Arcadia Invitational Preview

Arcadia Invitational - April 10 & 11

Arcadia High School - Arcadia, CA

Watch the preview HERE

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Here is the preview of the invitational level distance races at the Arcadia Invitational:

800 Meters

Grace Smith of Claremont

There is a potential for athletes in the girl's 800 to run in the low two-minute range. Paige Sheppard raced in the USATF Indoor National Championships with her 2:02.35 time in February. Braelyn Combe of Santiago (Corona) won The Ten two weeks ago in an outdoor US leading 2:04.52 800 meter time. Josie Hill of Sonoma Academy owned the fastest outdoor 800 meter time for about six hours (until Combe bettered the mark later that night) with her season debut time of 2:06.38. Mary MacLean of Strathcona from Alberta, Canada ran 2:06.37 last summer. Grace Smith of Claremont has a 2:07.33 best time from last year's California State.

Cam Yarbrough of Del Norte

Austin Plewe of American Fork currently holds the #2 high school 800-meter time in the US with a time of 1:49.74. Wyland Obando of Long Beach Wilson is the top returner from last year's Arcadia Invitational 800 meter race. Oblando is also the defending California state champion in the 800. Hugh Heyer of McClatchy won the competitive Dublin Distance Fiesta in a time of 1:50.83. Josh Beck of Pleasant Grove has already run 1:50.57 this season and will be a factor. Cam Yarbrough of Del Norte ran 1:51.19 in close race with Wyland Oblando last week at the Mt. Carmel meet in the San Diego area.

Mile

Giselle Fernandez of Riverbank

Chiara Dailey of La Jolla is listed in both the 800 and mile. Dailey has incredible range as she has the top 3200 outdoor time in the nation and has a 2:07 personal best in the 800. She is listed in the mile and has a 4:37.08 best from 2025. Abigail Hennessey of Westford Academy has run a 4:36.74 indoor mile in March at the New Balance Indoor meet. Hennessey is also listed in the 3200. Lily Alder of Timpview has a lot of experience in big races including last year's 4:35.75 time at the Brooks PR. Madison Lange from Cherokee Trail ran 4:47.40 outdoors in March as a freshman. Giselle Fernandez of Riverbank ran 4:43.80 at the 2025 California State Meet. Annika Swan of St. Ignatius College and Abigail Anstett of Georgetown Visitation both enter the mile with a personal best of 4:42.

Drake Hoferer of Jesuit

Rocco Culpepper of Niwot enters the boy's mile with big time credentials as he ran 4:04.67 last week at the Oregon Relays and ran 4:03 in the mile last year. Culpepper is also listed in the 3200. Stephen Sziebert of Bellarmine College Prep ran a sizzling 4:07.91 last weekend at Stanford. Kellen Williams of Jesuit of Oregon ran 4:06.21 in 2025 and is listed in the 3200. Jace Deledonne of Poly (Riverside) ran 4:09.28 at The Ten in the 1600 two weeks ago. Jude Ritzenheim of Niwot is the fastest freshman miler in the nation and ran 4:10.04 last week at the Oregon Relays. Drake Hoferer of Jesuit of Sacramento has a personal best of 4:10.13 and will mix it up in the mile.

3200

Amaya Bharadwaj (2081) of Palo Alto

Summer Wilson of Irvine ran 9:56.59 in the outdoor 2-mile back in January. Wilson set the Woodward Park course record at the California State Meet in November. Abigail Hennessey of Westford Academy is also listed in the mile. Hennessey ran 9:02.77 in the indoor 3000 in January. Addy Ritzenhein of Niwot ran 9:52.64 2-mile personal best set in her sophomore year. Charlotte Hopkins of host Arcadia ran 10:07.97 at Arcadia last year and Emily Cohen of Cherry Creek ran 10:08.15 at Arcadia in 2025. Amaya Bharadwaj of Palo Alto qualified for NXN in 2025 and ran a solo 10:20.52 3200 race in early March and freshman Alyssa Gutierrez of St. Francis (Sacramento) ran 10:23.34 last week at the Stanford Invitational.

West Coast athletes racing in the invitational 3200 include Anna Salter of Crystal Springs, Brynn Davenport of Crater, Isabella Ramirez of Bullard, Ari Llorens of Francis Parker and Natalie Arriaza of Patterson

Cooper Stream of Vacaville

Jackson Spencer of Herriman has already run 8:46.04 on March 21. Spencer completed an undefeated cross country season in 2025 which included wins at NXN and Brooks XC Championship. Marcelo Mantecon of Belen Jesuit Prep had an epic weekend at Nike Indoor Nationals winning the 5000, 2-mile, mile and DMR. Mantecon ran 8:50.26 on March 28. Malachi Schoenherr of Sheldon ran 8:50.26 last weekend at the Oregon Relays. Yohannes VanMeerton of Flagstaff ran 8:52.93 in the indoor 2-mile and finished second at Brooks XC Championship and fourth at NXN. VanMeerton recently committed to Oregon. Cooper Stream of Vacaville and Maximo Zavaleta of MLK are having an outstanding starts of their track season. Stream has won big races at the Dublin Distance Fiesta and Stanford Invitational and Zavaleta has won the Hi-Racers Meet of Champions and The Ten.

West Coast athletes to watch in the invitational boy's 3200 include Garrett Faught of Crater, Isaac Benjamin of South Kitsap, Clayton Jero of Summit and Kellen Williams of Jesuit,

Look for photo galleries after the completion of the Arcadia Invitational!