U.S. invaders -- into the lion's den or conquering heroes?
by John Dye
ARCADIA CA 4/12/02 -- Arcadia delights in pitting track-rich California
against the rest of the country. Sometimes it is a trap, like Darrell
Rideaux's "lions den" welcome for Casey Combest 3 years
ago. Other times, the visitors take away the prize -- like last
year's Alan Webb and Bobby Lockhart of Virginia and Megan Kaltenbach
of Colorado.
The most compelling events of the 35th running of this meet --
the biggest meet produced by a high school according to the meet
directors -- are those with strong national challengers. And there
are plenty of those among the more than 3,000 athletes from more
than 400 schools who will toe the line in 140 events. A new wrinkle
this year is a Friday night session for relays. This will spread
the workload for top runners who want to compete in both relays
and individual events.
Here are the things I can't wait to see:
Girls sprint relays -- A.P.
Randolph of New York came into its own at NSI last month and
stole Boys & Girls' thunder by winning three relays (4x400,
4x800, and SMR) in top 5 all-time times. Now they come to the home
turf of the mighty Long Beach teams -- Poly and Wilson
-- who had big meets last week at the Texas Relays. Here are the
collisions scheduled: 4x200 at 6:58 pm Friday, APR and Wilson.
Sprint Medley at 8:22 pm Friday, all three teams. 4x400
at 9:49 pm Saturday, all three teams.
Boys 3200 -- The featured race
of the meet for the third straight DyeStat on-site 2002 outdoor
meet. This wasn't supposed to happen in the year of Ritz-Webb +1.
Winchester VA sr Bobby Lockhart returns off a sub-9 win last
month at the Nike Indoor Classic (8:58.04 2Mile) when he set all
the pace, but he will have his hands full here. Second at NIC was
Stevens Point WI jr Chris Solinsky (9:01.96), and some people
thought he was closing on Lockhart there just as he did in December
finishing 3rd to Lockhart's 2nd at the Foot Locker Cross Country
championships in Orlando. Solinsky may have closed the mental gap
further with his 4:08 earlier this week in Wisconsin. Solinsky has
been nicknamed "The Rocket" by his fans in Wisconsin,
who call themselves "The Rocket Boosters." While Lockhart
was winning NIC, Highland UT sr Nurani Sheikh was winning
the NSI 2-Mile in New York in 9:03.41, barely missing a huge double
by finishing second to Scott Fuqua in the 5000 meters in 14:44.42.
Sheikh was the West regional Foot Locker champion in December. California's
defenses were weakened by withdrawal of Arroyo jr Yong-Sung Leal,
who has a hip injury. But the home state ranks are still strong
with Billy Nelson, a fellow member of the USA world junior
cross team last month with Leal and Lockhart and signed to run with
Dathan Ritzenhein at the University of Colorado next year; Foot
Locker finalists Tim Nelson and Carl Dambkowski; Canyon
Country teammates Jameson Mora and Luke Llamas; Kevin
Davis; Giliat Ghebray; and Brett Gotcher. The national
invaders have still more quality runners in Tallahassee FL soph
Ryan Deak, Great American Cross Country Festival champion
and holder of the freshman class record for the indoor 2Mile; Denver
sr Bret Schoolmeester, another U. of Colorado signee; Bellevue
WA sr Mike Sayenko; and North Mecklenburg NC sr Kalib
Wilkinson.
Red Bank Regional girls - The
New Jersey squad travels west as the freshly minted national record
holder for the indoor distance medley (11:49.34 at NSI). This is
your only chance to see a Trotter at Arcadia, since Foot Locker
national champion Amber Trotter is still staying close to home in
northern California this season. Red Bank is led by the Trotter
twins, juniors Amanda and Katie, who will also run in the 800 (Katie)
and 3200 (Amanda). Red Bank is entered in the 4x1600 Friday night
and the DMR Saturday night.
Girls 3200: Good Megan or Bad Megan
-- Megan Kaltenbach, Smoky Hill Aurora CO, stunned a star-studded
field as a sophomore here last year in 10:11.97 -- 5 seconds ahead
of 2-time national champion Anita Siraki, with the likes of Laura
Zeigle UT, Julia Pudlin PA, and Alison Tubbs WA further back. "Are
you sure you're just a sophomore," Siraki asked Kaltenbach
afterward. Kaltenbach went into a 10-month slump after the big win.
She didn't enter AOC Raleigh in June, faded badly against Tubbs
at the Great American in September, and finished a so-so 14th at
Foot Locker national finals in December. In February, Kaltenbach
won the Midwest Indoor Track Classic in Nebraska with no competition
(10:39.65 2-Mile) and told DyeStat, "You're going to see the
real Megan again now. That wasn't really me last fall; that was
my evil twin." Kaltenbach backed it up with another romp at
NIC in Maryland last month (10:37.86 2-Mile). Another comeback in
this race is PA sr Julia Pudlin, a 2000 Foot Locker finalist.
This is her first big test since her injury problems last spring,
which started with an ankle sprain in a tumble at the finish of
the Millrose Games mile and culminated with a broken bone in her
heel at the Loucks Games in May. Three Foot Locker finalists --
Julie Allen, Corona Del Mar CA senior, Sally Meyerhoff,
Mountain Pointe AZ senior, and Amber Harper, Orem UT junior
-- are entered, as are such standouts as Caitlin Chock CA,
Jenny Aldridge CA, Amanda Trotter NJ, Emily Vince
CA, Laura Muller CA, Jenny Sears CA, and Nevadans
Shanna Sparks and Nikki Peterson.
Boys Mile -- J. C. Barrios
of Mexico, listed as co-favorite with Louisville KY jr Bobby
Curtis with seed times of 4:11, had visa problems so Curtis
leads the "invaders" team. Curtis won the Nike Indoor
Classic in Maryland on a lean for the second straight year last
month (4:16.14 Mile). Virginia junior Alex Tatu was the victim
of Curtis' lean and was a fast finishing second at the Millrose
Games mile in February. Palm Coast FL jr Sam Vasquez turned
heads 2 weeks ago winning the Florida Relays (4:12.36 Mile), and
fellow Floridian Rolf Steier, who was 3rd in that race, also
makes the trip West. Utah champions Kyle Perry and Tony
Jones are here, and so are Californians Sean Drake and
Jordan Kinley.
Girls Sprints - Monique Henderson
and Lashinda Demus are graduated, so this is the year for LA Baptist
jr Allyson Felix and Gahr Cerritos sr Angel Perkins
to take center stage in California. They will be tested severely
here by Houston TX sr Zenobia Reed (100), A.P. Randolph NY
jr Natasha Hastings (400), and Florida 400-meter champion
Alycia Williams (200 and 400). Hopefully, Perkins is recovered
from her injury in New York last month that made her a spectator
as Sanya Richards took down her national indoor records in the 200
and 400.
Chaunte Howard - The J. W.
North, Riverside CA, senior is one of the most versatile athletes
in the country and is signed for Georgia Tech next year. She won
four golds -- three relays and high jump -- last June at AOC Raleigh.
With Tracee Thomas injured, the North relays aren't as strong this
year, so Howard is trying out new events. She is entered in the
high jump, triple jump and 110 hurdles.
Girls Throws - At the Fresno
Relays a week ago, Bakersfield sr Rachel Varner and Arroyo
Grande jr Billie Jo Grant each made the top 15 of Jack Shepard's
all time list in the discus throw, with Varner winning 178-0 to
175-3. Varner is also top seeded in the shot put at 48-1, where
St. Mary's Berkeley sr Kamaiya Warren (47-0) will contest
the issue along with Grant.
Girls 800 - The two Heidis
of Mountain View UT burned up the indoor circuit. Soph Heidi
Magill won at Simplot (2:10.05) and NSI (2:09.46), and freshman
Heidi Houle was third at Simplot (2:13.29) and fourth at
NSI (2:11.35). Also here is the runner-up in both races, A.P. Randolph
NY soph Selena Sappleton (2:10.27 and 2:09.97). California
counters with experience in San Francisco sr Shannon Rowbury,
AOC Raleigh national champion last year (2:12.00 in a torrential
rain), and San Dieguito sr Jenna Timinsky, 3rd at MITC (2:13.82).
Also in the mix are two more from the A.P. Randolph stable -- seniors
Robin Mortel and Kelly Wallace. The top 13 runners
are seeded 2:12 or better.
Arcadia Invitational page
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