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Arcadia Invitational
4/8/00 at Citrus College, Glendora CA
WorkSeek.com Flo-Jo Memorial Arcadia Invitational
Preview
An annual high-light of the spring season, the Thirty-Third Annual WorkSeek.com Flo-Jo Memorial Arcadia Invitational, to be held April 8th at Citrus College in Glendora, will continue the tradition of all of its meets in gathering the top athletes from around the Golden State and having stars come in from all around the nation to battle athletically. The 2000 affair promises to bring in the new millenium in fine style, with absolutely spectacular fields gathered all across the different events. The Invitational portion of the meet is scheduled between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. at Citrus Community College in Glendora. The information below provides background to the fields in the different events, with each having a great flavor and stunning set of performers certain to provide the best in torrid athletic competition and usual quite impressive results. Each year the competition usually provides between twenty and twenty-five California State Leading efforts for the Spring season out of the thirty-two events, with about half of the winners recording the top time in the entire United States to that point in the season. Sixty former Arcadia competitors have gone on to represent the United States in the Olympic Games since 1984, with nine national records set in the competition in the last fifteen years!
Citrus College is located just north of the 210 Freeway in Glendora. Take the "Citrus Avenue" off-ramp from the 210 Freeway and head north one mile, with the Citrus Stadium just east of Azusa Pacific University. The Invitational Meet will begin with Field events at 5:00 pm with Running Events at 6:00 pm. General admission seating is $8 (North Stadium side), with preferred seating $12 (south side). The Meet is scheduled to be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net on April 23rd at 1:00 p.m.
For further information call (626) 445-7507
Web information: http://www.caltrack.com (see prep track & field section for complete seedings)
http://www.flo-jo.com
Individual Event Summaries
Boys:
100 Meters - The nation's top prep sprinter, Warren Rogers (Serra, Gardena), who has a lifetime best of 10.34 and leads the state at 10.57 this season, has a wave of challengers! Bennie Robinson (Poly, Long Beach) filled in right where Kareem Kelly and Darrell Rideaux graduated, cranking a 10.61 to win the Alemany Relays in mid-March. Stephen Hayes (University City, San Diego) was 10.59 last year with a Pasadena Games win a week back. Albert Hollis (Christian Brothers, Sacramento) was 10.50 last year and is one of the nation's premier running backs-he beat the field in the Stanford Invitational by two meters a week ago. Nic Costa (Aloha, Beaverton, Oregon) and J.K. Haines (Redmond, Washington) are the best from those western states! Robert Nembhard (Pasadena) will uphold the area's tradition of fine sprinters by striving to medal in this talented group!
200 Meters - Carlos Bedoya (Stepinac, White Plains, NY) blazed an amazing 21.44 indoors on a tight 200 meter track this winter and was the National Scholastic Indoor Champion in New York City. A good group will battle the Easterner here. Rickey Harris (Centreville, Clifton, Va) brings 13.71 High Hurdle speed, and a National Record equalling indoor 60 Meter Highs effort (7.62) to the line here, with top end speed balanced with strength (he is also a 50.28 400 Meter Intermediate Hurdler-a US eleventh grade record)! Anyway, Rickey should do some damage over a flat half lap! Bennie Robinson (Poly, Long Beach) has blazed 10.61 for 100 meters this year, and was 21.51 last spring over a half a lap. Nic Costa (Aloha, Beaverton, Oregon) was third in this event last year as just a soph, with JK Haines a double Washington sprint champ for Redmond (and 22.08 indoors on a tight track in winning the Simplot Games this winter!), with Calvin Reddin (Mohave, North Las Vegas) a Nevada state sprint champ! Todd Ball (Rowland, Rowland Heights), Seth Amo (Highland, Palmdale), and Maurice Dosty (Franklin, Stockton) have been under 22 seconds electronically already this spring in California!!
400 Meters - Some great athletes grace this field! Anthony Ewers (Lawrence, Cedar, NY) was the Nike Indoor Classic 400 meter champion in Bloomington, Indiana in mid-March, racing a fine 48.10 to win over Virginia hurdler Rickey Harris (Centreville, Clifton, Va) 48.38. Harris closed with a charge in that event, and with both here the rivalry will continue! Local star Travon Walton (Chino) was 47.09 last year and a Gold Medalist in the first ever World Youth Championship in Poland last summer on the Sprint Medley Relay team. He is cranking it gradually up this spring and will be in the hunt for gold here! Brandon Matlock (Stockdale, Bakersfield) has worked his way down to 48.15 in the Central part of the State.
800 Meters - A national field will compete here. Zach Salberg (South Kitsap, Whidbey, Washington) was 1:53.95 last spring and competed here. Juan-Luis Barrios comes north from Mexico with 1:52.95 credentials. Sub 1:55 stars Jared Emmons (Vista) 1:54.43 And Nich Thronton (Rancho Buena Vista, Vista) 1:54.43 look ready to go, with Ryan Hall (Big Bear) a 4:18.01 mile and 9:02 Two mile during the indoor season before dropping down here.
1600 Meters - A Fine group of-lappers will battle here. A number of Californians have looked very strong lately, with national level visitors helping to push the pace and time in what will be an excellent competition. Brian Turner (Millard North, Omaha, Ne) is our defending Champion over 1600 Meters, with a 4:09.29 lifetime best for a full mile. The Nebraska senior was 4:17 during the indoor season. Noel Paulson (Cascade, Turner, Or), a medalist here last year, was 4:14.21 for a full mile indoors this winter, with eyes on winning here. Garrett Milner (San Clemente) was 4:17.0 a week ago in Southern California with a 2:04 final 800 meters. Brian Anderson (Burroughs, Burbank) was 4:18.23 with a 60 second final 400! Augie Escobar (Villa Park) drops down here as one of the nation's quickest 3200 meter stars at 8:56.32 (#2 returnee nationally), with Danny Mejia (Katella, Anaheim) and Ryan Bousquet (Esperanza, Anaheim) both 4:17 times, and Washington's Dale Fox (Shelton) (4:18.3) and Brett Andrus (Mountain View, Orem, Utah) outstanding from their areas.
3200 Meters - Another super distance field will run this event. Josh Rohatinsky (Provo, Utah) has run super times in this meet the last three years, and as the nation's top frosh (1997), soph (1998), and junior (1999) at the 3200 meter distance he would like to win this meet once before his prep career is over. At 8:55.69 Josh is the country's top eight lap returnee, with a super Fall Cross-Country season behind him, finishing fourth in the Foot Locker National Championships! Fernando Cabada (Buchanan, Clovis) closed with a rush last spring, and is the country's #5 returnee in this event at 8:59.08. Oswaldo Pina (Lakewood) was 9:05.57 as a soph last spring, with Kevin Clary (Flathead, Kalispell, Mt) 9:07.83 in this meet in 1999! Girmay Guangul (Santa Clara) 8:36.06 3000, 4:14.77 miler David Vidal (Flathead, Kalispell, Mt), Neil Davis (Bellarmine, San Jose) 8:41.16 3000, Eddie Alaniz (Mt. Pleasant, San Jose) 9:17, Travis Laird (San Marcos) 9:18.03, Tom Kubler (Viewpoint, Calabasas) 9:17.78, and sub 9:20 Washington stars Andrew Ice (Ferris, Spokane) and and Chris Fayant, this will be another cooker!! Hopefully someone will get on an early pace for the crew!!!
110 Meter High Hurdles - Rickey Harris (Centreville, Clifton, Va) is the nation's top prep hurdler, (13.71) and equalled the National Record Indoors this winter for the 60 Meter Distance (interestingly he tied the record set by Arcadia Invite Meet Record Holder Deworski Odom of Philadelphia back in 1995). Some Californians are coming on strong and would love to challenge the talented easterner! Chris Morgan (Taft, Woodland Hills) edged rival Marcus Raines (Littlerock) 14.08-14.10 last weekend, with Jake Garlick (West Jordan, Utah) 14.20 and UCLA-bound Tony Golston (Point Loma) at 14.2 the best from the San Diego area.
300 Meter Intermediates - Another super field! Tony Golston (Point Loma, San Diego) is the country's #3 returnee with a 36.98 best, and the UCLA bound star has run strong in San Diego this spring. Trevor Jones (Newport Harbor, Newport Beach), also Bruin-ville headed cranked 37.41 a week back, with Marcus Raines (Littlerock) stretching out here to 37.63 this outdoor season. Jake Garlick (West Jordan, Utah) at 37.7, and Ben Gardner (Davis, Kaysville, Ut) are both strong Rocky Mountain Stars. Jeremy Thornburg (Cathedral City) and Robby Salimi (Rancho Bernardo) 37.78 last spring, can be medal factors here.
400 Meter Relay - The State's quickest will do battle here. The State team championship contest is kind of wide open, with the success of teams in this race starting a march towards that coveted June title. Serra (Gardena), led by the nation's top 100 meter runner, Warren Rogers (10.34) has run 41.4 this year, with Clovis West (Fresno) blazing 41.55 in its own area, while University City (San Diego) cranked the same 41.55 a week ago in the Pasadena Games. That trio, when healthy can knock on the door at 41 seconds flat or better, an excellent prep time.
1600 Meter Relay - Teams in the thick of action for the State Team title will battle here. Long Beach Poly has run 3:15.63 already, with Coach Don Norford appearing capable of shuffling people in and out to go a bit quicker at any time. Cleveland (Reseda) was close to Poly at the Alemany Relays with their 3:16.06 clocking, with Serra (Gardena) 3:17.50 with no one close so far this spring! Gahr (Cerritos) is the new "power on the block," with this a chance for the team to make a big, big statement-they won the Pasadena Games by nearly three seconds in 3:18.69. Taft (Woodland Hills), Milpitas, St. Mary's (Berkeley), and Morningside (Inglewood) have run under 3:22 and have great relay traditions!
Distance Medley Relay - West Hills (Santee) is the defending Champion, with Evan Fox (4:14.02 1600 this spring) and Ben Aragon (1:56.18 800m already) fresh for the distance relay this year here. Don Lugo (Chino) was the State Cross-Country Champions and highly ranked nationally-they have a flock of people who can run at or better than 4:20 and 2:00 who will be strong. Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) and Jesuit (Sacramento), who had three under 1:59 in an 800 League meet already, also appear very deep and strong. It should be a deep and quick event!
High Jump - Jerrick Holmes (Palmdale) impressed with a 7'0 clearance a couple of weeks back, with the tall thin high-desert star finding a challenge here. Ebon Glenn (St. Mary's, Berkeley), Deshaun Houston (Cimarron Memorial, Las Vegas, Nv), and Doug Smith (West Valley, Hemet) have all cleared 6'10 in recent weeks, with Fernando Lopez (Taft, Woodland Hills) over that height last spring and looking sharper recently. Thirteen in the field have bests of 6'08 or better!
Pole Vault - Three sixteen footers will grace the field here. Chris Chappel (Douglas, Minden, Nevada) and Logan Odden (Marina, Huntington Beach) cleared 16'0 during the indoor season, with Shane Hackett (Verdugo Hills) matching that lofty height a week ago during a lengthy competition in the Santa Barbara Easter Relays. Dustin Morrison (Alta Loma) 15'08 and John Pinson (Kennedy, Granada Hills) at 15'06 help form the top end of what will be a deep and talented field here.
Long Jump - One of the most anticipated events of the meet will help start action off in the field events. Indiana star Rolando Scott (Concordia, Ft. Wayne) jumped 24'10.5 last year in the Long Jump. California stars Oliver Jackson (Royal, Simi Valley) 24'04.75 and Tony Allmond (St. Paul, Sante Fe Springs) 24'04.25, with Brandon Parker (Lincoln, Stockton) a state meet placer last June, and Chris Morgan (Taft, Woodland Hills) also out over 23' this year. This event in front of a good crowd really has the meet going early on!
Triple Jump - A solid group will battle here. Anthony Park (Las Vegas, Nv) is one of the nation's fine all-around jumpers, with a 48'09 best here. Clarence Moore (Cypress) was out to 47'05 early in the season in Southern California, with Rodney Woods and the super soph duo from St. Mary's of Berkeley, Solomon Welch and Trestin George both over 47' this spring.
Shot Put - Another great weight event. Rhuben Williams (Eagle Rock, LA) peaked superbly last year to win the State meet at 62'08.75, with a 63'09 already this senior year during the indoor season. Rhuben was 61'08.75 a week ago, with some competition assured from Rusty Price (Atwater), who was 61'08 in late March, and Nick Arrenhius (Mountain View, Orem, Utah) who was over 61 feet during the indoor season. David Adamo (Clovis West, Fresno) was over 60 feet last year, with some good throwing needed to earn one of the medals in this field!
Discus - Nick Arrenhius (Mountain View, Orem, Ut) woke us up a week ago with the results from his first meet! The son of a former NCAA Champion from Utah opened up with a 204'7 toss under windless conditions, with plans to come to Arcadia for his senior year and win a watch! Travis Pendleton (Esperanza, Anaheim) is California's best, with a 191'07 a week ago that will keep the Utah star honest. Four others in the field have thrown over 175 feet, with Matt Gomez (Rubidoux, Riverside), Manny Eleyae (Don Lugo, Chino), Josh Rider (Murrieta Valley), Travis Jones (Mira Mesa, San Diego), and Chris Schwacover (Gilroy) all great successes in their areas of California this spring.
Girls Events:
100 Meters - A great group will battle here! Porchea Carroll (Rio Mesa, Oxnard) is among the top handful of dashers in the nation, and comes from Rio Mesa in the tradition of National Prep Athletes of the Year such as Angela Burnham and Marion Jones! Porchea blazed a lifetime best of 11.67 a week back, and she will face the challenge from one of Texas' best in Monique Hall (Yates, Houston, Tx) 11.74 a week back, and Aisha Margain (Berkeley) 11.87 in the Stanford Invitational. Halima Decree (Foothill, Bakersfield) led the nation indoors at 50 Meters off of her local win at 6.44, with exactly the same time at the Nike Indoor Classic as Burnham, as the duo was fourth (Decree) and fifth (Burnham) there over 60 meters in quick times. Decree has been quiet outdoors, but was as impressive as any Central Section sprinter has ever been during the winter. Latalia Goins (International Studies, San Francisco) is the #8 100 meter sprinter returning in the entire nation with her 11.69 best from 1999, with Nevada's Nicole Ireland (Mohave, North Las Vegas) 11.78 and Sierra Hauser-Price (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks) 11.81. This will be a fun one!!!!
200 Meters - Another fantastic sprint event! Angel Perkins (Gahr, Cerritos) set a U.S. National age-14 record last spring with her 23.43 best and she is the #4 returnee in the country! ! Monique Hall (Yates, Houston, Tx) was 23.59 last spring, and is the #7 returnee in the U.S. Porchea Carroll (Rio Mesa, Oxnard) was lifetime best 24.15 a week ago, and raced a 54.8 relay split to work on endurance recently! Aisha Margain (Berkeley) is one of the country's top 400 runners, and was 24.06 indoors this winter (#3 time in nation) for the distance. Do not leave your seat for this one!!!
400 Meters - Could be the race of the Meet! A great group, hot already this year, will battle. Monique Henderson (Morse, San Diego) was the World Youth (under 18) Champion last Summer in Poland as a member of the U.S. National team, and along the way picked up the U.S. National Junior title in addition to winning State, with her 51.96 among the top tenth grade times in U.S. History! She will be challenged here!! Christy Fairley (George County, Lucedale, Mississippi) is one tough young lady! She played in the State Basketball Championships in mid March on a Thursday, then flew to Bloomington, Indiana, where on the weekend she placed second in the Nike Indoor Classic to Lashinda Demus over 400 meters, racing 54.86 (off no track practice!). Fairley has run 53.8 already outdoors this spring to lead the nation, and she was a member, along with Henderson on the U.S. World Youth team last summer, bringing home a gold medal in the Sprint Medley from the competition in Poland! Angel Perkins (Gahr, Cerritos) is another outstanding athlete here. Angel last year set a National age-14 record over 200 meters at 23.43 after most of the spring in a cast with foot problems! This year Perkins leads the State outdoors at 54.58, and was the National Scholastic Indoor Champ over the 400 meter distance with a 54.30 best (#2 prep time of year). Angel is a truly special talent in a fine program!! Maggie Vessey (Soquel) is among the nation's top twenty in the event at 55.32, with Wilson (Long Beach) frosh stars Tiffany Wright (56.42) and Mackenzie Hill (56.54) developing very quickly this spring for Coach Terry Kennedy.
800 Meters - The nation's best gathering outdoors thus far this year! Liz Morse (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach) was 2:10.09 last year (#2 returnee nationally) and is running very strong, with a nation leading 2:10.86 for 880 yards this winter indoors! She has run 56.4 out of the blocks for 400 meters, and helped lead her team to a State Cross-Country title in the Fall, so all the ingredients are there for a quick two-lapper coming up!! She will have some competition here. Treani Swain (Oakwood, North Hollywood) had an unreal age-group career, with a 53.71 400 meter best last summer as just an eighth grader! She anchored her LA Jet team to a National Age-Group record in the 4x800 last summer, and ran under 2:10 in the seventh grade (!!!) for the two lap distance! Treani is another who had a good fall Cross-Country season. These two will be pressed by a ton of people!!! Katie Scarlett (Woodland) was 2:11.36 last year (#4 returnee in nation), with Spring Dawson (Vallejo) 2:11.69 (#6 US Returnee)! Atalie Barber (Jenks, Ok) is the midwest's top two lap runner, with a ton of others here capable of sub 2:15's making it one of the meet's deepest competitions!
1600 Meter Run - A great four lap field will battle! It should take well under 5:00 to consider being in the medal hunt! Alejandra Barrientos (San Lorenzo Valley, Felton) exploded here with a last 400 of 66 and 200 of 31 to shock with her 4:47.94 win, and she followed that with a 4:45.02 State Meet win in June and National Junior 1500 Meter title later that month. Barrientos was eighteenth in the Foot Locker National Championships in Cross-Country this Fall, and won the Mile Championship at the Nike Indoor Classic in March at 4:48.96. Alicia Craig (Campbell County HS, Gillette, Wy) was the Foot Locker Western Regional Cross-Country Champ (third in National Finals), with a 4:51 this winter indoors for 1600 Meters. Sara Bei (Montgomery, Santa Rosa) was 4:54.61 for a mile indoors this winter and second in last year's State Meet to Barrientos at 4:46.71 (#2 returnee in nation behind Alejandra). The Ziegle twins Laura (4:53) and Jackie (4:59.32 for mile) from Bingham, South Jordan, Utah, will be strong, with Katie Lyman (Central, Cheyenne, Wy) 4:56.85 for a mile this winter indoors! Julie Komosinski (Torrey Pines, Encinitas) was 4:56.43 last spring for the 1600 distance. About a dozen could finish under 5:00 here!!!
3200 Meters - Another cooking group!!! Victoria Chang (Punahou, Honolulu, Hawaii) was the Foot Locker National Cross-Country Champ this Fall, and a member of the U.S. Junior National Track Team last summer off her runner-up effort against athletes as old as nineteen in the U.S. Championship competition. The determined Hawaiian has run 10:32.30 for 3200 meters, and possesses a tough finish! Sara Bei (Montgomery, Santa Rosa) led the nation indoors over two miles at 10:32.44, with a fabled prep running career already behind her (and she is only in her eleventh grade year!). Anita Siraki (Hoover, Glendale) has very, very hot, with a 4:52.4 (1600) and 10:34.9 (3200) double a week back, the latter with a 5:05 final 1600! Siraki had her "coming out here last year" with a 4:52 1600 distance medley leg and 10:30.81 (lifetime best) 3200 later in the evening! But the field does not stop there!!! Michelle de la Vina (Wheeler, Valpariso, In) was 10:34.98 for two miles indoors in defeating Siraki in the Nike Indoor Classic in Indiana in March, with a ton of others here who can fly-this has the potential to be the deepest distance event in the history of the Arcadia competitions (and that is saying a bit!!). Abby Miller (Green Valley, Henderson, Nevada) 10:38.16 (3200 last year), Alexandra Guerrero (Hughson) 10:42.61, Sara Graybill (Daviess County, Owensboro, Ky) 10:44.0, the list goes on and on and on with athletes aiming at this competition to crank up some times to bring in 2000!!!
100 Meter Hurdles - A great group here has five athletes who have run under 14 seconds flat! Lashinda Demus (Wilson, Long Beach) was the Track & Field News Prep Athlete of the Year for 1999, and has started 2000 like a house afire! She was 13.84 for the 100 meter hurdles a week back (13.83 lifetime best), with a strong field to challenge her here. Tamra Gulley (Oak Grove) has been the find of the State thus far this spring, following a good showing at the National Scholastic Indoor Meet in March with a stunning 13.88 in one of her first outdoor efforts to lead the entire nation for a time! Dana Bethel (Mission Viejo) was 13.87 last spring, and is rounding into shape. North Carolina's Latasha Pharr (North Rowan, Spencer, NC) was 13.88 last spring, with Beau Walker, a talented junior from Montbello, Denver, Colorado dipping under that 14 second barrier already this spring! Nicole Ireland (Mohave, North Las Vegas) is Nevada's best with a 14.13 clocking, with Latoya Phillips (Mitty, San Jose) 14.20-another stunning field of athletes!!!
300 Meter Hurdles - See America's best High Schooler in her best event here! Last year's Track & Field News Prep Athlete of the Year, Lashinda Demus (Wilson, Long Beach), has had success all over the track from the sprints, hurdles, relays, and up through the 800 meters. It all comes together with the speed, discipline of step pattern, hurdling technique, and endurance in the 300 Lows for Demus, with her 40.44 last year the #3 prep time ever and agonizingly close to the National Record of 40.18 that has stood since 1984 by Leslie Maxie (Mills, Millbrae). Lashinda opened up a week ago with a blazing 41.08, the thirteen fastest time ever run by a U.S. High-Schooler! When asked about the race, which she felt was faster, Demus had one comment, "It was cold!!!" What will she do when it warms up!!! Anyway, this could be the week---! A good group will push the Wilson star! Beau Walker (Montebello, Denver, Co) is a great all-around sprinter/hurdler, with a 42.60 from last year that marks her among the nation's top dozen in the event. 20 foot Long Jumper Jill Bell (Bellevue, Wash) will wander over for this event, where she was 42.81 as a frosh in 1999! If Demus's step pattern is on and all comes together, anything is possible here!! The Wilson group comes to run at Arcadia, as who will ever forget Kinshasa Davis's 51 second anchor leg on the team's 4x400 winners a couple of years back!
400 Meter Relay - Berkeley has been tearing up the Northern part of the State (46.87 win at Stanford), with Coach Darrell Hampton's 2000 Yellowjacket squad bringing back memories of the great Coach Willie White (former LA Jefferson star of the 1950's) and his Sharon Ware and crew squads of the late 1970's and early 1980's! The North-South rivalries are great, with Berkeley here joined by fellow Northern power, Logan (Union City) 47.4, against Southern speedsters Wilson (Long Beach) 46.04 (#2 team nation 1999 47.83 this spring), Gahr (Cerritos) 47.8 this year, and John Muir (Pasadena) 47.98. This relay action with the team members under far more pressure with the huge crowd than they have faced before this spring, is always tremendously exciting with the sprinting action and discipline required through patient well-executed hand-offs.
1600 Meter Relay - What a close to the evening!!! They engrave the watches for this one each year with Long Beach Wilson on them, and while Coach Terry Kennedy graduated an awful lot his amazing program has simply "re-loaded" in frightening style! Running two frosh who were not famous age-groupers (Tiffany Wright and Mackenzie Hill), Wilson opened up at 3:43.62 this year, which shows the potential of the team to challenge their own 3:36.32 National Record (let's see 56-55-55-52-don't tell me that they could do it here!!!!). Anyway, the Meet Record here is 3:39.48 set by the 1998 squad (Latrice Borders, Joni Smith, Lashinda Demus, and Kim Gildersleeve). Wilson has taken the last four Arcadia 4x400 Relay titles! Berkeley, with a very, very talented crew can challenge! Aisha Margain 54.90 last year for 400 meters and T'Carra Penick 7th at State for 400 meters form the basis for a team that has run 3:50.73 and is looking for competition! Coach Darrell Hampton is looking for an Arcadia relay win for his program! Poly (Long Beach) has run 3:53.18, with Gahr (Cerritos) 3:54.69, and Morningside (Inglewood) 3:55.44. It will be a great close to the evening on the female side and be ready to cheer the teams on!!!
Distance Medley Relay - Amazing things could also happen in this event! San Lorenzo Valley (Felton), anchored by 4:45 1600 star Alejandra Barrientos raced easily the fastest ever early season time by a California squad of 12:00.8 in early March! They hope for some competition here to push them towards the National Record of 11:44.53. Torrey Pines (Encinitas) leads with 4:56 1600 star Julie Komisinski and 5:04 1600 runner Angela Petersen, with Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) capable of 12:00, led by 2:10 800 star Liz Morse! Others may hold people out of individual events to concentrate on this relay, with the outcome a quality and deep one for sure!!!
High Jump - Jenna Grimaldi (St. Ignatius, San Francisco) leads the State with a 5'10 jump, with a talented group close behind. Consistent Chaunte Howard (North, Riverside), the twin combo of Bianca and Rachael Ziemann (Edison, Huntington Beach), and Shquay Brignac (Taft, Woodland Hills) have all cleared 5'08 in their careers.
Pole Vault - This event continues to improve at an impressive rate! Laura Chen (Temple City) was 12'02 last spring with one of the top soph prep vaults in U.S. History. She is ranked among the top half-dozen in the entire nation, with two meets at 12'0 already this year! A number of others highly ranked nationally are in the event. Chelsea Connolly and Buffie Ryan (both of Soquel), and Jamie Kolar (Poly, Long Beach) were ranked among the top dozen indoors nationally this winter with 11'06 bests, with Carolyn Rebello (Marina, Huntington Beach) and Emily Roberts (Central Valley, Veradale, Washington) among the top fifteen returnees nationally outdoors with their 1999 spring bests of 11'06.
Long Jump - Super event! Jill Bell (Bellevue, Washington) is one of the great young horizontal jumpers in U.S. prep history, with a 20'02.5 best as just a ninth grader in 1999! She has had a fabled age-group career, with membership on the 1999 U.S. World Youth (Under 18) Championship team in Poland last summer, and was a finalist in that Championship meet! Mexican national (Culiacan HS, Sinaloa) has jumped 19'6, with yearly California leader Elzunia Lamb (San Benito, Hollister) 19'5 this year. Dana Bethel (Mission Viejo) was 19'05.25 last year, with Porchea Carroll (Rio Mesa, Oxnard) 19'03.5. Jan Eichenauer (Wabash, In) was the State Champ there at 19'0. Keep an eye on Shanon Meyer (Sultana, Hesperia), a great all-arounder who has jumped 18'11, run 56.9 in the 400, jumped 38'07.5 in the Triple Jump, and was eighth in the Nike Indoor Class Pentathlon! Wow!!!!
Triple Jump - Blessing Ufodiama (Poly, Long Beach) rocketed to the head of the National Class with a big National Scholastic win over the best in the rest of the country in a Nation-Leading performance of 41'00.5. Matched against Blessing here will be North Carolina's Latasha Pharr (North Rowan, Spencer, NC), who won the Nike Indoor Classic the same weekend as Blessing's New York City win at 40'06.25 (#2 jump nationally this winter-best of 40'09.5 last spring the #3 returning jumper nationally outdoors!). Should be a great match-up!!! Tamillya Brown (Skyline, Oakland) had the number six jump in the nation indoors at 39-07.25, with Trinety White (Marysville) at 39'00.5 last year as a soph! This will be among the first Women's Field events on the main track before the running events start, with the action worth watching!!
Shot Put - Another competition for the ages!!! Jill Camarena (Woodland) is the top returnee in the nation with a 50'11.25 best in the event (making her the #9 prep thrower in U.S. History (!). Karen Freberg (San Luis Obispo) is the #2 returnee nationally at 48'05, with the duo toying with competition so far this season, with the duo 1-2 in the U.S. at 49'01.5 (Camarena just off basketball season) and Freberg 48'01.5! Two great competitors who are very well prepared laying it all on the line!!! Should be worth watching! The field certainly does not stop there, with Candace Hill (Hoover, San Diego) 47'02.5 the #5 returnee in the entire nation in the event, Jessica Cosby (Cleveland, Reseda) 45-06.5, and Jenna Johnson (St. Joseph, Santa Maria) 44'08 also among the nation's elite prep throwers.
Discus - Jill Camarena (Woodland) leads the nation outdoors this spring with her 161'09 mark, with the country's top all-around thrower facing a challenge here. Laura Saye (Silverado, Las Vegas) is UCLA bound and is the country's #4 returnee in the event with a 1999 best of 156'0. Michelle Daggs (Bishop O'Dowd, Oakland) is out to 143'11 already this year, with Kristen Thompson (Esperanza, Anaheim) an impressive 142'02 through late March!!
