The 68th Chandler Rotary Invitational witnessed multiple national top-10 performances, several double-event winners and some all-time Arizona marks, but the event which electrified the stadium crowd was the one everyone had been anticipating all week. The boys’ 800 was expected to be a barnburner, and the race delivered in spades.

After Desert Vista AZ senior John Kline ran a 1:53.49 at the Gatorade Copper Canyon Invite earlier this month, speculation began about a possible shot at the Arizona state 800 record at the Chandler meet. Tall, lanky, and seemingly built for the distance, Kline was expected to gun for the all-time mark from the start; it was unclear whether anyone else in the state would have the legs to hang with his attempt. Hitting splits of 25 for the opening 200 and 53.1 through 400, Kline pursued the mark with vigor, but trailing gamely in his wake was the noticeably shorter, and equally ambitious, James Eichberger (Catalina Magnet AZ sr).

“I see myself as having a good kick at the end,” Eichberger said after the race. “We were neck and neck, so I figured if I could get him at the end, he wouldn’t be able to catch me.”

Eichberger (#2064, above) drew even coming out of the final turn and scintillated the grandstand with a stretch drive that saw him pull clear of Kline in the closing meters and stop the clock at 1:51.55, the #2 time in the nation this spring and mere hundredths off the state record of 1:51.46. Kline crossed a few strides behind in a PR (and US#3) 1:52.33.

Eichberger and Kline weren’t the only ones generating electricity in the stadium. Chandler’s own Bryce Lamb, only a month removed from an emergency appendectomy, rebounded from that setback to stage a stirring horizontal jumps battle with fellow junior and Arizona rival Will Claye (Mountain Pointe). When Claye popped a 24-03.00 to put Lamb’s back against the wall in the long jump, Lamb responded with a huge PR of 24-09.00w (US#2) to take that event on his final leap. In the triple jump, Lamb got out to US#1 50-00.00 early on, then withstood a 49-11.00 from a seemingly spring-loaded Claye late in the competition to take home double gold in the jumps.

Hurdlers Larissa Matthews (Chandler AZ jr) and Cedrique Smith (Agua Fria AZ sr) were also stamping their names near to top of the yearly US lists in the short barrier events. In a pair of wind-legal performances, Matthews (right) dropped a US#2 13.90 to take the girls 100m hurdle race, while Smith romped to a US#3 13.97 victory in the boys 110 hurdles. Matthews returned to anchor a blazing Chandler 4x100 team to the win in 47.97, then faltered slightly in the 300m hurdles to take third (45.83) behind the 44.86 winning efforts of India Cleveland (Desert Vista sr). Smith suffered no such missteps in his longer event, as he tore to gold in the 300 hurdles as well, gunning a 38.49 win before rushing off to his senior prom.

“I’ve gotta hurry and meet my date up there,” he laughed, noticing the lights blinking on in the darkening stadium.

The short sprints featured double winners from both genders, as Peoria super soph Serene Williams positively dominated the girls 100 and 200, taking the former in 11.76 and the latter in 24.59. She was the sole runner under 12-seconds in the 100 and the only one under 25 in the 200. On the boys’ side, speedster Giorgio Giurdanella (Mountain Ridge AZ ) staked his name as one of the top sprinters in the Southwest with his 100-200 sweep. The stocky, mohawked senior overcame an early stumble to take the 100 in 10.76, and then roared through the 200 in 21.62 for a pair of wind-legal titles.

The other double winner on the night was Xavier AZ sophomore Jessica Tonn (below, left), who battled fellow Foot Locker finalist Nadya Bishton (Mountain Ridge AZ sr) to a 5:02.00 win in the girls 1600, then returned later in the evening for a whisper-thin 800 victory over her own Xavier teammate, junior Sarah Penney (below, right). The matching blue-clad, pony-tailed runners ran stride-for-stride down the homestretch under the lights, with Tonn edging ahead in the final meters for the 2:14.78 to 2:14.89 locker room bragging rights.

“Jess is the only one on the team I want to be competitive against,” Penney said after their matchup. “We’re best friends outside of school, but when it comes to track you could say we’re…competitive.”

Tonn could only smile and nod her head in agreement.