FRIDAY PREVIEW
Girls 3200m. (Meet record: Claudia Lane Malibu 10:24.72 '18)
The first high school event will be the girls' 3200m. Last year was the first year that the Stanford Invite switched from 3000m to 3200m and Claudia Lane established the meet record which will probably survive through at least this year's meet. The favorite will be Healdsburg senior Gabrielle Peterson (Christopher Chung photo above) who easily won the Dublin Distance Fiesta and guaranteed herself a spot at the Arcadia Invitational. She won that race from the gun and will more than likely do the same here.
Boys 3200m. (Meet record: Liam Anderson Redwood 9:08.93 '18)
The favorite in this event will be the defending champion and meet record holder, Liam Anderson (file photo above) of Redwood. The only question here is whether Liam will break his own meet record. Just like the girls, this could be a runaway victory for the Redwood senior.
Girls 400m. Hurdles (Meet Record Angela Harris Skyline-OAK 60.53 '94)
The 400m. hurdles is one of the few remaining unique events at the Stanford Invitational and this is truly a tough event. That extra 100m. makes it super tough for the many hurdlers who are used to the 300m. distance. The co-favorites for the win here will be Taylor Weidinger of Las Lomas who has the fastest 300m. time this year at 43.91. The fastest overall personal record belongs to Shimona Draper of Oak Ridge who ran 43.67 last season and was a state meet qualifier. Teammate Kathryn Bingham participated in this event at last year's meet and may have an advantage with that experience.
Boys 400m. Hurdles (Meet Record: David Klech California-NCS 50.35 '06)
Before we get to the leading contenders in this event, we should first admire the meet record that was set in 2006 by California HS uber-athlete, David Klech. The time of 50.35 would have qualified him for this year's open 400m here and currently stands as the 21st fastest time in this event in US history.
The fastest entrant here is an Oregon athlete as Willamette's Dylan Murray ran to his personal best 37.84 to finish 2nd in state last year in 6A. St. Mary's Stockton Jamar Marshall, Newark Memorial's Jaelen Craft and Los Gatos senior Joey Monti will all give Murray strong opposition as they will all try to ensure that the Stanford Invitational title in this event stays in California.
Distance Medley Relays-Girls (Meet Record: Oak Ridge-SJS 11:51.00 '07)
The fastest DMR team in California this year is the La Costa Canyon girls with their 12:14.83 best from the Falcon Relays. They will not be participating at the Stanford Invitational DMR which means that the favorite at this meet should be the St. Francis, Sacramento girls (photo above courtesy of St. Francis). They won the always competitive Dublin Distance Fiesta as their talented junior Isabella Fauria ran down some very talented runners for the win. Palos Verdes will travel up north and will certainly put their best foursome on the track in hopes of taking the title. Maria Carrillo and Oak Ridge have been strong contenders for many years and should be considered among the leading contenders.
Distance Medley Relays-Boys (Meet Record: Bellarmine-CCS 10:03.67 '17)
With the sad elimination of the 4 x 800m. relay a few years ago, this will be the lone distance relay at the Stanford Invite and certain teams certainly take great pride in doing well in this event. Among the favorites will be Jesuit and their star junior, Matt Strangio. Palos Verdes could very well sweep the team titles here provided their girls could come through first with a win in their event. Bellarmine has done quite well in this event here and established the still standing meet record in 2017.
Long Jump (Boys and Girls)
Meet Record Boys: Malcolm Clemons St. Mary's Berkeley 24'5.5" '18
Meet Record Girls: Brittany Daniels Merrill West-SJS 20'0.25 '05
The favorite here would have been St. Mary's Berkeley talented junior, Malcolm Clemons. Last year, Clemons sailed over 25 feet to win his first state title. Unfortunately, Clemons will not be participating at this year's meet as he is currently injured. That means that we will have multiple jumpers who will be in contention for the win including Elijah Harris of Benicia, Kyu Kelly of Bishop Gorman and The King's Academy teammates, Kamau Carlisle, and Bralyn Lux.
The winner in this event will be one of the following young ladies. Silver Creek senior Jazlynn Shearer is a talented athlete who be vying for multiple victories at this meet. A fellow CCS athlete, St. Ignatius sophomore Megan Ronan sailed passed 19 feet last year as a freshman and will be looking for a strong mark here. The third contender will be traveling west from Georgia as Greater Atlanta Christian HS's Jasmine Jones has already sailed 19'6" to stamp herself as a co-favorite.
Pole Vault (Boys)
Meet Record: Mike Kibort Saratoga-CCS '83, Casey Roche St. Francis-CCS '07, Nico Weiler Los Gatos-CCS '08, Dylan Duvio John Curtis-Louisiana '13 (all 16'6")
The co-favorites in this event have both sailed over 16 feet this season. Lodi's senior Samuel Wright had a shortened junior season but is certainly making up for lost time with three efforts over 16 feet including a new personal best of 16'8". St. Francis senior Scott Toney comes from a pole vault family and has really come into his own this year. He sailed over 16 feet at the Pole Vault Summit and established a new best of 16'1.5" at a recent WCAL league meet.