Don't Skip the Friday Night Relays and Saturday Field Events at Arcadia!

Apr 06, 2017

Saturday Night Track Events Preview

Of course, there IS a reason why these events are held in such high esteem around the country - they're absolutely chock full of nationally-ranked talent, and annually produce some of the best performances of the season. It won't be surprising to see multiple new US #1 marks come out of the Saturday night session on the track, and it's almost impossible to pin down the best events when ALL of them are so strong. But here's my best attempt:

Boys and Girls 3200's

This is the event that put Arcadia on the map in the first place, and the field is just as incredible as you would expect. There are 17 girls entered who have run under 11 minutes this season alone, including 9 who have clocked 10:40 or faster. Foot Locker champion and current US #1 Claudia Lane (Malibu) has the best time by far, as the only runner to go sub-10:30 this spring, but don't be surprised if she has trouble breaking away from this field. Michaela Reinhart (Lexington Catholic) has run 10:33, putting her at US #7 right now. She will be hotly pursued by a fleet of California's top runners: Sara Leonard, Sylvia Cruz-Albrecht, Trinity Ruelas, Nicole Rice, and the list goes on. Perhaps most interesting, though, are the entries that do NOT have 3200 times yet this season - like Brie Oakley (Grandview CO) and Annie Hill (Glacier MT), who was 2nd in this race last year. Watch to see how many of these girls can go sub-10:30 with those two pushing Lane up front!

On the boys' side we see a similar story, but with an interesting twist: there are only 9 California boys in the Invitational section, which has to be among the lowest totals in race history. That leave a whopping 23 out-of-state competitors, and they are an impressive bunch to say the least. Current US #2 Callum Bolger (San Luis Obispo) has the best time this season at 9:00.90, and he has 4 competitors right on his shoulder, all of them at 9:03 or faster within the last two months: US #3 Ian Shanklin (Page NC), US #4 Michael Vernau (Davis Senior), US #5 Caleb Pottorff (Lincoln Park FL), and US #6 Cameron Ponder (Mount Tabor NC). If you look back at previous seasons, though, you can see that the field is even deeper: runners like Casey Clinger (American Fork), and Cooper Teare (St. Joseph Notre Dame) bring big race experience and low 8:50's PR's to this affair, and they will be in contention. We haven't even talked about four Foot Locker top 10 athletes yet: Finn Gessner (Madison La Follette WI), Seth Hirsch (Millard West NE), Tibebu Proctor (The Northwest School WA), and Connor Lane (Cardinal Gibbons NC), not to mention Luis Grijalva (Armijo)! As usual, this race is going to have a HUGE pack with a lot of jostling and lead changes, plus a mad dash to the finish line. And as usual, the big question is how many will break 9, which no athlete in the US has done so far this spring?

Boys and Girls Hurdles

Every single Invitational hurdle section features at least one elite match-up, but one of these races stands out the most. The girls 300 Hurdles should be absolutely incredible, with as many as 5 athletes capable of breaking 41 seconds! Shae Anderson (Norco) and Jurnee Woodard (Vacaville) will go head-to-head for the second time this spring; in the first race, only a stumble off the final hurdle prevented an upset by Anderson, as they posted the #2 and #3 times in the country. Neither can be considered the favorite, though, with Olympian Sydney McLaughlin (Union Catholic) in the stadium. Interestingly, McLaughlin has never run the 300H, as New Jersey contests the 400H - but she HAS run 36.82 for a straight 300 indoors, and she has a PR of 54.15 in the 400H. That's a national record (in fact, she has run 7 of the top 10 times in US history in that event), and that means she has a real chance to become only the second US high schooler to break 40 seconds in the 300H. If she does, or even comes close, she will surely pull Anderson and Woodard to sub-41's. Don't count Breanna Bernard-Joseph (Eleanor Roosevelt) out of a top 3 finish, either. The boys' 300H isn't as star-studded as the girls' race (how could it be?), but it will pit the top 4 in California (all of them under 38) against Cory Poole (East Orange NJ), who ran 51.56 for 400H last spring. Anthony Easter (Eleanor Roosevelt) currently leads our state with a time of 37.15, and this could be his chance to break 37.

Joseph Ansderson (Upland) is currently the most balanced hurdler in the state, ranking 2nd in the 300H with a 37.41 as well as 2nd in the 110H at 13.95. His PR in the high hurdles is 13.59, and he may need to run close to that to hold off Deion Lightfoot-Shelton (Kimball), who clocked 13.76 last weekend at Stanford. Easter is no slouch over the 110's, but if those two are on it should be neck-and-neck for the title. On the girls's side, we get to see yet another battle between Tara Davis (Agoura) and Woodard, with a surging upstart preparing to take BOTH of them down. Kaylah Robinson (El Cerrito) ran 13.52 at Stanford, putting her in a dead heat with Woodard at US #5 this season, and just 0.02 behind Davis' season best. Tara has the biggest PR of the three at 13.38, and that's what it very well may take to win this race.

Girls 400 & 200

Another big-time young woman from the East Coast has made the trip to Arcadia for this race: New York's Sammy Watson (Rush Henrietta), who has a PR of 52.69. She is better known for the 800, but watching her race current US #3 Carolyn Wilson (Oaks Christian) will be very interesting (also interesting: Wilson IS in the 800 at this meet). Sterling Lester (Marietta GA) has also run 52.69 and is an All-American at this distance, so this should be an excellent race! The boys' 400 features a showdown between Brian Herron (Lakeside GA, 46.29 last year) and Myles Ellis (Antelope, 46.78 in 2016).

In the 200, Lester is US #12 right now, and she will take on US #7 Jasmin Reed (JSerra) and US #13 Kaelin Roberts (Carson). This could be Reed's chance to show once again that she is the real deal, as she has a chance to take home wins in the 100 and 200. Also in the 200: Anderson, who has broken 24 this season, and Ariyonna Augustine (Long Beach Poly), who has a PR of 23.47. Like Reed, Isaiah Cunningham (Rancho Verde) could establish himself as the man to beat in the 100 and 200 in California, but he has to get past Herron and Zion Bowens (Long Beach Poly) to do that (not to mention Javelin Guidry and Asani Hampton in the 100).

Girls and Boys 800

Alyssa Brewer (California) ended the 2016 season with a CIF state title, but she currently ranks 4th in the state. She gets to race two of the three girls ahead of her in the rankings here, in Kiley McCarthy (Carlsbad) and Cathilyn McIntosh (Del Oro), in what could certainly develop into a race for the new state-leading time. When you include Mari Friedman (Santa Cruz) and Bailey Pate (West Ranch), all but one of the Golden State girls currently under 2:13 will be in this race! That one? Anderson, who is otherwise occupied at this meet.

Alex Scales (Bellarmine College Prep) leads the state in the boys' 800, and his top competitor from California in this race will be Dillon Beckum (Bonita). The favorite for the race, though, is Ryne Bevan (North Paulding, GA), who already has a US #6 1:51.81 under his belt this spring. Keep an eye on Christian Pigues (Rolesville NC), who has a PR of 1:53.19, which he ran indoors this winter.