“This one means a lot,” Coach Rafiu Bakare said. “This is the group that has been together for a few years, and today it started to jell. Our goal was to show the rest of this area that we are a track school. We’re not just football; we’re not just basketball; we’re track.”

Led by South Carolina commit Nyckoles Harbor, the male track performer of the meet after he won the 100 meters (10.47 seconds) and 200 (20.77, a meet record) and was part of the winning teams in the 4×100 relay (41.21, a meet record) and 4×200 (1:24.60, a meet record), Carroll dominated the sprint events en route to the title.

“We are definitely a track school,” said junior sprinter Damill Bostic, who won the 400 (48.90). “We knew we had enough to get the job done.”

“Carroll is a small school,” 4×200-winning anchor Marcus Brown said, “but we have the heart, and that’s why we came out with a ring today.”

On the girls’ side, St. John’s (176) coasted to its fifth straight first-place finish, beating Elizabeth Seton (128.5) and Bishop McNamara (108.5).

The Cadets felt stronger this season after a mid-April meet at Mt. San Antonio College, roughly 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

“We knew we had something special, and then it really came to fruition [Saturday],” Coach Desmond Dunham said. “It’s just been a pretty surreal experience this entire season.”

“The synergy, the team effort, the chemistry has just been there this entire season,” Dunham added. “When you talk about individuals coming together, you do extraordinary things, and that definitely is the trademark of this group.”

The Cadets swept the four relays — all of which were meet records — and won nine of 17 events. Sophomore Cymia Yourish broke the meet record in the 400 in 54.29 and was on the winning 4×200 and 4×400 relays.

The team calls itself a family, the guiding principle in its success.

“I’m a senior, so winning the title for me was everything today,” said senior captain Lailah King, who earned gold in the 100 and 4×100. “For the team, I was a leader to a lot of these girls. A lot of them are like my little sisters, so it was just a super loving environment.”

Distance standout Evelyn Rogers of Elizabeth Seton was the girls’ track performer of the meet.

DeMatha’s Michael Hansford (long jump, triple jump) and Paul VI’s Alauna Rutland (high jump, long jump) were named boys’ and girls’ field performers of the meet. Bakare was named coach of the year.