* Anthony Fast Horse claimed the ASICS Clovis Invitational on Saturday at Woodward Park
Photo Credit: Nick DeGeorge/MileSplit
- - -
The decisions were simple, effective, ultimately deadly.
It was precisely over the second mile when Ventura teammates Anthony Fast Horse and Sadie Engelhardt put their competition to dust on Saturday, making four and five second gaps, respectively, before pulling away in the championship sections at the ASICS Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno, California.
Fast Horse added another six seconds clear in the final mile to win in 14:32.5, stamping the fourth-fastest boys time in meet history, while Engelhardt kept her eye on the finish and lengthened her lead by a second to win in 16:39.3, ushering in a new meet record by 14 seconds.
Engelhardt's winning move even sturdied the Ventura girls, who were second only to the JSerra Catholic girls; the Lions won the meet with a blitzing 72 points, while Ventura was second with 113 and Buchanan sunk to third in 128.
Fast Horse's teammates, meanwhile, were punched down a bit with a sixth-place finish, as the boys field watched an incredible display over the final mile.
Dana Hills dazzled over the final stretch with a 5-point win over favorite Great Oak, which lost a 58-point advantage at the 2-mile.
Dana Hill's finish was indeed frenetic; Evan Noonan moved up four positions in the final mile to finish third; Jayden Hernandez, who was 11th, moved up one place; third-runner Garrett Woodruff bumped up 12 spots in the final mile to finish 21st; fourth-scorer Logan Harris went up a notch in 44th; while Oliver Hunter, the team's fifth-runner and closer, ultimately won the race by passing 28 runners en route to his 75th place finish.
In total, Dana Hills improved 46 places over the last mile to beat No. 7 ranked Great Oak.
Oakdale (152), San Clemente (172), Mira Costa (204), Ventura (219) and Arnold Beckman (228) followed, ultimately proving that anything can happen at Woodward Park and in championship moments.
On the girls front, JSerra met the challenge, two runners inside the top 15, four inside the top 24 and its fifth in the 30th position.
The Buchanan girls may have led after a mile (65-72), but JSerra made a resounding move through the two mile, putting 39 points on the defending CIF Division 1 champions; it was 41 by race's end.
Santiago Corona's Rylee Blade was even with Engelhardt through a mile in 5:13.4, but that second mile proved critical and Blade went on to finish second in 16:45.8.
Oaks Christian's Payton Godsey responded with a stellar race, finishing third in 17:05.5, while La Jolla's Chiara Dailey was fourth in 17:07.3 and defending Clovis champion Hanne Thomsen was fifth in 17:23.1.
Santiago Corona (128), Los Altos (165), St. Francis (218) and Murrieta Valley finished fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.
Related Links: