On-site impressions by a spectator who posted to TrackTalk as "LQ":
OK, track nuts, I got back a few hours ago from the Golden West meet at
American River College in Sacramento (20 minutes from my home)...and here are
some distance splits. First off, the weather was absolutely perfect, no wind,
temp's probably in the 70's when the distance races were run. See my other posts
for more results.
800m: 54, then won in 1:51.06 by Rob Myers of Ohio. Chris Burns and Myers
were neck-and-neck down the stretch, which caused some excitement. The other
guys were well back. I think the NSO meet took away the best guys in the
country.
mile: Franklyn Sanchez, after winning the 3200m in 8:51, decided to set the
pace for Andy Powell...so they went out in 61.5 at 440y. Sanchez slowed at 660y
(later finishing in 4:18). Powell led through 880y at 2:04.9, then 1320y in
3:04. Kept on going to a 4:06.24 win. He is a very smooth runner.
3200m: The best high school 8-lapper I've ever seen. 66.9 for first 400m.
4:28 at 1600m. Adam Tenforde of Washington spurted out to a lead, which he kept
for almost 3 laps. Couldn't hold on. Franklyn Sanchez took the lead with a lap
to go (7:46), then produced a 65 closer for an 8:51 win (close to 8:51.7). Four
others broke 9:00, then two at 9:01. And only 1 senior among the sub-9:00 group.
Augie Escobar of CA had run 8:56 at Southern Section, but could only manage
9:30. State champion Josh Spiker did 9:01. Last week's CA state meet was also
very fast: Spiker (9:02.00), followed by Escobar at 9:02.22, then 9:02.49,
9:05.09, 9:07, 9:11...14 broke 9:20...no other state comes close.
Girls:
Mile: Alejandra Barrientos led through the 880y in 2:24. Then Amy Mortimer of
Kansas just took off and left everyone way, way back. I thought the announcer
said 4:44 was her time, and it was also a meet record.
3200m: Pretty boring race. Victoria Chang led the whole way and won in 10:32.
Sprints were run into headwinds, so no spectacular times. 400m winner: 47.1
800m: Rob Myers of Ohio, 1:51.06, Chris Burns of Ontario,CA was second in
1:51.1. mile: 4:06, 4:09, 4:09 3200m: 8:51, 8:55, 8:55, 8:57, 8:59, 9:01, 9:01
(best race) High Jump: 6-9, 6-8, 6-8. discus: over 200 feet long jump: about
24-3.
Girls: Monique Henderson of CA won 200m: 23.4, 400m: 53+ 800m: Lindsay Hyatt,
2:09 mile: Amy Mortimer of Kansas, 4:44, followed by CA rrunners Alejandra
Barrientos, 4:50, Katie Hotchkiss, 4:50. 3200m: Victoria Chang of Hawaii,
10:32.