Arcadia Invitational - April 5 & 6
Whew! We had two days of amazing distance racing and here is the recap on an incredible weekend at Arcadia Invitational.
Friday - Distance Relays
On Friday night, there were two distance relays - 4 X 800 and 4 X 1600. In the invitational 4 X 800, Union Catholic from New Jersey finished ahead of local school JSerra in a meet record time of 8:53.48. Lone Peak of Utah took charge of the girls 4 X 1600 and almost broke the fabled 20-minute mark with a time of 20:01.50. Jesuit of Oregon finished second in a time of 20:25.80.
Link to the Friday's girls distance relays are HERE
Two Orange County rivals, San Clemente and JSerra boys raced to the end with San Clemente finishing in a time of 7:50.22 over JSerra at 7:50.28. San Clemente's Brett Ephraim was the anchor and foreshadowed the following evening's DMR. The question before the boy's 4 X 1600 meter race was whether American Fork would break their own national high school record. They came close and won with a time of 16:47.66.
Link to Friday's boys distance relays are HERE
Friday - 3200 Meters
Paisley Taylor of Meridian won the first open heat of the 3200 in a time of 10:45.61. In the rated 3200 meters, Hannah Aguirre of Patrick Henry came away victorious with a time of 10:43.59. The evening concluded with Claire Guiberson of Mountain Vista winning in a time of 10:27.22.
Link to Friday's girls 3200 meter races are HERE
There were three boys open 3200 meter races on Friday. Will Foltz of Tuscola won the first open race in 9:09.66, Ben Bouie of Crystal Springs won the second open race in 9:02.82 and William Steadman of Herriman broke the magical nine-minute barrier in a time of 8:59.01.
Link to Friday's boys 3200 meter races are HERE
Saturday
During the day time girl's races, the top finisher in the mile was Kenzie Bigej of Canby, Mary MacLean of Mother Margaret Mary ran the fastest 800 meter time in 2:12.48 and St. Johns College High School in Washington DC won the distance medley in 12:09.05.
Link to Saturday's girls day time races are HERE
Devin Ibarra of El Diamante came away as the fastest miler in the day time races at 4:13.65, Donovan Bitticks of Horizon ran the fastest 800-meter time in 1:53.16 and Canyon of Anaheim won the boys distance medley in a time of 10:21.44.
Link to Saturday's boys day time races are HERE
Invitational
Allison Ince of Normal Community won the invitational 800 two years ago, finished second last year and won her title back with a 2:05.26 time. Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura successfully won her third invitational mile in a row. This year she was challenged by Jane Hedengren of Timpview on the last lap of the mile, but Engelhardt fought off the challenge to run the fastest California high school mile in history and meet record time of 4:34.31. In the 3200-meter race, the goal is to break ten minutes and Isabel Allori of Liberty Common accomplished that goal by winning in a time of 9:58.08. In the girls distance medley Natalie McCarty of Newport Harbor ran an outstanding 800-meter leg which put her team into contention to win the relay. Sierra Cornett of Buchanan gradually caught up to Marley McCullough of Newport Harbor in the 1600-meter portion of the race and dove for the finish to win 11:52.07.
Link to Saturday's Invitational races are HERE
Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic won a close race against Noah Nielson of American Fork with a 1:49.47 victory. The finish of the mile was a bit confusing as Zach Hillhouse of Pleasant Grove raised his arms in triumph as he crossed the line, but it was Corbin Coombs of Organ Mountain who came away with the victory in a time of 4:07.15. What has become a showcase event at Arcadia is the 3200. How many boys will break nine minutes in the invitational 3200? The answer was a whopping 37 boys broke the barrier in one single race (twenty went under in the seeded race and eleven broke nine in the rated race). Daniel Simmons of American Fork and Nathan Neil of Bozeman dueled to the finish with Simmons coming away with the 8:34.96 win. Neil set the Montana 3200 meter record in 8:35.32. In the boys distance medley, San Clemente's Brett Ephraim covered a lot of ground in the last 400 meters to propel San Clemente to another distance relay victory in a time of 10:13.20.
Link to Saturday's Invitational races are HERE