Our All-City Athletes of the Year award has been around for more than a decade, just a fraction of the 120+ year history of amazing youth athletes in Long Beach. But over the last 11 years we’ve gotten a good look at the top flight of the city’s talent pool: previous recipients of this award have been NFL Pro Bowlers, Olympians, NCAA Freshmen of the Year, NCAA champions, and first-round NBA Draft picks.
This year’s honorees are sure to carry the All-City banner proudly into the future. This year’s trio recognizes two of the city’s deepest and best traditions: aquatics and track and field, as well as the two oldest schools in the city with Poly and Wilson, and a rising athletic powerhouse in Millikan.
Our girls’ honoree is Sammie Hamilton, Wilson’s state champ and nationally acclaimed swimmer who’s headed to Kentucky. On the boys’ side it’s Poly’s Xai Ricks, the No. 5-ranked track and field athlete in this class alongside Millikan’s Jason Parra, the finest distance runner the city has produced.
Girls’ All-City Athlete of the Year: Sammie Hamilton, Wilson Swimming
Wilson senior Sammie Hamilton will go down as one of the best high school swimmers in Long Beach history, if not the best. Hamilton was an All-American in several events this year while leading her team to another Moore League championship, and while she set several city and school records including the 200 and 500 free.
She also ended the postseason in historic fashion. Hamilton won the CIF-SS Division 1 championship in the 500 free, winning the event by more than six seconds and narrowly missing qualifying for the Olympic Trials. She went on to win the city’s first CIF State title by a girls swimmer, taking the 500 free in Clovis at the CIF State meet. Hamilton also finished eighth in the 200 free at the state meet.
“I used to want (to make history and break records) and now I can understand why that’s actually happening,” Hamilton said. “I put in the work, harder than I’ve seen a lot of people. I made it happen. I put a lot of work into being super good at what I do.”
Hamilton is off to swim at Kentucky next year, with NCAA and Olympic future ahead of her.
Boys’ All-City Athlete of the Year: Xai Ricks, Long Beach Poly Track & Field
Long Beach Poly senior Xai Ricks didn’t have the senior season he envisioned.
He wanted to win multiple state titles and compete for the first time in the postseason in the 800, his best event and one he’s been among the very best in the nation in for the last three seasons. Ricks hasn’t run the 800 in the postseason as he’s been making himself available to score more points for his team in shorter distances, but his senior year everything was on the table from the 200 to the 800, including the 300 hurdles.
Instead, a hamstring injury limited his year, and he spent the entire season working his way back from it. Most athletes of his caliber would have shut their senior season down. Ricks was already signed to Nike’s Elite team, a handful of prep athletes across the country that Nike has identified as the future of the sport. He also already signed a scholarship with Georgia (MileSplit rated him the No. 5 recruit in the sport, nationally).
But Ricks wanted to win for his team. He ran hurt through much of the postseason, admitting he “hadn’t felt like himself” since his junior year. He was still able to put together his best day on the last day of the year, running a 46.79 to win the state title in the 400 as the city’s only boys’ individual state champ in Clovis. His title led Poly to their first boys’ team state title since 2011 and cemented his name alongside the greats like Bryshon Nellum.
He also ran on Poly’s state-leading 4×200, their No. 2-ranked 4×400, and their top-ranked sprint medley relay.
Boys’ All-City Athlete of the Year: Jason Parra, Millikan Cross Country/Track & Field
Millikan senior Jason Parra came into his high school career with a lot of goals. He leaves as the best high school distance runner that Long Beach has ever produced.
At Woodward Park in Fresno, the superstar senior made more history for his school–and his city–winning the Boys’ Division 1 Cross Country State Championship in a time of 14:56.8, becoming just the second state champion ever from Long Beach.
“I was pretty happy, I’ll be honest,” said Parra, on how it felt to cross the finish line first. “I was kind of thinking, ‘Finally.’ It’s eluded me for two years now. I’ve had a couple of cracks at it and I haven’t been able to get it. But now, I finally have one under my belt so it feels pretty good.”
His time of 14:56.8 set a city record at the state meet.
He finished his cross country career as a four-time Moore League champ, with a CIF-SS and a CIF State gold as well, and also holds the three-mile record in Long Beach.
In the Spring he continued his golden career, winning the 3200 at the CIF-SS meet and setting a new Division 1 record in the process. He took third in the event at the CIF State meet in his last high school race. He won three CIF-SS titles in the event as well as three top-three finishes at the CIF State meet.
Parra is off to Notre Dame as part of the nation’s top distance recruiting class.
All-City Athlete of the Year Honorees
2014: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ariana Washington
2015: Daniel McArthur, Imani McDonald
2016: Jack Jones, Ali Morallos
2017: Sam Lewis, Ayanna Clark
2018: Tyler Schafer, Ariyonna Augustine
2019: Will Frankenfeld, Rachel Glenn
2020: Peyton Watson, Tiare Jennings
2021: Hank Rivers, Jade McDonald
2022: Gray Carson, Laura Williams & Adonia Faumuina
2023: Colin Geer, Aujane Luckey
2024: Xai Ricks & Jason Parra, Sammie Hamilton
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