Arcadia Invitational – April 7 & 8
Arcadia High School – Arcadia, Ca
Many of the nation’s elite athletes meet at Arcadia High School for the two-day track meet. Here are some key West Coast distance runners to watch.
800
Ali Ince of Normal Community School (IL) returns to defend her Arcadia 800-meter title. There are several West Coast athletes of note to challenge Ince. Hannah Riggins of Del Norte in San Diego has run 2:08.60 this spring. MacKenzie Browne of John W. North has run 2:09.48 this spring and is also the defending California State Champion in the 800-meters. Georgia Jeanneret of JSerra is on a winning streak all season and has run 2:10.37. Cate Peters of Monte Vista has a 2:06.89 PR from last season and is entered in the 800. Tessa Buswell of Poway ran a personal best of 2:09.54 at last year’s Arcadia Meet and qualified for NXN last fall. Emma Bennett of Jesuit (OR) travels south and ran 2:10.59 as a freshman last spring.
Carter Cutting of Wilsonville (OR) returns as the defending Arcadia 800-meter champion. He ran 1:50.97 indoors in February. Aaron Sahlman of Newbury Park has a personal best of 1:48.91 and adds excitement to the 800. Tarron Johnson of Vista Murrieta ran 1:50.93 at the APU Meet of Champions a few weeks ago. Ambodai Ligons of Cathedral has run 1:51.54 this season.
1600
Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura is back to defend her 1600-meter Arcadia championship. She has run 4:39.11 outdoors this season. Allura Markow of Dana Hills has run 4:42.79 this spring and is having a great spring and so is Janelle Avilez of Etiwanda who won the CA Winter Championship 1500 in 4:29.45. Ashlyn Boothby of Scotts Valley and Annie Eivarsson of Dana Hills have both run 4:49 this year. Freshman Chiara Dailey of La Jolla has run 4:51.82 and qualified for Champs in December. Anna Callahan of Skyline (WA) ran 4:45.29 this season and finished ninth at NXN in December
The boy’s 1600 features athletes from all over the US and Ryan Thomas of Torrey Pines is a West Coast athlete to watch. Thomas has run 4:07.90 this season. Carter Spradling of Clovis East is having an impressive spring and has run 4:12.68 in the 1600 this season. Justin Pretre of Menlo has run 4:15.52 in the mile this season. Noah Ray of Buchanan ran 4:09.68 last season and is entered in the race. Mateo Malko-Allen of ran 4:13.40 at the Dublin Distance Fiesta this season. Will Heslam of Roosevelt (OR) ran 4:10.49 last season in the 1600.
3200
With many elite runners from all over the US arriving racing the 3200, we may see a number of athletes break the ten-minute barrier. Hanne Thomsen of Montgomery (Santa Rosa) won the 3200 at the 2022 State Meet and has run 10:04.12 indoors this season. There are a number of California athletes to watch including Payton Godsey of Oaks Christian who won the State in cross country for Division 4, Whitney’s Katie Kopec, Kaiya Brooks of Crystal Springs Upland, who won the Division 5 cross country State title, Gioana Lopizza of La Costa Canyon qualified for Champs in San Diego. NXN qualifiers Lauren Soobrian of Los Altos, Jaelyn Williams of Eastlake, Buchanan’s Grace Hutchison and Sydney Sundgren are entered in the 3200.
Much like the girl’s 3200, the boy’s 3200 race features a number of elite athletes from outside of the West Coast. Still, a nice contingent of NW athletes will compete including Jesuit’s Jacob Nenow and Gus Clevenger, Zach Munson of Sehome, Cruize Corvin of Lakes and teammates Will Schneider and Vincent Recupero of Bishop Blanchet. California athletes to watch will be Braydon Seymour of Newbury Park, Grant Morgenfeld of Palo Alto, Manny Perez of Cathedral, Jason Parra of Millikan, Bille Issa of West Ranch and Jonah Bazerkanian of Royal. Carter Spradling of Clovis East has run 8:51.62 and is entered in the 3200 and also is entered in the the mile held earlier in the evening.
Distance Relays
JSerra girls are is set to defend both their 4 X 800 and DMR Arcadia titles. Great Oak and JSerra have two teams in the 4 X 800 and Palo Alto also will be competitive in the 4 X 800. Look for the same teams to battle in the DMR. Palo Alto won last week’s Stanford DMR and have one of the top times in the nation. Buchanan girls broke 20 minutes last year in the 4 X 1600 and look to defend their Arcadia title. The Bears finished third at NXN and are so deep that they are fielding two teams. NXN teams of Los Altos and Jesuit (OR) are also contenders in the race as well as Newbury Park which set the California state record last year at Mt. SAC in the 4 X 1600.
In the 4 X 800, look for Long Beach Poly to shine with Xai Ricks in the mix. Ricks ran the fastest open 800 thus far this season at 1:49.19. Great Oak is another excellent team that can challenge Lon Beach Poly. The Pretre brothers of Menlo will also be in the mix as well as deep teams of Buchanan and Clovis. Last year Jesuit (OR) battled to the finish of the 4 X 1600 and bring back a similar line up from last year. NXN teams of Great Oak, Granada and San Clemente are other West Coast teams that will contend. San Clemente is running many of their NXN team qualified athletes in the DMR
Look for the photo gallery for Arcadia after the meet!