Boys Sprint Relays - Boys Distance Relays

Girls Sprint Relays - Girls Distance Relays

BOYS

Sprint Relays

4x200
The boys from George Washington made the trip from Colorado pay off with a win over California powers Rancho Cucamonga and Logan. In the process, the fleet Denver foursome avenged a close loss to the Logan squad at the Simplot Games, where they were beaten by just over a tenth of a second. Here, both teams trailed Middletown OH at the first exchange, but carved out a three-way battle with Rancho Cucamonga by the second handoff. When Washington anchor AJ Whitaker found some daylight with his 21.6 carry, the 1:27.70 win was in hand. Rancho Cucamonga was second in 1:28.61, followed by Logan in third 1:29.04.

800 Sprint Medley
As Long Beach Poly 100m leadoff Evant Orange folded into the blocks in lane 5, the crowd was already buzzing about a possible national record shot. He handled his stick duties well, getting a clean handoff to #2 man Isaiah Green, who shot up the backstretch to a waiting Joey Hughes. Around Green, contenders like Logan CA and Middletown OH were already falling off. Hughes broke things open on the 200 leg with a 21.3 PR, getting the baton to Bryshon Nellum well clear of Crenshaw High and with a fighting chance at Glenville Heights OH’s 2003 record of 1:28.95.

Tellingly, just as Nellum rounded the curve toward home, the stadium lights flickered on to illuminate the record attempt. Nellum looked relaxed but focused as he closed on the finish line with an electrifying 45.6 anchor that sliced a half second off the old mark. As his team celebrated their 1:28.43 USR at the end of the track, one of them could be heard repeating a question to Bryshon, making sure he’d heard him correctly.

“You said 45 was easy?”

Nellum just nodded and embraced his squad. It might not have been easy, but he made it look that way..

1600 Sprint Medley
With a lap to go in the boys’ 1600 sprint medley, it appeared that Cimarron Memorial of Nevada might have the race in hand. Down the backstretch, however, two other teams—Rancho Cucamonga CA and Cheyenne NV—emerged to wage a fierce battle for the win. RC’s sophomore anchor Joseph Ruelas (who had originally taken the stick with a lead) surged gamely ahead in the far turn, but Cheyenne’s Deshawn Proby had a bit more down the stretch, as Rancho Cucamonga and Cimarron faded back into a hard charging crowd, and Vista del Lago got up for a close second (3:31.72). Cheyenne’s winning time of 3:31.29 was one of 8 US#1’s recorded during the evening.

4x110 Shuttle Hurdles
As the temperatures dropped and the winds whipped up a bit, one of the events impacted was the shuttle hurdles. Half the legs on the precision relay would need to contend with wind in their faces, while their teammates would have the breeze at their backs. The boys’ squad that best handled the tight confines of alternating hurdles was Brophy Prep, from Phoenix AZ. Stitching together a 15.2w, 15.0, 14.4w, 14.4 series of legs, the Arizona highsteppers slipped just under a minute for the 59.28 win.

Distance Relays

4x800
Dylan Knight, one of the talented Knight twins in La Sierra CA’s mid-distance stable, had never heard of Silverado NV anchor Sean Zurko. It didn’t help that he learned about him as he tore down the backstretch on the first lap of his 800m anchor, with the stadium announcer informing the crowd—and Knight—that Zurko was both a 1:52 half miler and lurking a few meters back.

Knight’s teammates had run a heroic race to get him the baton with the lead. Steven Norton ran a 1:55 PR in the opening slot, handing off to Jared Drinkard in first. Drinkard ran a strong leg, passing the stick to Dylan’s twin Spencer Knight just behind Silverado and Iona Prep NY. Spencer Knight, distinguished from his brother by a bushy beard, cranked a 1:57.3 to give Dylan some breathing room. Dylan needed all of it, as Zurko came charging onto his shoulder on the final turn and slipped into the lead with less than a hundred to go. Dylan, and La Sierra’s bid for an Arcadia win, appeared done at that point. Somehow he found another gear and gutted out a scintillating stretch run, his 1:53.2 enough to turn back Zurko’s 1:51.2 and relegate Silverado to second—7:44.90 to 7:46.12.

4xMile
Early on, the 4xMile appeared as if it, too, might be won on the efforts of a pair of brothers. Carlmont CA’s Brad Surh (a junior) and Greg Surh (a senior) had their school in the lead after strong opening legs of 4:21 and 4:32. But a host of California contenders were still in the mix, with Ventura, Oak Ridge and El Toro most notable among them. On the third leg, El Toro’s Marc Hausmaninger propelled his squad into first with a great carry, and then it was all in the capable hands of Adbow Haji. Haji took the stick 30 meters clear of the field and unfurled a controlled, but steadily pressing anchor to blow open the race and bring his team the 17:53.59 victory. Behind him, a tight battle for second was dismantled when Oak Ridge sealed up the silver in 17:56.24.

GIRLS

Sprint Relays

4x200
The arrival of the vaunted Eleanor Roosevelt MD team out West was accompanied by high expectations and a fair amount of speculation about the sort of night they might have, with squads entered in nearly every event. The win and two second places they recorded on Friday night may have been a slight disappointment, but only in comparison to the instant classic they authored at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Here, they took the track for the 4x200 shortly after a close loss in the 4x800, and demonstrated why they are dangerous up and down the distance ladder.

Coming out of lane 6, with Long Beach powers Wilson and Poly in 4 and 5, respectively, Roosevelt kept things tight all the way to the finish. Sisters Tameka and Takecia Jameson handled the final two furlongs, and delivered the ER girls their first Arcadia title over a rapidly closing LB Wilson team. Takecia Jamison (24.0) waged a stirring stretch battle with Wilson’s Shelice Williams (23.4) before slipping clear for the win, 1:38.57 to 1:38.62.

800 Sprint Medley
Eleanor Roosevelt was back in action for the special 800 medley section. They and Logan CA were both out well, with O’Dell CA and St. Mary’s Academy CA moving up to contend at the handoff to the 400 anchor. The race looked to be a barnburner at that point, but no one had an answer for Logan’s frosh phenom Thandi Stewart, who ran 54.24 as an eighth grader. Stewart dropped a stellar 54.1 anchor here to gap the field, take the 1:43.42 win for her Logan teammates, and relegate the Greenbelt MD squad to a 1:47.16 and their second relay silver.

1600 Sprint Medley
The second medley relay was expected to be another showcase for Roosevelt, and they were early contenders, but it was the girls from Logan CA claiming their second medley win and second US-leading mark. The anchor battle was set up by a 55.6 third leg which placed Logan in the lead and several meters up on Roosevelt’s Tameka Jameson. Centennial CA star Robin McClendon was there as well, ready to unleash her 2:15 speed on the field. Logan, however, was countering with 2:12 half-miler Jami Hardy, who capped the relay with a 2:14.2 anchor and never let either McClendon or Jameson back into contention for the win. Logan’s 4:00.98 was a US#1, and followed by Centennial in second 4:04.21 and O’Dowd getting up for third (4:05.02).

4x100 Shuttle Hurdles
John Muir of Pasadena CA is all over the Arcadia all time list in this event, and they added another notch Friday night with a 1:01.87 triumph.


Distance Relays

4x800
The opening invitational event of the night, the girls 4x800 was expected to be the coming out party for Maryland’s Eleanor Roosevelt, but for the opening two legs they appeared to linger just out of contention. A strong third leg by Dominique Lockhart drew them within striking distance of race leaders Xavier Prep AZ and Long Beach Poly CA, however, and set up a dramatic final leg for Roosevelt’s Marika Walker and Xavier Prep’s Natalie Johnson. At the bell, Walker charged into the lead and seemed to have momentum, but Johnson was a having a great run for her Xavier teammates. She closed out a 2:08.8 leg by finding daylight from Walker in the homestretch and getting the 9:02.99 victory. Roosevelt was a step back in 9:04.98, followed by O’Dowd CA in 9:12.15.

4xMile
The early legs of the girls’ 4xMile saw cross country power and NTN qualifier O’Connor AZ trading the lead with Davis CA, Los Gatos CA, and Ruyton Girls School of Australia. Lurking throughout, however, was Crescenta Valley, counting on the strength of closing legs Shelby Pock and Claire Collison. Both delivered in spades. Halfway through her third leg, Pock ran down the lead pack and then shot to the front, dropping Davis and O’Connor into second and third. Her 5:11 split was more than enough to hand Collison a lead she would never relinquish. The lanky Collison sped to a 5:02.3 anchor that gave her team the 20:47.10 win. Davis was second in 20:49.12 and O’Connor was third (21:04.02).

Arcadia Index Home