HOME - US News - States - Calendar - Rankings - Features - Youth - Message Board - Chat - Store - Archives - Sponsors - NSSF
 

April 13, 2002 at Arcadia CA High School

35th Arcadia Invitational

Preview

"When the lights go on, the stars come out."

2002 Arcadia Invitational
Features Usual Super Athletes and Relay Groups!

by Doug Speck

The always-spectacular Arcadia Invitational will involve the best athletes from four hundred schools in the competition in the greater Los Angeles area April 12th and 13th. A ton of individual and teams considered among the very best at the prep level will take part. With the competition taking advantage of the fine prep squads "in town" for the meet by adding a Friday Relays portion to the usual Saturday program, the chances for even more explosive results are possible during the meet weekend. Speaking of relay record-setters, Red Bank Regional (New Jersey), closed down the indoor campaign with a National All-Time Prep Indoor best of 11:49.34 in the Distance Medley, with the east-coast crew out for the Arcadia competition. Twenty-three national outdoor prep leaders for the year in the weekend's different events will take part the action over the two day period. With a packed house and hot action on the track the show is always one of prep sports' best!!

Speed is the name of the game in Track and Field, and Arcadia's "got what you need." The nation's best will face strong challengers in the sprints and relays, with the match-ups of athletes who have dominated their area seriously challenged this weekend with the best from twenty different states gathered. Garry Jones (Skyline, Oakland) blasted a nation-leading 100 meters a week ago at 10.45 to follow up a solid indoor campaign, with Matt Bruno (Trabuco Hills, Mission Viejo) the nation's #2 currently over 100 meters at 10.53. All-world footballer Reggie Bush (Helix, La Mesa) wants the back-seat to no one in the dashes, with the San Diego area star and State Meet placer last year 10.64 and 21.26 sprint bests. Deun White (Rancho Bernado, San Diego) is currently #3 nationally over 200 meters at 21.28, with Noah Smith (Taft, Woodland Hills) 21.38 last weekend, and Matt Bruno 21.39 strong this spring so far. At 400 Meters Deun is very solid also, with a 47.36 best as he tries to turn back the charge of sub-48 second stars Arizonan Michael Hilbe (Hamilton) 47.89 and Blake Mackey (Bakersfield) 47.94.

The Girls half of the speed scene features total screechers. The 100 and 200 are led by World Youth (under 18) 100 meter champion Allyson Felix (LA Baptist, North Hills), who last weekend cranked national leading 11.56 (100) and 23.62 (200) clockings to show she is ready to roll her junior campaign. The steadily improving Californian will be challenged by Texan Zenobia Reed (Lamar, Houston), who was 11.55 last year in the short dash and has strong competitive credentials she was Texas State 5A runner-up in her best time with her school 45.84 to win the 4x100!! Shalonda Solomon (Poly, Long Beach) the nation's top frosh sprinter last year at 11.57 and 23.22, the latter the fastest frosh 200 in U.S. history (faster than Marion Jones ran at the same age!!), will lead the rest of a talented pack in the dash contests!! At 200 Meters Alycia Williams (Flagler Palm Cosat, Bunnell, Florida), a sub 24-second runner, comes west to push Felix! The Athlete of the Meet at last summer's World Youth Championships was Angel Perkins (Gahr, Cerritos), who along with a 200 meter World Championship last year at the under-18 level, has packed more into her pre-12th grade prep career than almost any athlete in U.S. prep history. A 2000 Olympic Trials competitor at 400 meters, Perkins has run 23.07 for 200 meters and 52.18 for 400 meters, both among prep history's top fifteen ever with a season to go this spring! One of her prep career highlights was a win over Monique Henderson in the 2000 Arcadia competition, with a great 400 field testing her this weekend. Natasha Hastings (Randolph, New York City) was 54.13 last year, with a runner-up effort at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at 400m to lead into this spring. Alicia Williams (Flagler Palm Coast, Bunnell, Florida) was 54.15 last year, with solid credentials to back up her entry into the field here.

The speed events spill over into the Relays, with California and national bragging rights to come from the action with the batons! The Girls 400 meter relay will feature the nation's best! Poly (Long Beach) leads the country at 46.44, with the Jackrabbit crew touted as capable of sub-45 sometime this spring! Lamar of Houston, with super Zenobia Reed (11.55 100m) leads Texas this spring at 46.88 (they were the Lone Star State 4x100 champs last year at 45.84!!). Holy Names (Oakland) 46.87, Wilson (Long Beach), and Logan (Union City) all have super groups who will start Saturday evening's affair with a level of tension and excitement that you wish you could bottle and take home! Wilson (Long Beach) leads the nation at the 4x400 distance this spring at 3:42.74, with AP Randolph (New York City) 3:44.77 indoors in winning the National Scholastic Indoor title over Long Beach Poly (3:48.52). Rancho Cucamonga, was 3:49.16 last weekend, with the talent to step up to the next level nationally! Girls' 4x200 action - try the nation's best, with Long Beach Poly blasting 1:36.90 indoors this winter to lead the country, with Lamar (Houston 2001 State 5A Champ - yes, this is a State Meet event in Texas!!), Wilson (Long Beach), Randolph (New York City), and a stunning field to warm the facility up Friday evening!! 1600 Meter Medley action will feature U.S. Prep history's two fastest groups ever, with Wilson (Long Beach) returning members of the 3:53.17 Indoor National Record setters from 2001 (their indoor record is actually faster than anyone has ever run outdoors!!!). Randolph (New York City) was the National Indoor Champ this winter at 3:54.31 (prep history's #2 time ever indoors or out!!!). This the track will burn Friday night? (me thinks the new relay format a very good idea!)

Boys' baton events will be every bit as exciting! Long Beach Poly is on a roll as an athletic power, with a strong crew that cranked 41.46 already this spring, with the eyes on a sub-41 second effort! Dominguez (Compton) and Taft (Woodland Hills) appear to have the most talent to push the Jackrabbit squad! In the 4x400 event, Poly renews its rivalry with Taft (Woodland Hills), with the LA City/San Fernando Valley power the National Scholastic Indoor Champs at 3:17.94 to Poly's runner-up effort at 3:18.23! The four lap relay event is always a great close to Saturday evening's action! In the 4x200 event Taft (Woodland Hills) nipped LB Poly in the National Scholastic Indoor event, with 1:28.40-1:28.45 clockings that will drop significantly on the wide turns of the outdoor facility!

The middle and long distances are always an Arcadia highlight! 2002 will be no change in the script, with a ton of the top in the country rolling in to face strong California fields!

The Girls 800 is stacked with tremendous talent. Defending Champ, Shannon Rowbury (Sacred Heart Cathedral, San Francisco) (2:08.52) will face sub-2:10 indoor stars Heidi Magill (Mountain View, Orem, Utah) 2:09.46 (National Scholastic Indoor Champ) and Selena Sappleton (Randolph, NYC) 2:09.97 (Second NSI Indoors). Heidi Houle (Mountain View, Orem) was 2:11.35 indoors. National 2002 Outdoor Leader Whitney Schmucker (La Jolla) 2:12.45 will have to hustle here, with Jenna Timinsky (San Dieguito, Encinitas) 2:09.12, Alex Bartschi (West, Tracy) 2:10.21, Ashley Caldwell (Los Gatos) 2:10.27, and Alysia Johnson (Canyon, Canyon Country) 2:10.63 in the field! Nine in the race have run under 2:11!!! Over 1600 Meters it will be National Outdoor 1500 Meter leader Clara Horowitz (Head Royce, Oakland), with the 4:52.62 1600 star facing Bridget Duffy (St. Mary's, Berkeley) 4:51.96, Sally Meyerhoff (Mountain Pointe, Phoenix, Az) 4:53.54, and Liza Pasciuto (Murrieta Valley) 4:57.75. You had better be well under 5:00 if you expect to earn a medal here! Over 3200 Meters, Megan Kaltenbach (Smoky Hill, Aurora, Colorado) had her national "coming out" here last year with a stunning 10:11.97 victory over the nation's best. Her 5:09-5:02 1600 splits were impressive, with a strong group to keep her honest! Julia Pudlin (Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, Pa) was 10:27.51 here last spring, with Emily Vince (Peninsula, Rolling Hills) 10:38.1, Amber Harper (Orem, Ut) 10:44.71, and Caitlin Chock (Granite Bay) 10:48.75 make this another deep, talented field!

The Boys middle and long distance events feature super groups also! Defending Champion over 800 meters, Raphael Asafo-Agyei, was 1:50.70 last year, with Carson Schmiett (Inglemoor, Bothel, Washington) 1:52.92 last spring and 1:53.7 (Nation's #2 2002 outdoor time) this year. Canadian Nolan Fyfe has run under 1:53.0, with Arizonan Eric Chavez (Rio Rico) sub 1:54 this spring! If someone will get the pace out this group can run fast! Over 1600 Meters National Outdoor leader and Florida Relays Champ Sam Vasquez (Flagler Palm Coast, Bunnell, Florida), at 4:12.36 , will have to run hard to stay ahead of Bobby Curtis (St. Xavier, Louisville, Ky) 4:12.60 (mile 2001) and 4:16.14 indoors this winter in taking the Nike Indoor Classic at the mile distance! Sean Drake (University, San Francisco) is sharp with a 4:13.33 best, with Alex Tatu (Thomas Dale, Chester, Virginia) 4:14.66 indoors this winter for a mile! Rolf Steier (Berkeley Prep, Tampa, Fl) was 4:13.88 for a mile last spring, with the list of sub-4:20 athletes in this event going on and on and on! Again, with the aggressiveness that pervades prep distance running now a days, someone will go for the good time! At 3200 Meters, last year's champ, Bobby Lockhart (Handley, Winchester, Va) 8:57.08, will face another stunning field! Bobby was 8:58.04 for two miles in winning the Nike Indoor Classic in March, with Chris Solinsky (Stevens Point, Wisconsin) second in that meet at 9:01.96, with a sub-9:00 performance in recent weeks indoors in his home state of Wisconsin! Brett Gotcher leads the nation outdoors at 3000 meters with his 8:28.26, with Arizonan Eric Dall (Scottsdale Christian, Phoenix) close behind. Yong-Sung Leal (Arroyo, San Lorenzo) was the California 3200 Champ last spring, with a 9:00.49 best. Leal and Billy Nelson (Taft) are just back from representing the U.S. in the World Cross-Country Championships in Ireland!!! Ryan Deak (Maclay, Tallahassee, Florida) National outdoor 1500 leader at 3:53.82 moves up in distance here, with at least a dozen others in the field who can run 9:10 or better. This could be prep history's deepest and fastest mid-season prep 3200 group ever!!!

Oh yes, the action in the distances will spill over into the Relays!!! The Distance Medleys here usually give the group at the Penn Relays something to shoot at down the road! Girls' National Record Holder Indoors over the Distance Medley distance, Red Bank Regional (New Jersey) 11:49.30, lead a good group there, with some California squads fresh stars ready to challenge! The Boys' Distance Medley event features squads strong from the past Fall Cross-Country season. In the Girls 4x1600 Relay Friday evening Red Bank Regional will warm the troops up with four laps each, with Maria Carillo (led by 4:49 star Jenny Aldridge), College Park (Pleasant Hill), and Woodbridge (Irvine) appearing capable of going 21:00 or better (only 25 teams in prep history have done that!). In the Boys' 4x1600, Canyon (Canyon Country), one of the nation's top Cross-Country teams, leads a talented field. In Friday's 4x800 Girls action, Randolph (New York City) was the National Scholastic Indoor Champs in an amazing 8:59.52 (2:15 average), with the New Yorkers hoping to set up a huge Meet Record there! Madera ducked under 8:00 in California action already this spring, and they lead the Boys entries thus far!

In the Hurdles, Georgia star, Roy Cheney (Evans HS), a sub-14 second High Hurdler will face California's best. Thomas Mack (Bakersfield) leads the Golden State with his 14.23 and 37.97 High and Intermediate bests. Frosh Kevin Craddock (Logan, Union City), after a fabled age-group career, burst forth on the prep scene a week back with a 14.32 that is a National Age-14 record for the 110 Highs, and just short of the All-Time U.S. Best for Ninth Graders!!

On the Girls' side in the hurdles, Arizonan Jaime Cluff (Scottsdale Christian, Phoenix) has run 14.01 for the 100 Meter Distance, and she will battle with California's top stars in the event. Talia Stewart (Logan, Union City) was 14.15-14.28 over Danielle Stokes (St. Mary's, Berkeley) a week back, with Domenique Manning (North, Riverside) 14.20 in a Southern Cal win. Long Beach Poly's Tunisia Johnson (42.32 #4 returnee in nation) is among the best in the 300 hurdles, with Ashlee Brown (North, Riverside) 41.18 last spring entered, but hobbled so far this spring. Tiffany Brown (Stockdale, Bakersfield) was 42.39 (#5 back in U.S.) and has started strong just off basketball season! Shuttle Hurdles action will be part of Friday's Meet this year!!

In the Field there will also be a great series of events! California already has three 7-foot Boys High Jumpers, with T.J. Fakehinde (Eastside Christian, Yorba Linda), Keno White (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego), and Teak Wilburn (Chico) all over that barrier this spring, and each looking for a challenge. With a half dozen others with bests of 6-09 or better the level of competition will be here to push folks higher! The Girls High Jump features the nation's best, with Chaunte Howard (North, Riverside) 6-00 last weekend as part of an amazing triple (41-03 Triple Jump and 19-07.75 Long Jump). The great all-arounder from the Inland Empire will have 5-09 or better leapers Kaylene Wagner (Dos Pueblos, Goleta) (5-10), Julia Pitts (North Torrance), and Sharon Day (Costa Mesa) to push her this day.

The Boys' Pole Vault has National Outdoor leader David Murphy (Arroyo Grande), a 16-footer, with State Champ Mike Landers (Golden Valley, Merced) (16-03 2001), David Moore (Miramonte, Orinda) 15-08 lifetime best, and Adam Ziminski (Mountain Pointe, Phoenix, Arizona) 15-07 heading a strong field! The Girls have National Outdoor leader, also from Arroyo Grande, in Rachel Viau, a 13-footer, with Julene Bailey (Skyview, Nampa, Idaho) 12-06.5, Kira Costa (Lemoore) 12-06, Chelsea Johnson (Atascadero) 12-04, leading nine in the field with bests of 12 feet or better!!

The Boys Long Jump has 23-footers Ronald Hill (Walnut), Martin Boston (Logan, Union City), Demetrius Westbrook (Morse, San Diego), Danny Casupanan (Tustin), and Rodney Van (LB Poly) battling, with Van just a sophomore! On the Girls side in the Long Jump, Chaunte Howard has only been jumping for three weeks, with a 19-08 effort in her first meet (Marion Jones was 18-11 her first time out in the LJ as a senior), with a 19-07.75 after three days practice in an Invitational for the talented Howard! Chaunte, Georgia Tech bound, leads the nation in the LJ, with Gayle Hunter (King, Riverside) 19-03 this spring (19-06.25 last year). Michelle Sanford (Woodbridge, Irvine) is gaining her "track legs" after a winter on the boards and basketball, with a 20-05 best last year, and Maxine Marlow (Centennial, Bakersfield) was fifth at State last year (19-05 best).

In the Triple Jump, Keno White (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego) matches his 7-0 HJ talent, with a 48-08 Nation-Leading jump already this spring! White was 49-05.5 last year and is the nation's #2 overall returnee overall in the event. Nathan Adkins (Cerritos) has jumped 48-07 this spring, with a 49-01.5 last year. Martin Boston (Logan, Union City 48-00) and Donald Wilson (Dorsey, LA 47-11.5) were strong last year here, with Solomon Welch (St. Mary's, Berkeley), Jovan Grady (Rancho Verde, Moreno Valley), and Maurice Henson (Doherty, Colorado Springs, Colorado) 47-footers! Chaunte Howard (North, Riverside) and Michelle Sanford (Woodbridge, Irvine) should have a titanic battle in the Girls' Triple Jump here. Sanford was a bronze medalist in the World Youth (under 18) championships last summer at 43-04.5 (#3 prep jumper U.S. History!). Howard has recently taken the event seriously, jumping 41-03 to beat Michelle 40-03.75 two weeks back as Sanford eased in from Basketball. With a couple of weeks of jumping the south runway should be worth keeping an eye on as this duo bounds around the middle of Saturday evening!

The Men's weights have had a good start in California, with Noah Bryant (Carpinteria) 64-00 (#3 Nationally outdoors this spring) to lead the Shot Put. Brian Ruziecki (Huntington Beach) 61-00, Jerome Auelua (Leuzinger, Lawndale) 60-11.5, Steve Huntzinger (J.W. Robinson, Fairfax, Va) 60-08.75, Jon Howard (Arroyo Grande) 60-04, and Jarered Morgan (La Quinta) 60-00.25 will help make up a super group!!! Jarered Morgan has shown great consistency in both the weights this spring, with a 197-00 Discus effort to lead the State! Brian Ruziecki (Huntington Beach) 184-00 (188-02 2001), Kurt Seefeld (Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 183-03, and Arizonan Mike Talbot (Agua Fria) 182-00 lead over a dozen who have thrown 170 feet or better! The Girls have a super group in the weights!! Rachel Varner (Bakersfield) is #2 nationally in the Shot Put at 48-01.25 two weeks back, with Kamaiya Warren (St. Mary's, Berkeley) 47-00.5, Jessica Pressley (Laguna Creek, Elk Grove) 46-10, and Dia Matthews (Central, Fresno) 44-10 headlining a very, very deep group!

 

Arcadia Invitational page

Charter Sponsors
DyeStat thanks these organizations for providing significant support to DyeStat
in the 2001-2002 school year, earning Charter Sponsor status for 5 years.

Nike


Great American Cross Country Festival Inc.

National Scholastic Sports Foundation
 
 

This web site is edited and published
by John Dye at [email protected] .

©DyeNet LLC 2000-2001