This Weekend in Track: April 1-2nd
Updated: Jun 14, 2022
This weekend we'll be featuring two big high school meets in California, the first meet of the season at Hayward Field, and two other Oregon and Washington high school meets! Here are the races you should look out for this weekend:
Stanford Invitational: April 1-2
Stanford University - Stanford, CA
Friday's distance event is the 3200 with a competitive field of freshman Hanne Thomsen of Montgomery of Santa Rosa won the recent Dublin Distance Fiesta 3200. The 1600 Dublin Distance Fiesta Champion Riley Chamberlain, senior, of Del Oro will also challenge Hanne in the 3200. Also count sophomore Olivia Williams of Acalanes with a 3200 of 10:24 as a challenger. Look for athletes from the Central Valley to be battling it out. St. Mary's of Stockton senior Daniel Winter and senior Braden King of Jesuit (Ca) had an epic 3200 at the Dublin Distance Fiesta and will renew their rivalry on Friday. Also look for Zachary Ayers of Davis and Mario Giannini of Chico to be in the front pack too.
Saturday's distance events start with the 1600 and favorites in the girl's race include Ella Borsheim from Bellarmine Prep of Washington and local athletes like Hanne Thomsen of Montgomery, Ashlyn Booth of Scotts Valley and Elizabeth Fetter of Palo Alto. Scotts Valley senior Jeremy Kain and Harrison Dance of Saratoga could be the top boys in the 1600.
Can the meet record of 2:10 in the 800 be broken in the girl's race? If the conditions are right, it might happen with a deep field in the girl's 800. Maya Baechler of Kitsilano (BC) comes in with a 2:09 time and Washington's Ella Borsheim will return from the 1600 to challenge. Don't forget California athletes Ashlee Gallegos of JSerra, Samira Kennedy of Castilleja and Georgia Jeanneret. It should be a fun 800! The class of the field in the boy's 800 is Yutaka Roberts of El Camino has the top seed time of 1:51.
West Coast Relays - April 2
Buchanan High School - Clovis, CA
Buchanan High School hosts the West Coast Relays that has history that goes back to the 1920s. The track home of the California State Meet, Buchanan is hosting an outstanding distance field. In the girl's 800, Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura has the top time of 2:09, but will be pushed by Tatum Zinkin of Clovis North, Grace Hutchinson of Buchanan and Jessica Chisar of College Park. Noah Ray of Buchanan has the top seed time and Mateo Malko-Allen of St. Mary's College and Christopher Caudillo of Clovis will be pushing the pace too.
The girl's 1600 features Mia Torrecillas of Highland and her 4:54 PR, Miliana Perez of North Clovis and Sydney Sundgren of Buchanan. The same top athletes from the 800 will battle in the 1600 with Caudillo, Malko-Allen and Ray in the 1600 Gold Race. Ellie Buckley of Campolindo is coming off her 10:49 at the Dublin Distance Fiesta in the 3200. Grace Hutchinson of Buchanan will also help pace a fast 3200. Carter Spaulding of Clovis East has one of the top 3200 meter times in the state with a 9:01 mark.
Hayward Premiere - April 1-2
Hayward Field - Eugene, OR
Hayward Field opens its 2022 season with the Hayward Premiere with a number of West Coast college athletes. Most of the distance races will be contested on Friday with the 800 run on Saturday. In the men's 3000 steeplechase, Colton Johnsen of Washington State will be the top seed. Johnsen completed a successful indoor season by qualifying in two events. Oregon's Alessia Zarbo and Aneta Konieczek will be contesting the women's 5000. The women's 1500 has several West Coast stars including pros Jenn Randall and Anna Connor and college athletes Izzy Thornton-Bott of Oregon and Oregon State's Grace Fetherstonhaugh and Kaylee Mitchell. Gonzaga's James Mwaura is coming off an impressive showing in last summer's Olympic Trials 10,000 and will look to get a qualifying time in the 10,000 Friday night.
Laker Classic - April 1
Lake Oswego High School - Lake Oswego, OR
Oregon high school athletes recently returned from spring break and will start their invitational season. One early invitational at Lake Oswego has some interesting distance races. The girl's 800 shapes up to be a tight race with Kailua Balazs of Sunset, Ella McGillis and Zoe Rector of Central Catholic vying for the top spot. The boy's 800 could be a tightly contested race between Jackson Vande Zandschulp of Sunset and Braydon Lee of Barlow.
Lauren Ayers of Tualatin comes into the 1500 with the top seed time, but it is early in the season and Ana Peters of Lake Oswego and Timna Nevo of Sunset could challenge too. The boy's 1500 has four athletes with similar marks with Colin Friend of St. Stephen's Academy, Max Girardet of Central Catholic, Benjamin Balazs of Sunset and Elliot Hawley of Hood River Valley who could all break 4 in the 1500 on Friday.
Paige Wiley of Sunset comes into the meet with top outdoor seed time and Kate Peters of Lake Oswego ran 9:17 at the Dempsey Indoor back in February. Wes Shipsey of Central Catholic and brothers Caleb and Aaron Lakeman of Tualatin look to be the favorites in the boy's 3000.
Arnie Young Track and Field Invitational - April 2
Hazen High School - Renton, WA
One of the larger invitationals in Washington will be competed at Hazen High School. The girls' 800 should be a show down of the Tahomas. Jessalyn Robles of Mt Tahoma and Julia Stuard of Tahoma are the top seeds in the 800. It could be a four way battle in the boy's 800 with Jonathan Miles of Gig Harbor, Brycen Gardner of Mead, Will Newberg of Gig Harbor and Daniel Champlin of Mead with similar 800 times.
In the 1600 girl's race, Eliza White of Curtis has the top seed time and Tahoma teammates Faith Martinez and Sara Sanders will be looking to get the win. Micah Galeana of Gig Harbor, Maxim Serafimovici of Curtis and Will Newberg of Gig Harbor all have times under 4:30 in the 1600.
Kate Fergus of Gig Harbor has the top seed time in the 3200 and Steiner Christensen of Silas and Preston Fradet of Gig Harbor will be racing for the 3200 meter victory.