southern section title

Beckham Borquez of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame suffered a spill during the running of the 110 high hurdles on Saturday night at the Arcadia Invitational.

Initially, he was more upset at himself for falling over one of the last hurdles and landing on the track. You could see skin on his shoulder was exposed after scrapping the track, but the real pain came from his hip.

He gathered himself, feeling frustrated, then rested on the infield turf waiting for an athletic trainer to arrive to offer assistance. Track coach Joe McNab was first to arrive to check on him. McNab quipped about being pre-med in college. Soon Borquez was seen walking off to get his shoulder bandaged.

I snapped a photo of him on the ground only to keep it as a reminder when he’s back winning races because that’s what he’s going to do, like getting back on a horse that you fall from, learning and succeeding next time.

He’s run 13.91 in the event, should be favorite to win the Mission League title on April 30, then take aim at a Southern Section title. High school athletes are tough and resilient, and that’s what he showed in his moment of misery.

“I’m pretty bruised,” he said Sunday morning. “I’m coming back.”

He got his shoulder taped and was sent home. He’s going through rehabilitation this week so he could be back for a dual meet and the Mt. SAC Invitational on Saturday.

“That’s the first time I’ve fallen in the 110,” he said. “It was tricky. I was moving fast, clipped the eighth hurdler and lost my balance. That’s never happened to me before.”

Have no fear, for Beckham has learned.

“These next two weeks, I’ll be on my redemption,” he said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Hall of Fame high school football coach Bob Johnson, who turned El Toro and Mission Viejo into powerhouse high school football programs and became one of the winningest coaches in state history, has died. He was 80. He had been battling Alzheimer’s.

“I feel for the family,” Mission Viejo football coach Chad Johnson (no relation) said Wednesday.

Johnson passed early Wednesday morning,

Johnson won six Southern Section titles coaching at Mission Viejo and three at El Toro while winning 338 games, the second winningest in Orange County history and in the top five in state history, according to the Orange County Register.

He retired after the 2017 season and was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame in 2023.

His two sons, Rob and Bret, were standout high school quarterbacks before enrolling at USC and UCLA, respectively. Rob made it to the NFL. Both became coaches after their playing days were completed. Rob still coaches as an assistant at Mission Viejo.