The oldest prep post-season invitational returns to Sacramento in conjunction with the USA National Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Here is the preview of the meet and all the top competitors from this Saturday's event.
We will start with the girls' mile. The clear favorite is Josette Norris from Tenafly HS in New Jersey. She finished in 2nd place at this year's state meet in the 1600m. after setting the state record last year at 4:41.61. She will be attending the University of North Carolina next year on a full ride. The race appears to be for 2nd place between Christina Aragon of Billings Montana and Julia Maxwell of Branson School in Ross, California. They raced each other earlier this year at the Stanford Invitational with Aragon coming out ahead with her 5th place finish in 4:53.63. Maxwell ran 5:01.73 as she will still recovering from an injury but did improve her 1600m. time later in the season to 4:54.48 at her league final.
The boys' mile race will have a little more depth with 4 boys that seem in contention for the victory. Leading the way with the fastest entry time will be Acalanes HS runner, Michael Wang, who recorded his personal record (PR) at last year's Sacramento MOC (4:14.67). He qualified for the CA state track and field meet this year with his 3rd place finish at the NCS MOC. Kasey Knevelbaard, a talented junior from the Central Section, might have the best range in this group with his 1:54.50, 4:14.97 and 9:12.80 personal records. Dajour Braxton of Centennial HS in Nevada will also be in the mix with a 1600m PR of 4:16.59. He recorded three 2nd place finishes at the Nevada state championship to help his team finish in 2nd place behind McQueen HS in Division I competition. Sonora HS runner, Steven Grolle, won the 3000m. at the Stanford Invitational and came back to record a 4th place finish in the mile (4:17.57). He focused on the 3200m. at his section final and advanced to the state meet with a PR of 9:13.97.
The girls' 100m. hurdles race will feature the hurdle winners at the CA state track and field meet. Mecca McGlaston of Dublin HS continued to lower her time all season which included a victory at the Stanford Invite as well as an NCS championship. At the CA state meet, McGlaston beat a tough field with her new lifetime best of 13.54. Freshman, Reonna Collier of Piedmont Hills HS, finished in 4th place in that race but came back to claim the 300m. hurdles in 40.90. Two other hurdlers are intered in the meet with PRs less than 14 seconds and they are Sidney Mosley of Monrovia CA who recorded her best time of 13.88 at the Mt. SAC Invitational. Vacaville HS freshman, Jurnee Woodward was on the national record setting team for the 4x100m. hurdles relay and recorded her PR of 13.94 at the CA state meet to finish in 6th place.
In the boys' 110m. hurdles race, Marquis Morris of De La Salle HS will be the clear favorite. He won the CA state meet in the highs as a junior, finished in 2nd place at a senior but came back to win the 300m. hurdles. He holds the fastest entry time with the 13.68 he ran in finishing in 2nd place at the just completed state meet. Alex Billing of Simi Valley HS finished in 3rd place with his own PR of 14.01. Javior Robinson of St. Mary's Berkeley recorded his best time of 14.16 at the Arcadia Invitational and advance to the state meet out of NCS with his 3rd place finish.
The girls' 400m. race will feature the D'Arpino twins from North Valley HS in Oregon. Vanessa D'Arpino won the 4A meet and brings the fastest PR in the field at 54.68. Sister Kerissa D'Arpino, finished in 2nd place and has a PR of 55.63. Victoria Powell from Georgia may be the favorite and had a PR of 54.06 which she recorded before high school. Timarya Baynard of Piedmont Hills HS recorded her season best time of 55.48 at the CA state meet and was a member of the 2nd place 1600m. relay team. Mikaela Smith of Clovis North HS won the CA state meet in the 800m. in impressive fashion and her 400m. PR is 55.34 from her freshman season when the one lap race was her focus. She will be tough to beat if she is in contact with the leaders as they hit the homestretch.
Junior Jeremy Wright of Terra Nova HS, Pacifica CA certainly was not known before the start of this season but will now attract a lot of attention from college coaches after his PR of 47.01 and 3rd place finish at the CA state meet, He will be one of the favorites in the boys' 400m. and will try to dip under the 47 second barrier after two narrow attempts. He will be challenged by Sebastian Feyersinger of McQueen HS in Nevada who finished in 2nd place at the Nevada state championship with a PR of 47.17. Aspyn Walton of Woodcreek HS was on the winning 400m. relay team at the CA state meet and had a season best time of 47.20 in the 400m. Joe Herrera of Tulare Western HS finished in 4th place, right behind Wright, with his PR of 47.25. Herrera is a fearless front runner that won't be afraid to lead from the start and dare the rest of the field to go with him.
The fastest time in the girls' 100m. belongs to Candace Hill of Rockdale County HS in Georgia. She has run 11.44 this year and was a double winner at the 6A meet in Georgia in the 100/200. Ngozi Musa of Holy Names Academy HS, Seattle comes in at 11.61. She is undefeated this year in the 100m. at her new school after two years in Milwaukee at Devine Savior Holy Angels School. Diamond Spaulding of St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida has also run 11.61 and finished in 5th place in the highly competitive Florida state meet. Also in the mix will be Kaysha Love of Herriman HS in Utah who has run 11.67. She was the Utah 5A state champion. Reonna Collier and the D'Arpino sisters are all entered in the 100m. but may not compete as they will be plenty busy with other events.
The boys' 100m. appears to be a wide open affair. Among the contenders will be Ahmed Obed of Adolfo Cammarillo HS in CA. He has run 10.73 but really shined in the 200 and finished in 6th place at the CA state meet. Marquis Morris will attempt to double up in the high hurdles and the 100m. and boasts a PR of 10.68. Aaron Jones of Castro Valley HS posted his best time of 10.74 at the CA state meet and anchored his 400m. relay team to a 2nd place finish. Sebastian Feyersinger helped his team win the Nevada Division 1 state championship with his performance in all three sprint events including a 10.80 in the 100m.
As with many events, several athletes are entered in multiple events and will probably end up choosing one or two events to focus on at the meet. Michael Smith is entered in the 400m. and 800m. and may end up choosing one of the two events. She will be competitive in both events but if she were to focus on the 800m., she would be the clear favorite. She won her second straight CA state championship this season in a new PR of 2:06.85. Bianca Bryant of Piedmont Hills HS finished in 5th place at the CA state meet and recorded her own PR in 2:09.12. Those two athletes should be well in front of the rest of the field and the only two questions that remain is if they run and if they do, how fast will they run.
The boys' 800m. will pit Illinois vs. California with future Stanford University and just graduated Maple Park HS runner Nathanial Kucera vs Roseville HS junior, Arturo Sotomayor. Kucera has a lifetime best of 1:51.33 He just recently ran 1:52.95 at the WISCO Mile 800m. Sotomayor had the fastest 800m. time entered in the CA state meet but was bounced out at the trials in a crowded heat. He is a fearless front runner who will be fired up to finish up the season with a better effort here. Dajour Braxton may double back following the mile and he does have a very competitive 1:54.00 PR.
With CA state 300m. hurdle champion Reonna Collier focusing on other events, the girls' 300m. hurdles race will be wide open. Among the leading contenders will be Vacaville HS freshman Jurnee Woodward who has run 42.58 and spent the season training with three of the best hurdlers in the state of CA. Lyndsey Lopes of Clovis West was also a competitor at the CA state meet and ran her PR of 43.67 at the trials. Hannah Davis was the 4th member of the Vacaville national record setting team in the 4x100m. hurdles relay. Amazing for one school to have four hurdlers qualify to the state meet with Davis making it in the 300m. hurdles in 42.96.
The boys' 300m. hurdles race will feature one of the top hurdles in the Sac-Joaquin Section, Jah'mar Sexton of Monterey Trail HS. He finished in 2nd place at the SJS Masters meet with a lifetime best time of 38.64. He may be unchallenged as only three other hurdlers have dipped under the 40 second mark and those are Josepth Conner of Pleasant Grove HS (39.68), Afari La-Anyane of Live Oak HS (39.79) and Darren Myers of Bella Vista HS (39.92).
With the girls' 200m. coming later in the meet, the favorite will be dependent on who will double back from earlier events. The competitors entered in the 200m. includes Diamond Spaulding, Candace Hill, Vanessa D'Arpino, and Kaysha Love. All competitors come in with PRs of 24.11 or faster with Spaulding the fastest at 23.01.
The boys' 200m. may experience the same fate as the girls with multiple scratches from top comtitors but the field is deeper and the fastest heat should still be quite competitive. The favorite is Ahmed Obed of Camarillo HS who finished in 6th place at the CA state meet and has a best time of 21.07. His closest challenger, Gerald Mills, will be making the trip from Fort Bend Marshall HS in Texas and his best time is 21.25. Sebastian Feyersinger is entered in all three sprint events and may not run here but if he runs, he can definitely compete with the top two entered athletes at 21.33.
The girls' 3200m. race will have two familiar foes up front with Los Altos HS sophomore Lauren Jacob and Harker HS freshman, Niki Iyer. Jacob was the CCS Division 2 cross country champion and qualified for the CA state meet in the 3200m. with a near PR of 10:46.33. Iyer really came into her own this year during XC and followed that up with a terrific track season that included a 5th place finish at the CCS meet with a PR of 10:51.14. Both athletes will be heard from early and will both keep the pace honest despite the projected hot weather.
The boys' 3200m. race may be an interesting one with only four entries. Two of the entrants, Steven Grolle and Kasey Knevelbaard, could have already run in the mile and may choose to skip the longer race. They may also skip the mile and look to go head to head here. Knevelbaard has a slightly faster PR with his 9:12.80 over Grolle's 9:13.97. Just as I mentioned with the girls race, the weather is supposed to be a scorcher this weekend and could lead to a very tactical race. The two other competitors will be coming from central CA from the soon to be very famous school, McFarland HS. A movie with the same name will be making it's debut on November 21 this year featuring the McFarland HS cross country teams and their legendary coach, Jim White. Those two athletes will be Tommy Valles and Melecio Gonzalez who have both run under 10 minutes.