Doubles for A.P. Randolph, Poly Long Beach
By Stephen (Steveu) Underwood
ARCADIA 4/12/02 -- Four schools combined to take the six longer
relays Friday night as the Arcadia Invitational kicked off Friday
night -- two of them from the other end of the country.
East Coast superpowers A.P. Randolph and Red Bank came in and dominated
on the girls' side, with the former sweeping the 4x800 (8:58.30)
and 1600 sprint medley (4:00.01), and the latter using two powerful
final legs to take the 4x1600 (20:51.38).
But on the boys' side, the races came down to the final strides.
Long Beach Poly lost a lead in the 4x800, then charged back down
the stretch to nip Madera for the title (7:53.62-7:54.09). And in
the 4x1600, Poly never even led until the final furlong, edging
Canyon, 17:42.11-17:42.19. The 1600 sprint medley saw West Torrence
outlean Etiwanda, 3:31.15 to 3:31.47.
A.P. Randolph girls: 8:58.30 and 4:00.01.
After a spectacular indoor campaign, eight of A.P. Randolph's girls
came nearly 3000 miles to begin the outdoor season. If Friday's
performances (also including a 4x200 triumph) are any indication,
they will be a team to beat all spring.
While the first laps were a little on the fast side, Randolph's
legs in the 4x800 were consistent; everything was between 2:12.5
and 2:18.0. Flirting with the national record a bit, the school
became the 5th fastest ever with the No. 9 performance (they are
already No. 2 all-time indoors). The roll call: Akilah Bates, 2:18.0;
Kelly Wallace, 2:14.8; Robin Mortel, 2:13.3; and Selena Sappleton,
2:12.5.
Randolph was never threatened, the final margin over runner-up
Los Gatos (9:27.97) nearly 30 seconds. However, the latter laid
claim to the fastest individual leg, a 2:10.9 anchor by Ashley Caldwell.
Sappleton, a sophomore who ran 2:09 last summer, is the only non-senior
of the Randolph group, but the responsibility of anchoring is no
problem for her. "I'm fine with it," she said. She was
fine with it again later in the evening, when her 2:15.3 closed
out Randolph's 4:00.01 effort in the 1600 sprint medley, No. 15
all-time. Long Beach Wilson and Houston Lamar were expected to make
it a true clash of titans, but the former had met super-rival Long
Beach Poly the day before and didn't have their 'A' team, while
the latter couldn't leave Texas in time for the Friday night program.
The margin between Randolph and Wilson was just 0.6 after the first
two 200-meter legs (49.6-50.2), but Natasha Hastings followed teammates
Natasha Emmanuel and Yendy Gilchrist with a 55.0 screamer over 400
to put the race away. Was Sappleton concerned about fatigue in her
second 800? "I wasn't too tired ... well, maybe sleepy-tired,"
she said. Well, that should be no surprise. The race finished at
about 11:30 p.m. Eastern time. "We got here Wednesday, but
your body sometimes takes a while to adjust," said Hastings,
noting the school had run 3:54.31 indoors, the second best ever.
"But this was pretty good for our first outdoor meet."
Red Bank girls: 20:51.38
The Jersey school looked like it might be in trouble after two
legs of the 4x1600, trailing by 16 seconds despite solid legs from
Katie Kingsbery (5:14.9) and Melissa Dooley (5:31.0).
But the patience and quiet confidence of the Trotter sisters wasn't
about to let that happen. Katy's third leg of 5:07.4 brought Red
Bank even with Woodland, which had taken over three laps earlier.
Then sister Amanda brought it home in 4:58.1, giving her squad a
victory by almost 12 seconds.
The amazing thing, though, was the manner by which the Trotters
ran. Eschewing the typical runner's strategy of going out fast trying
to make up ground right away, Katy Trotter paced the first part
of her third leg, making sure she could power home the final two
laps as her opponents faded. Taking the baton even with Woodland,
anchor Amanda ran similarly, gradually building a gap in the last
three laps.
Said Katy, "I just saw that they were letting up on the third
lap and it was time to go. I was glad I had a big enough kick to
give Amanda the baton about even."
Jenny Aldridge ran Maria Carillo (which was leading after two legs,
but was third after three) back into second with a 5:02 anchor for
a time of 21:03.06. Woodland was third in 21:13.01. The race's fastest
leg came from Shannon Rowbury, who brought Sacred Heart into fourth
with a 4:57.4.
Long Beach Poly boys: 7:53.62 and 17:42.11
Patience and good timing paid off for Long Beach Poly in each of
their victories.
Anchoring the 4x800, Eddie Giles Jr. took the lead in his first
lap, only to be overtaken by Madera's Michael Barrera early in the
second. But Giles hung steady, then surged in the final 200 to bring
his school to victory, 7:53.62 to 7:54.09.
"Coach taught us to get out in the first 400, then relax a
little on the next backstretch and don't panic if you get passed,"
said Giles. "Then you bring it home." Giles brought it
home in 1:58.3, following Malik Muhammad's third leg of 2:00.6.
Poly had gotten off to a great start, with the efforts of Julian
Sylve (1:57.0) and Kevin Word (1:57.4). "We just wanted to
come out here and run to the best of our ability," said Sylve.
Madera's Barrera had been preceded by Robert Lee (a leading 1:56.2),
Pedro Perez (2:02.3) and Chris Britton (1:58.4).
Later, Poly's Bryan Durham was the hero as he anchored the winning
4x1600 performance (17:42.11) with a PR 4:20.8. Poly never led in
the race until Durham's surge in the final 100 overtook Canyon (17:42.19),
which itself was getting the fastest leg of the race (4:17.6) from
its anchor, Luke Llamas.
"I knew Canyon liked to get out fast," said Durham. "When
he went by I just tried to hang on and give all that I had left
at the end."
Poly trailed Loyola by about a second after Word's opener of 4:24.9.
Canyon's Ryan Morgan had clocked a 4:27.0, but the top five teams
became compressed in the next lap, bumping up the excitement level.
On the second leg's final lap, Jameson Mora powered away to finish
his 4:22.6 and give Canyon the lead.
But Poly, which got a 4:29.9 No. 2 from Luis Ruiz, came back behind
Ulices Pina's 4:26.4 third carry as Canyon's Jace Getshaw was recording
a 4:35.0. It was El Toro, though, which took the lead on that leg,
then held it through three laps of the anchor. But Durham and Llamas
exploded on the final circuit, relegating El Toro to third (17:52.14).
The fastest leg of the event actually came from Billy Nelson, who
anchored Taft to a victory in the slower heat with a 4:16.3, including
an eye-popping 56.5 first lap.
West Torrence boys: 3:31.15
"I just didn't want to lose," said Tetlo Emmen. And so
it went as the West Torrence anchor's 1:55.4 800 held off the Etiwanda
anchor to capture the 1600 sprint medley, 3:31.15 to 3:31.47. "We
had a whole lot of heart." They have to, according to Adam
Savage, who ran the second 200 leg. "We run everything,"
he said. "We have six guys who run everything. We'll be in
the 4x100 and in the distance medley."
Russell Nakashiba led off with a 50.8 400, followed by Jon Patton
and Savage, who averaged 22.5 for their 200 legs.
Arcadia Friday Night Relays
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