state history

After record-setting performances in the 4×100 relays last weekend at the Arcadia Invitational, the Servite and Rosary relay teams will try to do it again on Saturday at the Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Servite relay team of sophomores Jace Wells, Jorden Wells and Kamil Pelovello and junior Benjamin Harris ran it in 39.70 seconds at Arcadia, the fastest in state history.

Rosary, which is the sister school for Servite, featured sophomore Tra’via Flournoy, senior Justine Wilson, junior Pfeiffer Lee and sophomore Maliyah Collins running 44.23, breaking Long Beach Poly’s 22-year-old state record of 44.50.

Coach Brandon Thomas works with both teams and said he wanted to support the track community by having both participate.

Defending state high jump champion JJ Harel will compete in his specialty after winning at Arcadia with a mark of 6 feet, 9 inches. He’s still only a few weeks into training because of a previous injury.

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.