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39th Arcadia Invitational
April 7-8, 2006 at Arcadia High School, Arcadia CA - a DyeStat Featured Meet

Invitational - Girls

Hasay's 3200 - St. Geme's Mile and DMR - Shana's Relay-Hurdle Odyssey

Going the Distance:
Annie St. Geme, Jordan Hasay, Shana Woods

Story by Steve Underwood, photos by Vic Sailer/PhotoRun

Becoming an athlete-of-the-meet candidate at this year’s Arcadia Invitational was a long, hard, lonely process – just ask Corona Del Mar CA sr. Annie St. Geme, Long Beach Poly CA sr. Shana Woods, or Mission Bay Prep CA fr. Jordan Hasay. 

Distance stars St. Geme and Hasay forged most of the path by themselves to earn consideration, winning with almost solo runs in the mile and 3200-meter, respectively. Hasay, with an almost completely solo US#1 10:07.56 3200 that ranks 11th all-time, actually had the best distance mark of the meet. But St. Geme not only pushed herself in some of the windiest conditions of the day to a meet record 4:46.10 mile, but also produced a 4:44.x come-from-behind distance medley relay 1600 meter anchor that was just as tough in its own way. Those efforts earned St. Geme athlete of the meet honor. 

At least Woods was challenged and had someone to run with in most of her two individual and two relay wins. Her final race of the weekend, however, was a grueling anchor to her team’s 4x400 that saw her driving by herself every step to not only hold up the great Poly tradition and her own high standards, but surely with the knowledge that runners like Sa’de Williams were distant, but real threats. 

When Woods finally crossed the line and soon became horizontal on the Arcadia infield in an attempt to recover, it symbolized both the end to a marathon of a meet and to her own personal marathon effort. The best female athletes in this meet truly worked long and hard for their recognition.  

Girls Mile and DMR: St. Geme, Corona Dig Deep

After the first quarter of the windy girls mile, it was obvious that an impressive time wasn’t going to fall into the hands of Annie St. Geme (left); she was going to have to go out and get it. The first 400 had been a reasonable, but not quite blazing 71.4, with accomplished Saugus CA jr. Shannon Murakami setting the pace just ahead of her. 

But the mid-high 4:40s wasn’t what St. Geme was here for. So she took the next 200 in 33 and suddenly the excitement level of the race went up several notches. The 2nd 400 was completed in a stunning 66.9 (2:18.3) and a sub-4:40 looked like a good possibility. 

She kept up the intensity for another 200 (34.5), but the wind and PR pace then began to extract its toll. After passing the final time in 3:28.8 (70.5), the last lap took an excruciating 77.3. But the race was well in hand and her final 4:46.10 was still second best in meet history. St. Geme wasn’t ready for the 4:30s today, but she laid some of the groundwork for such a future effort.

“I definitely didn’t know I was running that fast,” she said later when she heard her second lap time. “It cost me some in the end.

“But I wanted to run really well after last week (4:43.13 1600 at Trabuco Hills April 1) and I knew if I could do that, I could go out and run with these girls. Either they would push me or I would at least get out there and shoot for 4:40.”

Oak Ridge jr. Alex Kosinski would later take over second place and finish in a strong 4:50.14, while Murakami clocked 4:53.46 in third. Reno NV star Marie Lawrence might have pushed St. Geme as well, but didn’t come after returning from World Cross in Japan. 

Just over two hours later, St. Geme returned to the track to anchor her team’s DMR effort. The wind had settled significantly with the setting of the sun, but now she had a new foe – a nine-second deficit when she got the baton for her 1600. 

Not that her teammates hadn’t run well. Sarah Cummings (3:44), Kelly Morgan (59), and Shelby Buckley (2:15) had compiled three very solid legs. The problem for Corona del Mar was that Woodbridge had led with their greatest strength – Christine Babcock – and she had closed her 1200 leg with a 70 for a blistering 3:35.2 that forged an eight-plus second lead. 

St. Geme’s teammates had not let the gap get any larger, however, and the deficit was doable – at least for someone with the fortitude of the CdM senior. Woodbridge anchor Jessie Babcock started with a daring 70, but St. Geme already made up half the gap with a 66. With a subsequent 72, she was within two seconds. She took the lead on the next lap, a 74, then actually picked it up to close in 72. 

Track pundits around the infield seemed to have to repeat what they had just seen to themselves to make it stick and convince themselves it had really happened. Not the 11:42.86 Corona had run – as impressive as it was, the No. 8 performance in history, though slightly off the 11:42.07 No. 5 the school had done last year – but that St. Geme had followed a very tough mile with at least an equal 1600.

She could hardly believe the time herself. “It felt good; a lot easier,” she said. 

Woodbridge was hardly disappointed with the result themselves. Their runner-up 11:55.21 was an easy school record. Their goal was to break 12, and by mostly hitting the splits they wanted – Christine Babcock 3:35.2, Cassie Stanislaw 57.3, Sarah Toberty 2:16, and Jessie Babcock 5:05 – they decisively did so. 

A surprise (at least to those who those not intimately connected with Royal HS) was the appearance of California’s newest distance sensation Nicole Blood in the DMR. Word had been that she was bypassing the meet after her World Cross weekend in Japan and getting ready for a big race at Mt. SAC. But she took the baton in 10th place and brought Royal all the way up to 4th and a very nice 12:04.39.

Blood’s leg was reportedly 4:46, just a few ticks off St. Geme’s effort. One can only hope to get to see a matchup down the road between those two.

Girls 3200: Hasay’s Eight-Lap Debut 

Mission Bay Prep’s freshman supergirl Jordan Hasay (right) had never done a 3200 or 2-mile on the track, isn’t used to running at night, and just wasn’t quite herself in the biggest track race of her young life to date. 

Her opponents probably won’t be happy to hear that.

Hasay overcame all that and some early pacing that was slightly off to still deliver a crushing 10:07.56 8-lapper, which besides putting her at No. 11 on the all-time list was also a freshman and age-14 national record. 

Indeed, Hasay’s face showed not the usual relaxed concentration, but more of a worried look as she dealt with a 34.8-72.8 start, then clocked 77.3-75.7-77.8-74.8-77.3-77.3-73.6 in an attempt to gain rhythm. 

Still, she won by 12 seconds, with a negative split 5:04.6-5:03.0 and put on her happy face for post-race interviews. After all, it was still a great run. “It really means a lot to me to win here,” she said. “I wanted to come out here and do my best for the crowd. They really helped me.” 

Later, Hasay admitted she’s naturally a morning or early afternoon racer. “I don’t do good at night. This is the latest I’ve ever run a race. It’s hard to know what to do about eating.” 

The battle for second included runners who would have taken the Arcadia 3200 many a year. Eureka MO sr Merideth Snow surged through the final 400 and held off Smoky Hill CO sr Keara Sammons. They both PR’d, hitting 10:19.71 and 10:20.39. “I felt good out there,” said Snow. Regarding her new 11-second PR, she said, “That’s what happens when you get some good competition.” 

Shana’s Relay-Hurdle Odyssey

Girls 4x100: Logan’s (Best) Run  

Shana Woods’ Saturday odyssey actually began in defeat for her and her team. James Logan HS, stinging from their 4x200 relay loss to the Jackrabbits the night before, turned the tables on Long Beach Poly in the opening 4x100 Saturday evening. With the team of Teirra Ward, Kristina Davis, Tracey Stewart, and Victoria Humphrey, they blazed a 45.97 to Poly’s 46.49.

“We were kind of frustrated last night,” admitted Ward. “It wasn’t pretty.”

Davis got the stick to Stewart with the slightest of leads to build the squad’s confidence. “I felt like it was critical for me to hand off the stick first,” she said.

When Humphrey received it, she had a solid margin to work with. “I felt good that the team could get it to me in that spot. We were determined to come back after last night.”

Girls 100 and 300 Hurdles: Dominating Over the Sticks

The 100 hurdles was the last event of the day to really face a stiff headwind. The subsequent 100 meter dashes were run with the wind and the breeze would start dying down shortly thereafter.

Shana Woods, with not a small amount of upper body strength, was well-suited to handle it. She didn’t get a great start, but the last third of the race showed her power and grace as she zoomed away. With the wind gauge showing 2.4 into her face, her 14.06 was very solid and a huge 0.45 ahead of runner-up Vashti Thomas.

“I said, ‘Uh oh, gotta go!’’ she said afterward, regarding her mid-race response. In a headwind like that, she added, you just have to get your head up, but she “didn’t really notice it the rest of the race.”

It had to start getting real hard for Woods in the 300 hurdles, but her quiet determination, defiance of her own fatigue, and heptathlete’s pedigree was increasingly revealed. Again she powered away in the latter stages of the race for a big margin of victory; this time it was 41.90 to 43.28 as freshman teammate Turquoise Thompson came up for second.

“I’m happy with it,” the Jackrabbit senior managed afterward. “I really needed to do a good job in the 300 hurdles. I hadn’t had a good one this year. I felt pretty good coming home and didn’t chop my steps.”

Girls 4x400: A Little Help From Her Friends

That Shana Woods pushed herself to the limit in completing her day with the Poly 4x400 anchor was a result of her own inner fortitude. That she didn’t have to do it was a result of her talented teammates.

After a 56.6 leadoff that had LBP in the hunt, Turquoise Thompson showed the form that made her one of the best youth 400 runners of all-time as she clocked a sizzling 54.2. With a huge lead, the Jackrabbits finished it off the 3:40.47 with 55.3 and Woods’ 54.3. Sa’de Williams hauled a 54.0 anchor to bring Rancho Cucamonga into second at 3:46.21.

“I was kind of coasting the first 200,” said Thompson. “Then I started really picking it up because I wanted to give my teammates a good enough lead.”

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