A Solinsky Slam: 8:48.44 over Schoolmeester's stunning
8:49.40!
Four more under 8:57! Also: Curtis 4:08.29 over Shepard
4:08.68,
El Toro 10:17.73 DMR, Patterson 1:53.69
By Stephen (Steveu) Underwood
ARCADIA 4/13/02 -- If there was any more proof needed that the
prep distance surge will continue in the post-Ritz/Webb era, Chris
Solinsky and the rest of the Arcadia Invitational 3200-meter field
provided it Saturday night. With a second 1600 under 4:20, Solinsky
surpassed almost every expectation for this event with an overpowering
8:48.44 -- and needed every second of it to hold off the shocking
8:49.40 from Bret Schoolmeester. A total of six broke 8:57 and seven
more were under 9:10 in one of prep history's deepest 8-lappers.
But that was hardly all of the great boys distance action on a
cool evening. The magic of Bobby Curtis continued in the 1600, as
his 4:08.29 held off an unlooked-for 4:08.68 from Steve Shepard.
Closer yet was the blanket finish in the 800, where Travis Patterson's
1:53.69 prevailed by 0.15, and the DMR saw El Toro triumph with
a 10:17.73.
3200 Meters: Living up to the hype
It was touted as the best and deepest race of the meet. It did
not disappoint. But did anyone expect two sub-8:50s, seven sub-8:57s
and 13 sub-9:10s? Not likely. Thanks to the pace set by Bobby
Lockhart, the finish of Chris Solinsky and the unexpected
challenge of Bret Schoolmeester, it was a 3200 beyond the
wildest dreams of almost anyone.
And it was the powerful Stevens Point, Wis. junior who ruled in
the end, authoring a finish of 65.7-61.7 and hacking about 10 seconds
off his PR with the 8:48.44. Running on Lockhart's shoulder the
whole race, he took the lead for good with 500 left and held off
Schoolmeester's challenge in the final 200. The vast improvement
that started this past fall with Solinsky, just keeps continuing
for the third-place finish at Foot Locker CC nationals, and where
it will stop no one knows.
"The race went perfect for me, except for the little slowdown
and speedup (in the early laps)," he said. "I didn't want
to take the lead, having had two races in the past week, and sacrifice
myself at the end.
"I wanted to run 8:52," he added. "I felt awesome
the whole way until the last 200."
The pacing was taken primarily by Lockhart (Handley HS, Va.), who
ensured that the field of 22 would get spread-eagled early with
a 62.8 opener. But the next circuit dropped off to 69.9 (2:12.7)
before Lockhart increased it slightly with laps of 68.6 (3:21.3)
and 67.6 (4:28.9). The quartet of Lockhart, Solinsky, Schoolmeester
(Denver, Colo., Christian) and Brett Gotcher (Aptos HS, Calif.)
had then began to separate itself from the lofty field, when Schoolmeester
took the lead and upped the ante to 66.4 (5:35.3) through 2000.
Lockhart retook the helm on the next go-round, turning it up to
65.7 (6:41.0). Then at the head of the stretch before the gun lap,
Solinsky finally took command.
Schoolmeester, however, made sure he didn't run away with it. He
was rewarded with an eye-popping PR of nearly 30 seconds: an 8:49.40.
"I've been putting in a lot of miles," he said. "These
guys are awesome and I just wanted to come here and run with them.
I really bombed at Foot Locker CC and I wanted to come in here and
show everybody what I could do."
While Lockhart faded the last lap to finish fifth, his 8:56.49,
incredibly, was still an improvement over his win here last year.
"Before the race I said I wanted to go sub-8:50," he said.
The Nike Indoor champ, however, had struggled much of the day with
feeling feverish and dizzy. "But I didn't want to sit on anyone,"
he said. "I felt bad already and figured I had nothing to lose."
More PRs came crashing through before and after Lockhart. Taft
HS's (Calif.) Billy Nelson used patience and a tremendous
kick to take third in 8:54.85, while Gotcher finished nearly as
strong with an 8:55.09. Nurani Sheikh (Highland HS, Utah)
nearly caught Lockhart with his 8:56.69 in sixth. All six surpassed
the previous national outdoor leader for 2002.
Super soph Ryan Deak (Lincoln HS, Fla.) continued his improvement
with 9:00.12, junior Tim Nelson (Liberty Christian HS, Calif.)
had a big PR of 9:02.50 and the list went on and on. There were
even two sub-9:10s in the "slower" section.
The race was such that even a front-runner like Billy Nelson didn't
have to take the lead. "I actually didn't want to go out in
front," he said. "Then I had to fight it not to go with
the first four in the middle, but I thought it would work out for
me and it did."
You and a lot of others, Billy.
1600 Meters: No Sit and Kick for Curtis
"I didn't come all the way out here to run slow."
So said Arcadia's newest 1600-meter champ, Bobby Curtis
(St. Xavier HS, Louisville, Ky.), after silencing those who scoffed
at his Nike Indoor mile win off a slow pace last month. "I
got a lot of crap for that," he added with a little smile.
The junior's intent was clear after just 400 meters as he led a
wall of runners through in 60.9. The tempo did slow to 64.2 (2:05.1)
on the second lap as Sam Vasquez (Flagler-Palm Coast HS,
Bunnell, Fla.) and Alex Tatu (Thomas Dale HS, Va.) began
to emerge as key challengers.
Then, having wanted a fast pace himself, Vasquez squeezed ahead
around 1000 meters. But Curtis reassumed commend before the bell
(63.7/3:08.8) and began sprinting. On the backstretch, surprising
Steve Shepard (Weber HS, UT) fought for the lead and Vasquez
refused to go away. No one was going to deny the lanky Kentuckian,
though. With a 59.5 closer, he crossed in 4:08.29, a PR and outdoor
national leader. Shepard was just .39 back in 4:08.68 and Vasquez,
nearly stopping before the line, crossed in 4:09.84.
"I've had some great workouts and felt confident I could go
out fast and hold the pace," said the winner. "I was in
a survival shuffle the last 100, though. I think I can run somewhere
around 4:05 by the end of the season."
Not surprisingly, Shepard was very happy, having a PR of just 4:16
from last year. "I wanted to get out fast and just stay even;
63s all the way."
The ambitious Vasquez was not so pleased, though. "I was hoping
to go faster; I wanted to run 61s all the way." Regarding his
move on the third lap, he added, "That could have been a mistake."
There's lots of hope for him and this whole group, though. Juniors
took the top five spots as nine broke 4:14. Another junior, Mike
Poe (Etiwanda HS, Calif.), won the afternoon session in a sizzling
4:12.92, which would have placed sixth in the evening.
DMR: "Record" Run for El Toro
School records can be great. Especially when they're accompanied
by a major triumph.
El Toro HS (Calif.) was ecstatic after completing the distance medley
relay in 10:17.73, with Travis Savala's 4:22.1 anchor bringing the
school from behind and providing the victory margin. But this cohesive
unit had another long sought-after goal as well: breaking 10:30
and getting its school mark.
"Our team has been intact since last year," explained
Savala. "We all really wanted to get it."
Each of the team's runners PR'd at his distance. Preceding Savala,
Brian Garbe had opened in 3:10.4 for 1200, Jonathan Woods followed
with his first sub-50 400 (49.6) and Matt Rolfe clocked 1:55.4 for
800. "Matt's been the most consistent," said Savala. "The
key to my race was to be patient and run even splits."
"We all ran smart races," added Woods. El Toro's 'B'
team apparently did, too, as the school displayed impressive depth
with it's second group getting 14th in 10:34.11.
Madera had led a huge group with an opener of about 3:06. St. John
Bosco joined them for the lead after the 400 leg, but Rolfe's leg
brought El Toro into a close second after the two-lapper. Savala
didn't take the lead until just over a lap to go.
Madera faded on the final leg and Royal HS (Simi Valley, Calif.)
closed best for second (10:21.18). Travis Patterson, who won the
800, anchored the race for the runner-ups, preceded by Tim Hearst,
Mike Duarte and Bryan Rhodie.
800 Meters: No Bringing Up the Rear for Patterson
Anyone who didn't figure Travis Patterson to take the 800 meters
can be forgiven. You couldn't have been more surprised than the
Royal HS (Simi Valley, Calif.) senior.
"Not getting last," he laughed when asked what his pre-race
goal was. "This is huge. But, really, everything is mental
in a race like this."
Well, Patterson seemed to have the best mentality, then, as a wall
of humanity hauled down the final straight. Having moved out to
lane five, Patterson simply ran the best in the last 100, topping
Kyle Sunderland (Etiwanda HS, Calif.) by 0.15. The 1:53.69
wasn't extraordinary as many marks in the meet, but having the first
four within 0.27 seconds was intriguing, as was eight finishers
in 1.53.
The 6th-place finisher, Carson Schmiett (Inglemoor HS, Bothel,
Wash.), had some role in the traffic jam. He scorched the first
lap in 53.1. The pack accumulated behind him, no one daring to string
it out, then swallowed him -- but none of them could really break
it open.
Runners in the slower section couldn't have helped wishing they
were in the faster one. Top three finishers Argishti Beglaryan
(Glendale HS, Calif.), Damian Rinaldi (Birmingham HS, Calif.)
and Mario Cobian (Rosemead HS, Calif.) wound up with the
second, fourth and fifth best times of the day, respectively (1:53.83,
1:53.90 and another 1:53.90)..
Arcadia Invitational Division
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