By JOHN MURPHY
COVINA - Thrice was nice for Walnut High junior Chloe Arriaga on Saturday at San Dimas High.
Arriaga won the girls 1,600 meters of the 13th San Gabriel Valley Championships for the third consecutive time, finishing in 5:04.92. Chloe's fraternal twin sister Emma took second place in 5:08.93 on the hot, cloud-less day.
"It's awesome that I was able to defend my title," Chloe said. "I didn't know if I'd be able to (set my personal record). I'm a little disappointed by my time, but I was kind of out there in what my coach calls no-man's land. There was nobody ahead of me, so I was just sort of going with it."
Chloe, a junior with a 3.8 grade point average who is set to visit Cal, has run 4:52. She ran in the State Meet last season but did not make the finals.
"I'd like to run 4:40 and my goal is to make it to the finals at State," she said.
Chloe Arriaga, one of CA's elite XC runners and a Foot Locker National Championships qualifier in the fall, also won the 3,200 Saturday in a stadium-record 11:17.72.
Also, La Canada freshman Ellaney Matarese turned in a sparkling performance in the 1,600, finishing third in 5:12.24.
Glendora's Owen Qin-Wilson bolted to a 14.97 finish to win the boys 100-meter hurdles, ahead of La Serna's Aaron Mahlow (15.14) who finished second.
"It was fun," Qin-Wilson said. "It was a good race. I think the key was the guys I was racing against - without them I wouldn't be here."
Qin-Wilson (John Murphy photo above) is tall and athletic at 6-foot-3. He can dunk a basketball, he said.
It wasn't all about winning for every competitor. Some were just trying to improve as the season marches on. Toward that end San Dimas' Shaylynn Wynn turned in a workmanlike performance, taking second in the girls 100 hurdles in 15.88. La Mirada's Citalli Anguiano won the race in 15.61.
"There's always room for improvement, but I did the best I could," said Wynn, a senior. "I'm working on my start and my sprint between the hurdles."
Wynn finished fifth at the Southern Section finals last year.
Related:
Also prepping for the end of the season was Alec Fernandez of Arcadia, who took second (4:37.20) in the boys varsity 1,600. La Serna's Andrew Hernandez won the event in 4:35.11.
"It's a PR for me, so I'm pretty excited," Fernandez said. "I'm just getting ready for my senior year."
Fernandez, a junior, transferred to Arcadia from Kingwood High in Texas. He said the training regimen here has been good and everyone has been "very welcoming."
Other results of note:
- Arroyo junior Noah Hibbard won the boys championship 1,600 in 4:23.06 to edge Bonita's David Hidalgo (4:26.14).
- The Arcadia A girls 400 relay team won in 48.67.
- The Bishop Amat boys A team won the 400 relay in 43.09.
- Arcadia's Lauren Buehner prevailed in the girls 400 in 57.99, ahead of second-place teammate Jillian Taylor (59.97). Buehner's win at the San Gabriel Valley Championships was her fourth consecutive and she holds the meet record of 57 seconds in 2017.
- Bishop Amat senior Nick Guajardo won the boys 400 in a track-record 48.88, ahead of second-place teammate Justin Scalf (50.53).
- Arcadia's Stephanie Yen took the girls 100 in 12.58, ahead of second-place Emily Hawk (12.68) of La Mirada.
- Monrovia senior Michael Washington won the boys 100 in a track-record 10.99. Hacienda Heights Glen A. Wilson's Tyrie Lane was second in 11.0, the second-best time ever run at San Dimas.
- Arcadia's Nikki Wong won the girls 800 in 2:19.83, with Walnut's Emma Arriaga picking up another second, this one in 2:20.58.
- La Puente's Miguel Ayala set a track record in the boys 800, winning in 1:54.92. Arroyo's Hibbard was second in 1:55.89, the second-best 800 ever run on the track. Third-place finisher Anthony Carranza (1:56.28) turned in the third-best time in track history.
- San Dimas' Wynn won the girls 300 hurdles in 45.40.
- Three competitors in the boys 300 hurdles bettered the previous track record - La Serna's Aaron Mahlow (39.78), Bishop Amat's Scalf (39.91) and California's Humberto Arteaga (40.21).
- La Mirada's Hawk won the girls 200 in 25.80, ahead of second-place Buehner of Arcadia (25.91).
- Glen A. Wilson's Lane took the boys 200 in 22.41.
- California's Gabriel Ramirez won the boys 3,200 in 9:39.24. Bonita's Hidalgo was right behind in 9:39.32.
- The Monrovia A team won the boys 1,600-meter relay in 3:26.39.
- Covina's Aaron Rodriguez captured the boys frosh-soph pole vault with a dazzling effort of 13 feet, two inches.
- Arcadia's Stephanie Yen won the girls long jump with a leap of 17-10.
- Gabrieleno's Min Han captured the shot put with a heave of 49-4 ½.
- Bell Gardens' Nikki Escobar won the girls discus with a stadium-record heave of 114-7.
- Chino's Andrew Aguilar won the boys long jump with a leap of 21-3.
- California's Emeliza Fernandez won the girls pole vault with a stadium-record 11-4. West Covina's Amy Campos also did 11-4 last season at San Dimas.
- California's Nathaniel Carranza won the boys pole vault with a stadium-record mark of 14-2.