Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 12:29:16 -0700
From: karl steinhoff [email protected]
Subject: t-and-f: California State HS prelims - highlights part 2 (running events)

Continuing on with the running events, in chronological order

Women's 4x100 - Six teams broke 47 seconds. St. Bernard is determined to defend their title, winning the first heat off another superb anchor by Meisha Withers. They ran down Skyline for a 45.81-46.13 win. With a perfect final pass, LB Wilson blew open the next heat and Latrice Borders went on to a 46.26 clocking. And just to show that the Southern Section will have some company, LA Taft beat Long Beach Poly in heat 3, 46.35-46.73. This one

will be decided tonight on who can pass well, as there are five teams with enough speed to win with a perfect race.

Men's 4x100 - Poly led the way here with their unpressed 40.63. It looks like a three team race, with the other heat winners (San Diego) University City and Serra with marks of 41.04 (excellent passes) and 40.93, respectively.

Women's 1600 - Two tactical heats appeared to qualify all the leading contenders. Spring Dawson of Vallejo (4:59.49) and Frosh Angela Sanchez of the interestingly-named (San Bruno) Capuchino (4:58.67) were the heat winners.

Men's 1600 - Surprising Juan Chavira of Hanford won the first heat in a quick 4:14.34, but defending champion Jon Stevens of Mission was a very easy second right behind him. Jesuit's Mike Altieri, coached by the legendary Walt Lange, took a tactical second heat 4:19.12 with a last lap right at 60 seconds.

Women's 100H - Natasha Neal of James Logan was the story of this event, as she moved to #2 on the national list with her legal (+0.2) 13.61. The reign of J.W. North seems unlikely to continue, though Nicole Denby had the second best mark at 14.20 (not the 14.25 printed in some newspapers).

Men's 110H - Dorsey looked like they might have a possible 1-2 finish, with top seeds Greg Lee and Terry Ellis taking the first two heats with legal low-14 times. But the most impressive race came from St.Paul junior Marcel Almond, who won heat three with a PR 13.93. I'd bet on Marcel tonight, as he seems to be one of the steadiest hurdlers to come along in recent years.

Women's 400 - Whoo, baby! We had an Arcadia rematch in heat 2, featuring frosh phenoms Lashinda Demus (LB Wilson) and Monique Henderson (Morse).
With Henderson nursing a sore right hamstring, Demus won this battle with a new PR 53.06. Henderson close behind in 53.26. Nakiya Johnson and Wilson's Joni Smith took the other two heats easily in 54.58 and 54.15.

Men's 400 - Another event which will be very competitive but not as strong as usual at the top end. It took 48.18 to qualify, as LA Taft junior Blaine Bussey had the best mark of 47.49. Look for Notre Dame's Rod Arzu as an upset possibility tonight out of lane 8.

Women's 100 - So far this season, Angela Williams hasn't shown us the lightning-quick start that dazzled us last year. She's going to need it to break Marion's national records. Still, she was unpressed in lowering her nation-leading time to 11.31. Withers was next best in winning heat three in 11.81. (slight trailing winds for all three heats)

Men's 100 - This one didn't leave us a clear favorite for tonight, with the shifting winds making it hard to compare the heat winners. Justin Fargas

looks in shape to defend his title, cutting through a 2.1 headwind to take the first heat in 10.68. Darrell Rideaux continues his winning streak, holding off Morse's Ike Okenwa to take the second heat in 10.49 (+1.2), while Miguel Fletcher may have looked the best of all of them, taking the third heat in an eased-up 10.61 (+1.4).

Despite lots of talk and posturing from some of the other sections, in the end all three heat winners came from the Southern Section. Of course, it's what happens tonight that matters most.

Women's 800 - Two words - Lindsay Hyatt. To steal a phrase from my buddy Alan Kleinsasser, Hyatt could win the race tonight and still be disqualified on the honest effort rule. She's just two cuts above the rest of the field, as she ran a strongly negative-split race (67 - 64) to win the first heat in 2:11.78. Wilson's Gildersleeve was closest as she took heat two in 2:12.24 off a 64-second opening lap. It took 2:15.14 to make the final.

Men's 800 - Michael Granville spoiled us for four years. Now we sneer at 1:53s. Gabe Orosco of Tulare Union led the times with a 1:52.90, but Jon Stevens, looking for a double, won a tactical heat three in 1:55+. Look for a good battle tonight, although Stevens may be hard-pressed to double back in just 57 minutes. I seem to recall that this double has broken a lot of good runners since the meet moved to the present schedule. (Note that Hyatt, #2 nationally at 1600, chose not to double here.)

Women's 300H - Heat 1 was a great showdown between the two most impressive runners of the evening up to this point. Natasha Neal leads the state, and was out very quickly here. But Demus, avoiding the step problems she had last week, closed a good five meters in the final straightaway and just missed, as Neal took a 41.88-41.90 win. Demus' time makes her the third fastest frosh ever. Randi Smith of Beverly Hills, still learning in just her second season as a hurdler, lowered her best to 42.19 to win heat 3.

Men's 300H - Oh, for the days of George Porter. (Now *there's* a mark worthy of the term "Beamonesque"!) Al Williams of Irvine regained the state lead taking the final heat in 37.14. I'll remain faithful to John Muir, and go with Elmo Traylor, who improved his PR to 37.43, finishing second behind San Bernardino's Leonard Lexion (37.31).

Women's 200 - Probably Williams' last prep deuce, as she's mentioned plans to drop this event for the upcoming championship meets. By this time, it was starting to get chilly, and she took an unpressed win in 23.52. Her ever-present companions are in the hunt again, as Withers won the second heat in a wind-hindered 24.21, while borders improved her legal PR to 23.87 in the third heat. Unless she breaks the 100 record earlier, I look for Williams to really let it rip and try to go out in a blaze of glory in this event.

I remember back in 1993, after her last event, Marion Jones was allowed a "lap of honor" (actually about 300 meters, as she started at the top of the backstretch). It will be interesting to see if Williams, with at most five titles, will be given a similar honor tonight.


Men's 200 - Looks like another Southern Section showcase. Fletcher (21.00), Kelly (20.99), and Serra's Warren Rogers (21.22) were the three heat winners, with Rideaux second behind teammate Kelly in 21.33. San Diego Morse's Ike Okenwa, 20.97 last week, ran 21.41 to be the #6 qualifier.

3200s - no heats - finals only tonight, featuring a Mt. SAC-like 27 runners per race.

Women's 4 x 400 - This was mostly a setup race. Wilson held out some of their top runners, and Demus cruised an easy 57.6 on the second leg. Joni Smith wasn't running much harder with her 55.9 anchor, but Wilson still had the best mark of 3:47.57. Looks like the other contenders are Poly (3:47.83), Taft (3:50.82) and surprising Encinal of Alameda (3:48.69 to win heat 3).

I got a chance to speak with some of the Wilson folks after the meet, and they indicated that they won't be satisfied to win the race, or to break their own National record. They're going to run the best available team, and try to break the record (3:37.38) by as much as possible.

Men's 4x400 - LB Poly's team title hopes took a hit when they surprisingly failed to advance, finishing fourth in the slowest of the three heats.
Surprising Serra had the quickest time with their 3:14.05. LA City champion Taft took heat two in 3:15.73. Notre Dame's Arzu came from seventh place in heat three to give Fargas the lead, and Fargas, who makes it clear that the designation "Boys" does not apply to the male competitors in this meet, came home in 47.7 to give the "Irish" a win in 3:16.66.

As is always the case, it's going to be a great battle tonight, as any of about six teams could win it. I'll go with the experience of Dominguez to defend last year's title in about 3:12.8.

There you have it. STATE - need we say any more?

kes