DyeStat


The Internet Home of Track & Field




Arcadia Plot Lines

Doug Speck tells what to expect in each event at Arcadia Invitational

April 6-7, 2007

DyeStat on-site coverage

by Doug Speck
DyeStatCal  editor and Arcadia meet announcer

 

We start each event summary with a questions, as there is a 'story behind the story' in each of the little min-dramas that is an event in an affair like Arcadia.   With monster national and international level competition on the field and over on the track when that starts, we thought we would prepare a summary of the questions that are to be answered during the Saturday evening Invitational portion of the Arcadia weekend. The following is in "event order" as it is in the program, with a great evening of action ahead!! - See you there!!

2007 Arcadia Invitational “Plot Lines”
What to look for in the nation’s top prep Invitaional Saturday evening April 7th during the Invitational session!!

Men’s Discus Throw - Can junior Dayshan Ragans of Foothill in Bakersfield, the state’s latest great at over 193 feet and next over 200 feet, match up against a group that includes six others over 180 feet from four different states? The Arcadia ring is kind of sacred, with four National Records set in the Arcadia meet over the years, with the still standing 234-03 by Utah’s Niklas Arrhenius from 2001 here one of prep history’s great marks ever!!

Girls Pole Vault - Tori Anthony (Castilleja, Palo Alto) became US Prep History’s best over at 14-02.5 indoors and can she carry the great momentum she had “undercover” to the outdoor season? Allison Stokke (Newport Harbor) is vaulting with confidence, over 13-01 a week ago, and she will try to keep the CCS star Anthony honest, with all the state’s 12-footers here!!

Men’s Pole Vault - Who will emerge as the Golden State’s best with three 16-footers already this season, Casey Roche (St. Francis, Mountain View), Nico Weiler (Los Gatos German exchange student), and upstart Sac Joaquin star Connor Landry (Placer, Auburn)? Should be a super (and lofty) competition with 16-footer, Arizona’s Shea Kearney, and five others over 15-06 in the field!!

Women’s Shot Put - Can Miranda Wilson (Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland), the state’s best hold off a talented group? Hilary Fraser (El Toro) and Stepahnie Aliimatafitafi look up to the challenge in what will be a great competition–

Men’s Long Jump - Can El Camino of Oceanside’s Nelson Rosario, a literal “pogo-stick” lately, with 24-02 Long Jump, 6-09 High Jump, and a 47-11 Triple Jump handle the Northwest’s best, Toney Henderson (Gig Harbor) 24-05.5 last spring in this event? Is 24-01 Arlington soph John Byrd for real (?), with Josh Harrison (Rio Mesa) solid here and in the sprints this spring, with Virginia’s Rashad Cannon (Highland Springs) 23-07.5 and the State Indoor 3A Champ. Some great jumping will be happening here!!

Women’s Triple Jump - Can we end with a record winning effort from the greatest in-season group of Girls Jumpers ever gathered? Eleven in the field have bests of 39 feet and over, with a half dozen over 40 led by Indoor National Record setter Ke’Nyia Richardson (Holy Names, Oakland), who smashed the old indoor National Record of 43-11.5 by Juliana Yendork (Walnut) by over half a foot with an amazing 44-06.75 jump at New York’s National Scholastic Indoor Championship meet! The National Outdoor record is 44-11.75 by Brittany Daniels (West, Tracy) from 2004!!

Men’s High Jump - Can Arizona’s Phil Feinberg (Corona del Sol), a 7-01 winner in the March National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York, roll into Los Angeles and continue his “big-meet” sweep of the wins!! Daniel Kirkpatrick (Trabuco Hills) was -10 last week, with Nelson Rosario (El Camino, Oceanside) looking ready to improve his 6-09 seasonal best!!

Women’s High Jump - Who will emerge as the dominant Golden State Jumper? With a flock of California high-flyers who have been over 5-08 this spring the competition here will give the winner a psychological confidence card to use in the May and June Championship competitions! Sac Joaquin jumpers Susan Jackson (Napa) and Rachel Welz (Bear River) are sharp, with Kristin Rimbach (Prospect, San Jose) 5-08 last week in a dual. Jessica Robson (Newport Harbor) has impressed with her improvement to that 5-08 height, with super frosh Ashley Smith (Millikan) quickly emerging as a force statewide in the event off her early successes!!

Men’s 4x100 Meter Relay - Whew!! What a start to the running–can the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbit dominance of the relays continue at the 2007 Arcadia Meet? Bryshon Nellum, World Junior Championship Medalist in the 4x400 relay and state 200 champ, leads the Jackrabbit squad as they attempt to hold of a field that includes the state’s top seven teams on the watch, and the best from Ohio (Middletown) and Arizona (Chandler)!! Goin’ to be a barn-burner to start the action on the track!! Who can combine the all-out effort with poise and patience required for the great stick work needed for a championship level run!!

Women’s 4x100 Meter Relay - Another cooker!! Who will take the event that is probably a key to the march to the state team title in June?? Upstart Inland Empire power Rancho Verde (46.61) leads the state’s top seven ranked teams and a strong group from Knoxville West in Tennessee, with Long Beach Poly taking an awful lot of these contests over the last decade!!

Women’s 1 Mile Run - Who will win what could be the greatest early season prep outdoor mile in history? Alex Kosinski (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills), injured much of the fall, exploded at the Nike Indoor Nationals and pulled a a major upset in winning over New Jersey’s Danielle Tauro, felt unbeatable by everyone, and has a best of 4:42.93 for a mile. Christine Babcock (Woodbridge) pulled one of state history’s great ever upsets last June with an eight second 1600m improvement on the way to a 4:41.29 run. Babcock was a much-improved Cross-Country runner this fall, with an undefeated season that she shut down after state in a relaxed manner. If Christine shows here, instead of the 3200, which we understand she is consider, this will be one of prep history’s great four lap contests!! Shannon Murakami (Saugus) was 4:43.04 last year for 1600 meters, with the trio the fastest group ever gathered in the early season!

Men’s 1 mile run - Can the nation’s hottest young distance runner, soph Mac Fleet (University City) continue his amazing “rocket to the top” campaign with a win over a huge international field that includes six states and 3:51 1500m star Julian Matthews from New Zealand? Fleet was 3:50.48 for 1500m earlier this spring, with Virginia’s Axel Mostrag (Fork Union) a 1:51.63 Nike Indoor National 800 Champ and 4:14.65 1600 indoors this winter, and Washington’s Michael Chinchar (Kentwood) a 4:12.02 miler last year heading a ton of folks under 4:20!

Women’s Discus Throw - Who will head the Golden State pecking order that will be established here? With the top seven in the state in the ring during the competition the first decisive step towards a June State title will be taken with a win here! Hilary Fraser (El Toro) is 150-06, with super soph Anna Jelmini (Shafter) surprising with her improvement to 149-06 already!

Men’s 110 Meter High Hurdles - Can anyone in a fine field that includes California’s top half dozen, and the best in Arizona and Ohio, challenge the nation’s top all-around athlete this past Indoor season, Terry Prentice (Diamond Ranch)? Prentice, a 13.59 High Hurdler (#2 returnee nationally with that outdoor time from 2006) was the Nike Indoor National Multi-Event Champ this winter by a ton of points, with Zion Babb (Alhambra) 14.02 and Jeshua Anderson (Taft) 14.13 in March leading the fine challenge!

Men’s Shot Put - Can Joe Canavan of Palm Desert continue his mastery over Utah’s 64-footer Colin Boevers and a fine field? Canavan was 62-05 indoors, with no shortage of emotion ever shown on his longer efforts, to win the Simplot Games over Boevers, who was 64-01 for a personal best this winter “undercover” season. A number of others are out near 60 and hope to jump over that prep barrier during the competition this evening!!

Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles - Can National Indoor Record Holder Jacquelyn Coward finish strong this year to make up for a loss last year at Arcadia? Coward blasted the National All-Time Prep Indoor 60m Hurdle best of 8.33 shared by North’s Nichole Denby this winter, knocking it all the way down to 8.17 before she was through, showing the ability to run under 13.00 outdoors! One of prep history’s best fields ever gathered outdoors will try to whip her again (it was Shana Woods with a strong finish last year), with State Champ Julian Purvis (St. Elizabeth, Oakland) 13.60, Ebony Collins (Locke, LA) 13.86, Devin Brooks (Holy Names, Seattle, Wash) 13.93, and Vashti Thomas (Mt. Pleasant), who’s 8.30 winter indoor best that was under the old National Record helping make this a dynamite field!!

Men’s 100 Meter Dash - Can the next great Ohio State Football player, Brandon Saine, take Cal’s Berkeley's next grear running back, Northern California’s Jahvid Best, or Inglewood’s Dondre McDonald, the best from down South so far? Saine had 58 touchdowns the last two years, with great 10.38 and 46.69 (400) track bests. Best was 10.39w here last year while winning the Seeded race, with McDonald in search of competition after dominating as far south as San Diego during Invitational romps this spring!

Women’s Invitational 100 Meter Dash - Can State leader Cherrelle Garrett (Mt. Eden) continue her march towards a state title with a win over the top seven statewide this spring in this contest? The last North Coast Section State 100 champ was 1981 and Sharon Ware (Berkeley), with the talented Garrett, state outdoor leader at 11.62, the ability to garner that title, with the next half dozen on the clock this spring behind her nipping at her heels in what will be a great contest!!

Men’s 800 Meters - Can Corey Primm (Westlake) have his way against a super field from six different states? The 1:50.53 State Champ had one great (1:51.89) and one not so great effort (Nike Indoor Champs 8th place), indoors, with an attempt to get back on his “control the race” tactics to win here. Dylan Ferris (North Carolina) was 1:51.95 last spring and one place ahead of Primm at the NIN Indoor meet, with Rocky Richardson (Madera) and Ryan Gamboa (Upland) 1:51.67 leading a super talented field!

Women’s 800 Meters - Who will emerge with statewide bragging rights from a classic 800 Meter field? Justine Federonic (Carlmont) is super hot at 2:09.59 a week back, with Emily Dunn (Esperanza) 2:10.54 in a comfortable win, with Dominique Jackson (Fairfield) 2:08.25 last June and Mia Lattanzi (Palo Alto) 2:09.61 during a Cinderella story 2006 outdoor season! Jordan Diaz (Leigh, San Jose) (2:11.65 indoors) and Kristen Sanzari (Maria Carrillo) (2:12.66 during the undercover season) lead a talented group ready to move up!!

Men’s Triple Jump - Can amazing soph Bryce Lamb of Arizona, who went 49 feet as just a ninth grader last year, come to California and win it all? Lamb set a US Age-15 record of 49-01.75 last year in the event during an amazing ninth grade campaign, with Nelson Rosario (El Camino, Oceanside) 48-03.5, Gyasi Rivers (Hollywood) 48-02.5, and Jonathan Clark (Loyola) 47-09 hoping to send the young Arizonan home with a whipping!

Women’s 3200 Meter Run - Can anyone stay with turbo-powered soph Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep), who seems back on a roll? Last year Hasay set every record up through the universal level for a 14 year old and frosh class with her 10:07.56 win here, with a 10:04.7 already this spring the national best ever for a tenth grader! A talented field of a number among the best in the nation will hope to race with, and challenge the super San Luis Obispo area star! Christine Babcock (Woodbridge), State 1600 Champ at 4:41 and undefeated during the regular Cross Country season is said to be toying with an attempt at this distance this weekend, with Christy Adamyk (Glendora) 10:19.83 and Marie Lawrence (Reno, Nv) 10:20.95 among the nation’s top handful over 8 laps! Only three preps ever have run 3200m under 10 minutes outdoors!

Women’s 400 Meters - Can the talented sister duo from Utah, Nachelle and Natalie Stewart (Spanish Fork) come to California and beat the Golden State’s best? 53.94 and 54.36, respectively last spring and with good indoor winter seasons, the Rocky Mountain stars look ready to roll, with the nation’s fastest indoor 500m runner, Tameika Jameson (Roosevelt, Greenbelt, Maryland), LB Poly’s Jasmine Joseph (54.02) and super frosh Thandi Stewart (Logan) 54.24 in eighth grade (!) This will be a classic!!

Men’s 400 Meter Dash - Can Bryshon Nellum (LB Poly) defend his title at Arcadia? During a stirring stretch run last year here Nellum reined in Colorado’s JT Scheuerman during an impressive 46.20 run, with an eventual Gold Medal 4x4 relay effort in the World Junior Championships and State 200 and 400 wins making the LB Poly star an experienced one lap craftsman! Ohio’s Kendall Gregory is a strong finisher, with the 47 second star racing prep history’s top 600 Meter times ever indoors at 1:19.43! Arizona’s best, Tyler Arnold (Highland) comes west in search of competition, with a great, deep contest assured here.

Men’s 300 Meter Hurdles - How low can National Leader Jeshua Anderson of Taft go? The LA City star blasted a 36.26 LA City Record that is the #6 Time ever run by a Golden Stater in mid-March with a few months left in the season! You remember David Klech’s storming 35.45 win here last year, prep history’s #4 clocking ever, with only three Californians ever under that 36 second barrier!! Terry Prentice (Diamond Ranch) was 36.79 last year in this event, with Middletown Ohio’s Skylar Jones 37.18 so Anderson is not going to have the event handed to him!! Could be a classic, with Prentice a consumate competitor and Jones a talented quarterback in football!!

Women’s 300 Meter Hurdles - What kind of shape is Ebony Collins in anyway? After a highly publicized switch from Long Beach Wilson to LA Locke, Collins, the #2 prep ever in the event at 40.10, and a heartbeat away from the National Record of 39.98 by Lashinda Demus, Ebony has been out of the results column this spring–what’s up?? Here she will face as good an April field as ever has been gathered, with Jacquelyn Coward (West, Knoxville) 59.31 for the full 400 meter barriers, and California’s Jamesha Youngblood (Hercules) 41.72 last spring and Kiani Profit (Muir) among the nation’s top half dozen back at 42.79. Takecia Jameson, another part of the super Roosevelt of Maryland group has run 42.24, so Collins will have her share of competiton, if she shows!

Women’s Distance Medley Relay - Who will win the greatest gathering of distance schools in the nation thus far this spring? Wow, a ton of super squads look capable of running under the magic 12 minute barrier here, with Corona del Mar, defending champs, appearing to have an especially strong group, with Torrey Pines (San Diego), Arizona power O’Connor, Fairfield, and Woodbridge all capable of pushing under 12 to make this one of prep history’s deepest ever medley contests!!

Womens’ 200 Meter Dash - Will California’s next sprint great be unveiled here in ninth grader Ashton Purvis (St. Elizabeth of Oakland)? How good is Purvis–well Marion Jones did not take long to establish herself at the prep ranks, setting a National Frosh 200 Meter Indoor Record of 24.40 her frosh season of 1990–Ashton blasted that and all other previous first year prep bests undercover with a stunning 23.55 run for second at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships last month (try a second better than Jones at the same grade!!!). WOW!!! Yasmin Woodruff (St. Mary’s) 23.82 and Cherrelle Garrett (Mt. Eden) 23.87 will not be handing the title here to the youngster, with this late evening event a classic of the half-lap variety!!

Men’s 200 Meter Dash - Can Ohio’s Brandon Saine sweep the Golden State’s best in the sprints? The future Ohio State running back was 20.74w at this distance last year on the way to state sprint titles, with “Mr. Ohio Football” not shying away from the tough stuff, serving on his fall team’s kick-off squad (he was the leading tackler there), with the State Championship squad liking to have him take off running on a quick hike to his “personal protector” position in front of the punter during that portion of the game. The heir apprent to Ted Ginn, who starred here during his prep career! Jahvid Best hopes to carry Pac 10 Football and Track honors at Cal Berkeley in the future, with a 21.03 best last spring that will put him the hunt for a gold here!! Dondre McDonald (Inglewood) was a quick 21.45, with the speedy wide receiver the best from down South way!

Mens’ 3200 Meter Run - Can Mikel Thomas (Clovis), State outdoor leader and under 9 minutes here last year, continue his move to head of the class with a win over another frightening Arcadia distance crew? Almost ten states and Australia have sent their best and if someone will get out on the pace there will be a ton of folks under 9:00, with Dominic Channon (Australia) an 8:25 3k star, Matt Frerker (Skyline, Issaquah, Wash) 9:05,and talented JT Sullivan (Trabuco Hills) an impressive 4:12-9:08 double a week ago!

Men’s Distance Medley Relay - Who will take the early season National Title run in the event? With a talented National level field, early season national bragging rights should be sorted out. Fork Union was just outleaned for the Nike Indoor title, with Indian Hills (NJ), 2006 Champ Monsignor Farrell (NY), Royal (Simi Valley), and an appearing fresh La Sierra of Riverside crew, with dangerous twins Spencer and Dylan Knight, capable of the win!!

Women’s 4x400 Relay - Can Roosevelt of Maryland continue its National Level domination of the relays here? Taking the 4x2, 4x4, 4x8, and Distance Medley at the Nike Indoor Nationals may have been one of prep history’s greatest team performances ever and the squad, Eleanor Roosevelt of Greenbelt, Maryland, who did that, is in the field here!! The amazing group from the East Coast, who shine from the sprints through cross counry 5k distances (they were at the Nike Team Championships the last two years in that fall sport), were the nation’s strongest team this past indoor season, and hope to head into the outdoor seaso in style this weekend! All the Golden State’s top squads hope to put an end to the successes right here! LB Poly was third at the National Scholastic Indoor Meet at 3:49.14 (Roosevelt was 3:45.02 in taking the Nike Indoor title), with James Logan second to Roosevelt at the NIN meet at 3:49.21. Bishop O’Dowd has been 3:52.63 winning by a mile up north, with Rancho Verde, Wilson (Long Beach), St. Mary’s, and Rancho Cucamonga all capable of well under 3:50. A classic close to a great weekend, and you’re goin’ to love the classy Roosevelt squad who will need a truck to take the awards home!!

Men’s 4x400 Relay - Can the Long Beach Poly crew keep the streak going here against all challengers? With Bryson Nellum, State 400 Champ on the anchor, the Jackrabbits are tough to beat, with a huge 3:16.28 win at the National Scholastic Indoor Meet in mid-March the best prep time in the nation this winter. Two groups from Ohio, Middletown, with a 3:16.77 2006 best, and Strongsville, with super Kendall Gregory on the anchor, were an impressive 3:21.55 indoors this winter on a flat floor facility, a movin’ time! Dominguez Rancho Cucamonga, and Dorsey look very dangerous also, so bring your best game and let’s close it down in style!!

SEE YOU THERE!!!

 

 

Arcadia Invitational home page 

DyeStat