In perhaps the most competitive high school track and field meet in the country, four Central Coast Section athletes captured titles at the Arcadia Invitational Saturday night, with one setting a meet record.
Castilleja junior Tori Anthony broke her own section record by clearing 13 feet, 2 inches on her first try. The mark was one of six meet records set in the 39th annual competition that drew more than 500 competitors from 24 states to Los Angeles County.
Other CCS winners were Archbishop Mitty's Renisha Robinson in the girls' 800 meters (2 minutes, 12.56 seconds), Mt. Pleasant's Jeneba Tarmoh in the girls' 200 (23.93) and St. Francis' Kyle Mills-Bunje in the boys' pole vault (16-2).
And that doesn't even include St. Francis senior Ben Sitler, who was third in the 3,200 (8:43.47) in what must be regarded as one of the greatest high-school distance races of all-time. Eight runners broke nine minutes, a feat that had happened only once before in national high-school history.
Anthony, the national season-leader who is in her second year in the event, broke her old mark of 13-0 and had a good try on her third attempt at 13-6.
``It was good for her to get a big jump in a big meet,'' her coach, Scott Slover, said. ``But pole vaulting takes a while to figure out, and she's not even at that point yet. She's still got a long way to go.''
For Robinson, who was fifth in the CCS last season, the time wasn't even a personal record, but had to be her greatest race, especially in the manner she ran it in -- leading from start to finish.
Tarmoh rebounded from a fifth-place finish in the 100 (11.67) to beat 100 winner Kenyanna Wilson of Peoria, Ariz., in the 200.
Valley Christian's Khrystal Carter, the defending state champ in the 200 who missed all but one day of practice this week because of the flu, was third in the 200 (24.17). But she was second in the 100 in 11.60, the fastest time in the state this year, and No. 2 in the country behind Wilson.
Mills-Bunje was disappointed that two-time state champ Scott Roth of Granite Bay had another off day -- no-heighting for the second consecutive week against Mills-Bunje -- but stamped himself as a state-championship contender by beating all four returning state finalists.
Mills-Bunje, who came in at 15-2, missed once at 16-2, but got the victory over Shea Kearney of Desert Vista (Ariz.), who needed three tries to clear 16-2. Mills-Bunje appeared to have 16-8, but nicked the bar on the way down.
As for Sitler's race, ``I've never seen anything like it,'' longtime St. Francis distance coach Brian Curley said.
Sitler's time was the second-fastest in CCS history -- trailing only the 8:52.11 by Jesse Torres of Independence in 1981 -- and set a personal record by 17 seconds. Sitler ran nine seconds faster than the state-winning time last year.
Sitler broke to a 64-second opening lap and a 4:26 split at 1,600 during a fast early pace set by Diego Mercado of West Covina. But several runners, including Sitler, took the lead at some point over the second half of the race.
With less than a lap to go, Sitler was sixth, but passed three runners over the final 300 meters to close on winner A.J. Acosta (8:51.30) of Oceanside's El Camino, and finished with a 64-second final lap.
``I was thinking he would run a 9:04 to 9-flat,'' Curley said. ``But he put himself in a perfect position. For any high school runner to break nine minutes is a real breakthrough.''
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Mother's Day is about a month away, but the Neylan brothers will be hard-pressed to come up with a gift better than the birthday present they gave their mom, Cynthia, on Saturday.
Senior Brett, an opposite hitter for St. Francis, earned MVP honors at the Harbor Tournament, helping the Lancers to six wins, including a victory over West Catholic Athletic League rival Serra in the championship. The same day, Cynthia was in San Francisco watching outside hitter Alex earn co-MVP honors as the Lancers won the Sacred Heart Cathedral Junior Varsity Tournament.
``It was an incredible special day -- something I will never forget,'' Cynthia said. ``It was amazing to think that it could happen the same day and on my birthday.''
The Lancers varsity squad (24-8) has bounced back after suffering a league loss to Valley Christian on March 30. St. Francis had wins against Mitty and Serra last week before competing at the Harbor Tournament.
``That loss to Valley was a reality check,'' Brett Neylan said. ``But we came back strong and entered the tournament on a high note.''
Coach Michael Rubin said it's been a turbulent season for the Lancers, who have turned things around with Vince Grosso moving from outside hitter to setter. Neylan moved from middle blocker to opposite this season to take advantage of his ability to attack from the back row as well as the front.
``Brett was the one who called everyone together and said we need to step up and play,'' Rubin said. ``The team really needed that.''
BASEBALL: Palo Alto High has a unique ground rule for its baseball field, marked by a red cone in center field. If the ball gets close, it's out of play. And outfielders are instructed to stay away. That's bird-nesting territory.
New coach Joel Kaufman wasn't quite sure what to make of the small bird in deep center that raised a ruckus any time a player drew near.
``I'd run the bird away, and the next day, he'd be back again,'' Kaufman said.
Before long, Kaufman discovered why. It was protecting a nest and with four eggs inside.
The bird would even feign injury to draw the players' attention away from the nest.
At first, Kaufman thought it might he might just move the nest and eggs further away. But he recalled something he saw on the Discovery Channel, where the bird abandoned its eggs after they were handled.
That's when Kaufman got the idea for a cone, which he placed six inches in front of the nest and warned the groundskeeper to stay away with the lawnmower.
Kaufman said the toughest part is explaining it all to opposing coaches and umpires with a straight face. Players on both teams are not allowed in the area, which is about 360 feet from home plate.
After the placement of the cone, Palo Alto unleashed a four-game winning streak, but that ended with a 10-2 loss to Monte Vista of Danville on Saturday in the Serra tournament.
• Mountain View pitcher Jason Marshalla showed his durability -- pitching nine innings without allowing an earned run in the Spartans 10-inning 5-2 win over Cupertino on Thursday. Marshalla improved to 2-1 for the season.
BASKETBALL: Pacifica neighbors may have done a double-take Wednesday when legendary Coach Bob Knight paid a home visit to his Texas Tech recruit, Decensae White of Serra, on Wednesday.
BOYS GOLF: St. Francis (8-0-1) shot a one-under par 179 to defeat Serra (9-0-3) by a stroke in a West Catholic Athletic League match Thursday at Poplar Creek Golf Course.
Cal-bound Lancer Chris Jensen was the medalist with a four-under par 32. His teammate, Stanford-bound senior Joseph Bramlett shot 33. Dennis Carlson shot 33 for the Padres.
Sport: Track and field.
Event: Distance. Class: Senior.
Accomplishment: At the Arcadia Invitational in Southern California on Saturday, the Princeton-bound runner placed third in the 3,200 meters in 8 minutes, 53.47 seconds, shattering his personal best by 17 seconds. He also nearly broke the Central Coast Section record of 8:52.11, set in 1981 by Independence's Jesse Torres. Sitler began with a 64-second split in his first lap and moved to the front of the pack halfway through. After drifting to sixth on the back stretch of the final lap, Sitler sprinted the final 300 meters to finish just behind Matt Tebo of New Mexico's El Dorado High (8:52.23) and longtime rival A.J. Acosta from El Camino of Oceanside (8:51.30). For only the second time in national high school history, eight runners broke 9 minutes in the same 3,200 race. ``For an athlete to run well under 9 is a very rare event in high school athletics,'' St. Francis distance coach Brian Curley said. ``To do it under control and with authority is pretty astonishing.''