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34th Arcadia Invitational

Alan Webb tells about
his day in California

April 14, 2001 at Arcadia CA High School

 

Webb had butterflies before the Arcadia mile because of all the pre-race hype - the rabbit was a wind breaker - this was not Hall's best race, but "he is not to be underestimated" - plans for Penn Relays: 4x8 and DMR - Alan is "psyched" about the Prefontaine Classic (May 27) - Coach Raczko says Webb's personal best may come at Pre

by Pearl Watts

Alan Webb of South Lakes continued with his mastery of the middle
distances with a convincing win in the high school mile run at the 34th
Annual Arcadia Invitational in California this past Saturday. Webb's winning
time of 4 minutes, 1.81 seconds was over one of the top high school mile
fields assembled in recent years.

The race was heralded as a duel between Webb and senior Ryan Hall of Big
Bear Lake (CA) as to which runner was currently at the top of the ladder
among prep milers. Webb left no doubt that he is currently at the top rung
with his personal best outdoor time of 4:01.81 moving him to number two all
time in a high school competitor only race.

National record holder Jim Ryun (3:55.3) is the only other runner to best
Webb's time in a high school only race with a sub-3:59 clocking at the Kansas
state meet in his senior year of 1965 with the previous number two mark by
West Springfield's Sharif Karie of 4:02.01 at the National Scholastic Outdoor
Championships in Raleigh, NC in 1997.

Webb's time of 4:01.81 also makes him the number six performer all time
outdoors among high schoolers as he now trails just Ryun, Tim Danielson
(3:59.4; 1966), Marty Liquori (3:59.8; 1967), Donald Sage (4:00.29; 2000) and
Gerry Lindgren (4:01.5; 1964).

The pre-race hype concerning Webb and Hall was extensive with Hall also
coming into the meet with impressive credentials including a nation leading
time last year of 3:45.12 for 1,500 meters and Hall had also run 8:55.12 for
3,200 meters outdoors in addition to finishing third at the Foot Locker
National Cross Country Championships last December behind Webb and winner
Dathan Ritzenhein of Michigan.

The race started with sub four minute aspirations as a designated "rabbit"
went out in 58 seconds for the first lap (440 yards) with Webb (58.8) in
second and Hall right behind Webb. The early leader and Webb both hit the
second lap (880 yards) in 2:00 and from there Webb took the lead with Hall
still in contention.

On the backstretch Hall drew even with Webb but never passed the South
Lakes senior. Webb still had the lead with one lap to go at 3:03 and then
picked up the pace, running sub 59 seconds for the final 440 yards and 28
seconds for the final 220 yards for the victory with John Jefferson of
Atlantic Community High in Delray Beach FL coming on strong for second in
4:05.54, John's twin brother Sean Jefferson third in 4:07.25 and Hall
finishing fourth in 4:08.37.

Webb said of the race, "I wasn't concentrating on the pace (sub 4:00
predicted by many) but instead wanted to make sure I won the race. I was kind
of nervous before the race because of all the Webb versus Hall talk. I had
some butterflies before the race and made some casual talk about my stomach
being uncomfortable, but I wasn't feeling sick or anything like it was
reported by some people. Once I was on the line I felt fine."
Webb added, " the pacesetter did a real good job of hitting the splits for
the first two laps. The weather was perfect except for it being a little
windy on the homestretch and I felt that the first two laps so I just tucked
in behind the leader and let him block the wind. He (Hall) pulled up beside
me on the third lap but never made a convincing move to get by me. I felt
pretty comfortable with one lap to go and told myself to work the lap hard. I
was waiting for someone to make a move with a half lap to go but no one did
so I decided to close pretty hard on my own with about 160 yards to go. I
know that was not Hall's best race, but he is not to be underestimated. The
outdoor season still has quite a way to go."

Webb then came back about three hours later to anchor the South Lakes
distance medley team which included Richard Smith (3:09.5; 1,200 leg), Justin
Smyser (50.8; 400) and Yonathan Kebede (1:59.5) to second place in 10:04.55
with his 1,600 split of 4:04.7. Atlantic Community, with Sean Jefferson
opening up a lead on the rest of the field on his 1,200 leg and with
John Jefferson anchoring in 4:07, won the race in 9:57.88 to move to number
three all time for the event.

Webb, who trailed John Jefferson by ten seconds into the anchor leg and
went out in 1:57 for the first 800 meters said, "I went out way too fast and
got excited that I was catching him (Jefferson). I was trying to get in
contact by the third lap and try to save enough for the end but I felt flat
in the second half of the race after using too much up in the first half of
the race."

Webb is scheduled to take this weekend off from competition before being
one of the centers of attention at the Penn Relays April 26-28 where he will
more than likely run the 4x800 trials on Friday morning, come back on Friday
afternoon to anchor the distance medley and then would run in the 4x800 high
school championship finals on Saturday afternoon if the South Lakes squad
makes the finals.

Also in the possible future is the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon the last
weekend in May where Webb may have his best shot at running his fastest mile
time of the year. The Pre Classic annually attracts many of the top U.S.
distance runners in the country both collegiately and post collegiately with
anywhere from a half dozen runners or more dipping under four minutes.
Webb said, "I'm psyched for the Prefontaine Classic. One of the plusses of
the distance medley on Saturday was that I was able to get the experience of
going out real fast. It was something I wanted early in the outdoor season;
almost like a fast time trial for 1,200 meters and then trying to hold on for
the last lap. Maybe I'm not ready now to go out below 3 minutes for the first
three laps and then finish strong but by Pre I will be going against some
very experienced runners who will be in rhythm and also blocking any wind."
South Lakes coach Scott Raczko said of Webb's mile performance, "Even
though Alan didn't run below four minutes, I thought he ran really well. I
think he was taken out of his rhythm a little bit in trying to race against
Ryan Hall but it is easy for a young person to get caught in the hype. The
distance medley race was good for his development both mentally and
physically since you don't want to have to wait to go beyond the unknown in
an open race.

Raczko said, "The Pre Classic may be the opportunity for Alan to run his
personal best of the season, but we still have to wait and see how the next
few races play out. This past weekend was a big challenge for him to stay on
task. There were so many West Coast people who wanted his autograph and to
have their pictures taken with him. After his race we had to go hide for a
minute so he could get his warmup uniform back on before he started signing
autographs again. It's a great thing to see high school kids getting excited
about another high schooler. It's also neat thing for the sport to see Alan
at eighteen years old turn things around and ask those people how their races
went after they talk to him about his race."

Webb was not the only athlete turning in a top notch performance from the
area. Jefferson's Kelley Otstott reaffirmed her status as one of the top girl
middle distance runners in the nation after finishing fourth in the 1,600
run. Otstott's time of 4:51.32 was a personal best and the Colonials senior
was pleased that she ran a smart, consistent race. The girls 1,600 was one of
many numerous races with plenty of quality depth at Arcadia with nine girls
finishing under 5:00 and a total of sixteen faster than 5:05 with Alicia
Craig of Wyoming the winner in 4:46.49 followed by Californians Amber Steen
(2nd; 4:47.61) and Alejandra Barrientos (3rd; 4:47.88).

South Lakes junior Richard Smith also recorded a personal best with his
time of 1:53.23 for third place in the 800 run while South Lakes senior
Yonathan Kebede ran 1:57.75 for an automatic state qualifying time in the 800
run. South Lakes also had senior Pam Simmonds run regional qualifying marks
in both the 100 and 300 hurdles and senior Kanda Karmo got a regional
qualifier in the boys 800 run with his time of 1:58.76 as the Seahawks
possible 4x800 squad of Webb, Smith, Kebede and Karmo look to have the
potential to run in the low 7:40 range or better in the right conditions.
Also, junior Bobby Lockhart of Handley won the 3,200 run in a personal best
of 8:57.08 and a new national high school record was set in the discus throw
by Niklas Arrhenius of Utah at 234 feet, 3 inches to shatter the old mark of
225-2 set by Kamy Keshmiri in 1987.

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