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Golden West Invitational
Sunday, June 12, 2005
At Folsom HS
Meet Preview!
Leading athletes from 33 states converge
to battle at 46th Golden West Invitational!
They come from near and far, each arriving to participate in the granddaddy
of national postseason track and field showcases. For nearly half a century,
the greatest names in our sport have made the mid-June trip to Northern
California, a growing list of eventual Olympic and world-class superstars....
Evelyn Ashford and Mike Powell. Marion Jones and Steve Lewis. Dawn Bowles
and Steve Prefontaine.
With the ushering in
of a new era of Olympians, the Golden West has kept in stride, rolling
out the red carpet for the latest heroes... Allyson Felix and Jeremy Wariner.
Monique Henderson and Meb Keflezighi. Stacy Dragila and Joanna Hayes.
In 2005, 46 years since
its baptism, the Golden West once again attracts leading names:
Detailed preview for 2005:
(Note: Preview is based on entries as of Tuesday.
Scratches/adds have occured since.)
The
Recordsetter. The Recordchaser. The Two Masters. The Prodigy.
From
the throws approach sector, to the vault runway, to the ring, to the oval,
all eyes will be helplessly darting back and forth, focusing on this weekend's
GWI elite!
It
all starts with the record holder. Oregon's Rachel Yurkovich (Newberg
HS) is indeed in a class all her own, smashing the national javelin record
by nearly two feet with a measurement of 176 feet, 5 inches just six weeks
ago. She is completely without peer on the prep scene in 2005, owning
the five best seasonal marks in the nation, a full 18 feet ahead of her
nearest challenger. Instead, Yurkovich must focus on pro-level comparisions,
as her mark had ranked 8th on the American elite list entering late May,
and her performances this weekend could compare favorably with the podium
placers at this week's NCAA Championships. In fact, her best mark would
have topped Wednesday's round of NCAA qualifying!
Next
is the record chaser. Rancho Cordova's Bryson Stately (Cordova HS, CA)
has rocketed up the all-time vault charts with a phenomenal 30-inch improvement
in the span of just 12 months. At that continued rate, she'd be right
behind the world recordholder by next June! Of course, the inches are
much, much harder to come by at this stage of development, but Stately's
pursuit of the American high school record is definitely more realistic.
New Yorker Mary Saxer scaled 13-09 last month to break GWI alum Kira Costa's
national record (set at the 2003 GWI, no less), but Stately ranks right
behind her (tied for second at 13-06) on the 2005 prep list. The brash
Stately has vowed to claim the record by season's end, with this being
her last prep-level meet (although Junior Nationals loom two weeks down
the road). A great lineup has been assembled here, with no less than 9
other girls registering lifetime-bests of 12-06 or better, including Texan
Brittany Parker (13-03) and California state junior-class recodholder
Tori Pena (13-01)
The
Masters are Pennsylvania's Ryan Whiting and Northern California's Scott
Roth. Whiting stalks the shot put rings with incredible proficiency these
days. Only the 12th putter in prep history to reach the 70-foot arc (he
went exactly 70 feet at his state championships), Whiting arrives here
on a clear mission -- to break Ron Simkew's Pennsylvania state record
(70-01.75) set 33 years ago! Light-hearted and often humorous outside
the ring, expect for Whiting to be wholly focused and amped up each time
he enters the arena, seeking that one perfect throw that lands him in
the record books! Roth has been the center of attention on the Golden
State scene these last few weeks, with multiple 17-foot clearances and
a growing popularity raising the 16-year-old megatalent (he turns 17 in
two weeks) into the limelight. Roth already owns the U.S. age-16 record
(17-02.00) and is fresh off toppling the longest-standing field event
record in state championship competition (going 17-01 to erase a 27-year-old
standard). In case you are wondering, one likely remaining goal this weekend
in addition to seeking the GWI title is chasing Sage Thames' junior-class
national record (17-07.00). With the right pole and the right weather
conditions, we'll see if Roth brings his "A Game" this weekend!
He certainly will need to, with fellow 17-footer Spencer McCorkel (Arkansas
Vault Club), Taxas star Alexander Bentley, former California state champion
Ryan Shuler (16-06) and nicely improving Californian Jeff Coover (signed
to Indiana University), the state runner-up at 16-04, also entered.
The
Prodigy is the youngest girl entered here. A 13-year-old distance-running
phenom from Central California, Jordan Hasay (all 5-foot-1 and 92 pounds
of her) has captured the fascination of fans, media, and fellow athletes
alike. First appearing on the radar with sensational efforts equivalent
to just over 5 minutes for a mile, her successive performance improvements
have landed her to an almost celebrity-like status, with her recent 4:29.70
effort for 1500 meters in a low-key setting being equivalent to among
the top handful of prep stars on the 2005 scene. Her success has come
via limited overland training (sub-45 miles a week), while her amphibious
exploits are nothing short of amazing. A one-time accomplished swimmer
before discovering her niche in track, Hasay swims five days a week at
a clip of 80-100 laps per day in an Olympic-size pool , feasts on mom's
eve-of-competition dish of spaghetti and relaxes via dad's eve-of-competition
one-hour massage. Collegians and adults racing against her have marveled
at her race-day paces thus far. Set to attend smalls-schools CIF-Central
Section member Mission College Prep in the coming Fall, Hasay gets her
first true taste of high school-type competition (previous races were
mostly club races against adults) this weekend, facing a bevvy of prep
distance All-Americans!
Topping the list of assembled distance preps is Texas multi-lap specialist
and defending GWI champion Erin Bedell, vying for top mile honors in the
land this year. Nevada's Marie "Mel" Lawrence is also entered
here, with the two-time FootLocker cross-country nationals runner-up looking
lethal in posting a very impressive tactical double at the Sacramento
Meet of Champions six weeks back. Once again not lacking for distance
talent on the female side, GWI has also secured California state four-lap
champion Annie St. Geme of distance powerhouse Corona del Mar and additional
national-class Golden State talents Alex Kosinski and Natasha LaBeaud.
The boys distances offer an attractive lineup as well, with reigning FootLocker
cross-country champion Kenny Cormier boasting the top metric mile time
in the nation this spring (a recent 3:48.97 effort for 1500 meters at
an open-level meet in Boston) and focusing his efforts at 3200 meters
here. Among his main challengers are Texas standout Scott MacPherson (the
eight-lap champion from the Lone Star State) and Southern Californian
Luis Medina, who has shown dramatic improvement in his senior season!
FootLocker cross-country nationals finalist Daniel LaCava and fellow Texan
Will Schroeder battle with Arcadia Invitational runner-up Cory Primm as
among the lead combatants in the 800-meter field.
The big draw in the sprints is Georgia's Justin Oliver, a slender yet
very quick Southern talent who rates as America's #2 one-lapper this spring!
onthe girls' side, three California state finalist help comprise a very
nice field of sub-12.00 talents in the straightaway dash, with Nevadan
Valencia Wilson a sub-55.00 sprinter on the girls' side. The speed carries
over to the barrier races, where California state champions David Klech
(300-meter intermediates) and Leslie Mercado (100-meter highs) lead the
way. Mercado caught many by surprise to win the state title last weekend,
with the favored Klech tearing away from the competition from the sound
of the gun to win in the nation's #2 time (36.06) this spring. The multi-event
specialist, Klech will also do the high hurdles here, aiming to best his
personal record of 13.94 set in last weekend's state qualifying.
With injured high jump phenom Scott Sellers of Texas unavailable to compete,
the action on the apron figures to be between the two leapers tied for
the second-best mark in the land this year. Both Californian Aiona Key
and Illinois' Blair Majcina have slinked over 7-01, with the former relying
on great natural spring to work his magic! The boys discus competition
will elicit a certain sense of interest from the stat historians, with
Sean Pruitt's recent toss of 215-07 good enough to list 6th on the all-time
prep lists. However, multiple sources have confirmed Pruitt's tape-measure
effort actually sailed over a fence and landed on a downhill slope. Such
conditions would significantly alter the accuracy of the mark, so his
distances this weekend will be meaured with great curiosity/anticipation!
Not only are the national leaders in the boys SP, boys DT and girls JT
here to headline a bumper crop of throwers, but the national #1 in the
girls SP and the 2004 national #1 in the girls DT are present as well!
Oregon's Stephanie Horton, who has improved an amazing EIGHT FEET (!!!)
since last year in the shot put, has gone 52-07 to lead those lists, with
Nebraska's Michaela Wallersted, the 2004 national discus leader at (164-09),
leading there.
In the horizontal jumps, California fan favorite Nkosinza Balumbu from
the national powerhouse James Logan program headline the triple with an
all-conditions national-best 52-04 windy mark, with two other 49-footers
expected. In the long jump, Texas' Jeremy Hicks has a stretched a wind-aided
best of 25-01.75 this season to rank second nationally!
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