Business as Usual For
Saratoga Distance Stars at Arcadia  

By Steve Underwood, DyeStat senior editor

For a couple of their relay team members, it was their first time in California. For attendees of the meet, it was their first chance to see one of the country’s most vaunted prep distance programs. But for the 16-plus laps of the girls 4 x 1 Mile Relay at Arcadia Friday night, it was business as usual for the ladies of Saratoga Springs, NY.

That meant a solid breakaway by the second leg, and near-solo runs by standouts Hannah Davidson and Lindsay Ferguson. In fact, the race looked almost like a rerun of the Nike Indoor Nationals 4 x 1 Mile. In both races, No. 2 leg Ashley Campbell gave Toga a decisive lead that led to a huge victory.

The US#1 race was probably the statistical, if not the competitive highlight of the girls half of the meet. The action, dominated by California teams, also included a very quick US#2 4x200 win by Long Beach Poly, combining with their boys team for a sweep of that event; sprint medley victories by St. Mary’s (Inglewood) and Lynwood HS; shuttle hurdle win by John Muir HS; and a nation-leading 4x800 triumph by Fairfield.

4x1 Mile: Saratoga’s Dominance – Indoors or Out, East or West

It doesn’t seem to matter what the venue is or where – when it comes to the 4 x 1 Mile relay, no one seems to be able to touch Saratoga these days, even if its lineup isn’t its strongest ever.

If you’d just judged by the first leg, however, you would have thought a real race was at hand. Brooke Giuffre had La Costa Canyon in the lead at 5:10-plus, with Fountain Valley’s 2-time Foot Locker finalist Crystal Reed close behind and Toga’s Kipling Hill battling two others at 5:14.6

But in stepped Ashley Campbell. She quickly took the lead with a 70 opener, led by four seconds after an 80, and added 1-2 seconds each lap during the rest of her 5:11.6. “I was definitely motivated,” said Campbell. “There was a girl right on my shoulder and I had to open up a gap.”

All that was left for Hannah Davidson and Lindsey Ferguson to do was to decide how much their team would win by. With miles of 5:06.9 and 4:56.4, that margin was 30.26 seconds at the end, 20:29.47 to 20:59.75. It’s a time that, outdoors, has only been beaten by themselves (once) and five other schools ( Saratoga hasn’t contested this event outdoors as vigorously as they have indoors).

Meanwhile, La Costa’s Laura Maffucci (5:31) and Gillian Fitch (5:14) had been unable to hold the lead they had been given, but kept their team in the hunt for second. That was good news for their talented anchor, Katy Andrews, who had the race’s second best leg of 5:03 to bring them up to second.

Regarding Saratoga, one can’t help but put some perspective on the team, its performances, and its standing. A great potential battle was missed when Corona Del Mar CA, with 4:43 1600 performer Annie St. Geme, withdrew from the event to concentrate on Saturday’s races, including the distance medley.

Some will also continue to wonder what could have been with former team members Nicole Blood and Caitlin Lane, who combined with Ferguson and Davidson for that scintillating 19:59 indoors last year, and bemoan Toga’s potential chances at Nike Outdoor against Corona Del Mar or teams that ran similarly at NSIC.

Interestingly, while Blood’s new Royal CA teammates are competing here, she is not, opting to prepare for future events. To her credit, though, she has just returned from racing at World Cross Country in Japan.

In any case, don’t sell short relay team members Hill and Campbell. They bring their own special energy and invigoration to the squad. And if they keep progressing and Davidson and Ferguson rise to at least match their career best times with greater competition, don’t be surprised if this team can challenge its own all-conditions record and annex another outdoor title after all. While others, even including family members of the athletes, continue to try and fight it out on the message boards, this foursome (and their coaches) are letting their feet do the talking at the meets.

4x200: Long Beach Poly Back on Top

The Lady Jackrabbits had their ears pinned back a bit a few weeks ago at NSIC when they were soundly beaten in one of their specialties, the 4x200, by a James Logan team that ran the No. 2 time in indoor history, 1:36.41.

Poly turned the tables Friday night. With versatile superstar Shana Woods providing the necessary margin at the end, they brought down Logan with a US#3 1:36.80 (rival Long Beach Wilson is the new US#1 at 1:35.06 after their Texas Relays prelim Friday).

The reported splits went Turquoise Thompson 24.5, Jasmine Joseph 23.8, Tanisha Hawkins 24.8, and Woods 23.7. Hawkins gave Woods an ever-so-slight lead into the final exchange and the anchor turned it into a solid victory of exactly a second.

Poly set the staggering national record of 1:33.87 when Woods was a sophomore surrounded by seniors. Now she is the senior with two freshmen (Thompson and Joseph) and a sophomore (Hawkins) to guide. Is she like a second coach out there for the youngsters? While the trio of underclassmen nodded in agreement, Woods countered with, “They are really mature for 9 th-graders. Sometimes they remind me of things I need to do.”

4x100 Shuttle Hurdles: Big Comeback  

What is the recipe for coming back when facing a big deficit halfway through a 4x100 shuttle hurdles race? How about a couple of 14.4 legs? That’s exactly what John Muir High laid down on the track to pick up the victory in the invitational section of this race.

Jasmine Clark had given Muir an early lead with a 15.4, but teammate Amanda Hawkins hit a hurdle hard and lost the margin to Vista Murrieta and Upland. But listen to Muir No. 3 leg Kiani Profit: “I just had to focus on my own race instead of those girls in front of me. It happened to me before where I didn’t do that and I had problems.”

This time her focus netted her a PR 14.4 with a modest (but unmeasured) tailwind. Then when anchor Jalisa Williams came back into that same breeze, she also hit a 14.4. The end result was a 64.57 that was a far cry from their 61.73 of last year, but still good for a win by more than a second.

Sprint Medley Relays: Lynwood Walks Through The Door

When heavy favorite and national record holder West Catholic PA didn’t show, the girls 1600 sprint medley relay was wide open. It remained that way when the 800 anchor legs of the top three teams began to show some vulnerability in the final 300 meters.

That opened the door for the Lynwood CA team and their anchor, Brandi Sexton. She passed three runners in the final 250 for a 2:14.2 anchor leg and a 4:08.19 victory. “It was difficult, but I had to do it,” she said, noting she’d had plenty of experience in coming from behind on anchor legs.

Actually, Lynwood snagged the early advantage on 25.6 and 26.5 200 legs by Jessica Barfield and Myeisha Johnson. But Bishop O’Dowd took over during Chelsea Cornelious-Brown’s 400 leg.

In the shorter 800 sprint medley relay, St. Mary’s of Inglewood won by more than a second over James Logan, 1:46.54-1:48.16. Fashioning the victory was the team of Erinne Benny, Yasmin Woodruff, and Aunjel Street.

4x800 Relay: Fairfield’s Strong Anchor

Dominique Jackson put together a 2:16.8 anchor to lead Fairfield to a US#1 9:20.9 in the 4x800. The winning foursome, which took the lead over James Logan in the second leg and would win by more than six seconds over Xavier College Prep, included sisters Caprice (senior) and Danzel (freshman) Bradshaw. They split 2:19, 2:21, and 2:23 in the first three legs.