. That came on the heels of a strong first season as a freshman, where Harris took podium finishes in the event in both the Stanford Invitational and the Mt. SAC Invitational. In high school, Elijah was a finalist at the CIF State championships in the long jump in 2018, and was a two-time team captain with Benicia High School.
Harris has three years of eligibility remaining, and plans to major in Communications.
DJ Lawson – Distances
Visalia, Calif. (Redwood HS/College of the Sequoias CC/UCLA)
Top Marks:
800m - 1:54.65
1500m - 3:50.58
3000m - 8:26.14
5000m - 14:37.85
3000m Steeple Chase - 9:27.47
8000m (Cross Country) - 24:04.2
The team MVP during his freshman season in cross country at the College of the Sequoias, Lawson then transferred to UCLA, where he competed in a pair of cross country seasons as well as the 2019 track and field campaign. In his final season of cross country with UCLA, Lawson competed in five meets, including taking a 53rd overall place in the NCAA West Regional with a time of 31 minutes flat. In track and field competition, Lawson primarily ran the 5K, coming to the Beach with a personal best of 14:37.85.
Lawson has one season of cross country and two seasons of track and field eligibility remaining. A 2020 graduate of UCLA, he is pursuing an MA at Long Beach State.
"We identified our program's needs early on and we've been focused on building this foundation since then," noted Director of Track and Field Andy Sythe. "It's good to see the positive results of that work with this outstanding group and we are really pleased to have these student-athletes become part of our team. It is now upon us to help them develop personally, academically and athletically so that they can have more success in life because they were part of the program here at Beach.
"When the NCAA eliminated face to face contact back in April, we adapted and took to recruiting virtually," continued Sythe. "In an unexpected way, I feel we have become more effective as recruiters because we've been able to better convey who we are as program and as coaches on a more personal level. It also gave us the opportunity to showcase the support we have in every area of our program, whether it is administrative, academic, sports medicine, sports science, or personal development."
Tayah DeSousa – Hurdles/Long Jump/Multis
St. Thomas, Canada (Central Elgin Collegiate Institute)
Top Marks:
100m Hurdles - 14.22
Long Jump - 18'4 ¼" (5.59m)
60m Hurdles - 8.72
Pentathlon (Indoors) - 3210 pts.
An outstanding athlete with great potential in multiple disciplines, Tayah DeSousa is an International student who comes to the Beach from Ontario, Canada, where she had a strong youth career in the province. She was in indoor champion on two occasions, winning the Long Jump at the U20 level and the 60m hurdles at the U18 level. She also won the 80m hurdles at the OFSSA Junior Championships.
Entering as a freshman, her intended major is criminal justice.
Rahni Turner – Hurdles/Jumps
Mesa, Ariz. (Westwood High School)
Top Marks:
100m Hurdles - 14.10
300m Hurdles - 44.58
400m Hurdles - 64.21
Long Jump - 17'11" (5.46m)
High Jump - 5'4.25" (1.63m)
Rahni Turner burst onto the stage with a tremendous meet at the USATF Region 10 competition, winning both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Success in both distances is no fluke for Turner, who as a sophomore was the Arizona Division I state runner-up in the 100m hurdles. She also earned All-American honors at the USATF Junior Olympics, qualifying in the 400m hurdles.
A freshman, Turner's intended major is Psychology.
Maya Rush – Heptathlon
Covina, Calif. (Covina HS)
Top Marks:
Heptathlon - 4394 pts.
Javelin - 42.35m (138'11")
800m - 2:14.22
400m - 56.28
200m - 25.49
100m - 12.39
A two-sport athlete while in high school, the athletic versatility of Maya Rush will serve her well in the heptathlon. Competing at Serra High School in girl's basketball, she won the 2018 Southern Section and CIF State championships as a sophomore in 2018 before going on to captain her team at Covina High School.
Her primary focus has been track and field, and that has shown with great success both regionally and nationally. She is a three-time Junior Olympics national champion, repeating in the Javelin in 2015 and 2016 while also winning as part of the 4x800m relay. In three straight years from 2015 to 2017, she was the USATF Junior Olympics Athlete of the Year, scoring the most points in her age group and finished as an All-America at the event in four straight years, culminating in the 2017 Junior Olympics where she earned the honor in the Pentathlon, 400m, Javelin and both the 4x100m and 4x400 relays.
Coming to the Beach as a freshman, Maya plans to pursue a major in Kinesiology or Cinematic Arts.
Allie Scimia – Distances
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (Rancho Cucamonga HS)
The Beach also has added one distance runner as well as part of the class. The team captain of this year's Rancho Cucamonga High School track and field team, Scimia was the runner-up at the 2019 Baseline League Finals in the 1600m, and has a best time of 5:12 in the event as well as a best time of 10:56 in the 3200m.
Joining the program as a freshman, Allie plans to major in Psychology.
Zachery Glick – Jumps
Visalia, Calif. (Golden West HS/College of the Sequoias CC)
Top Marks:
Long Jump - 23'11.85" (7.30m)
Triple Jump - 48'4" (14.73m)
High Jump - 6'6" (1.98m)
Zachery Glick won the only meet of his junior college career so far, taking the long jump championship at the 2020 Battle of the Regions while competing for the College of the Sequoias. In high school, he qualified for the CIF State Championships in both the triple jump and the long jump and was the Central Section champion in both events, winning the triple jump in 2017 before winning the long jump in 2018.
Glick has three seasons of eligibility remaining, and will follow his father Joel to the Beach, who played Tight End for the football team during the final two years of the program.
Zachery looks to major in Kinesiology.
Elijah Harris – Jumps/Sprints
Benicia, Calif. (Benicia HS/Diablo Valley CC)
Top Marks:
Long Jump - 23'10" (7.26m)
100m - 10.80
Elijah Harris competed for Diablo Valley College briefly prior to the COVID shutdown in 2020, taking the top spot in the long jump twice at both the De Anza College Invitational and the Chabot Relays. That came on the heels of a strong first season as a freshman, where Harris took podium finishes in the event in both the Stanford Invitational and the Mt. SAC Invitational. In high school, Elijah was a finalist at the CIF State championships in the long jump in 2018, and was a two-time team captain with Benicia High School.
Harris has three years of eligibility remaining, and plans to major in Communications.
DJ Lawson – Distances
Visalia, Calif. (Redwood HS/College of the Sequoias CC/UCLA)
Top Marks:
800m - 1:54.65
1500m - 3:50.58
3000m - 8:26.14
5000m - 14:37.85
3000m Steeple Chase - 9:27.47
8000m (Cross Country) - 24:04.2
The team MVP during his freshman season in cross country at the College of the Sequoias, Lawson then transferred to UCLA, where he competed in a pair of cross country seasons as well as the 2019 track and field campaign. In his final season of cross country with UCLA, Lawson competed in five meets, including taking a 53rd overall place in the NCAA West Regional with a time of 31 minutes flat. In track and field competition, Lawson primarily ran the 5K, coming to the Beach with a personal best of 14:37.85.
Lawson has one season of cross country and two seasons of track and field eligibility remaining. A 2020 graduate of UCLA, he is pursuing an MA at Long Beach State.
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