This Weekend in Track: April 15 & 16th
Updated: Jun 14, 2022
High schoolers, collegiate runners, and pros are hitting the track this weekend all along the west coast. Here is what to look out for this weekend:
Mt. SAC - April 13-15
Mount San Antonio College - Walnut, CA
Thursday
Mt. SAC opens on Thursday and goes all the way to Saturday and here is the preview (and a recap to Thursday):
Courtney Wayment of BYU opened the season with an impressive 3000 steeple time of 9:26 and Olympian Valerie Constien finished second in 9:31. Evan Jager returned to the steeple after a lengthy absence and finished second to Ryoma Aoki with a time of 8:33 and 8:34. Andrea Ramirez of JMRC won the elite 10,000 in 32:37 and Dylan Jacobs of Notre Dame edged Amon Kemboi for the win in 28:01.
Friday
High school distance events at Mt SAC start with the girls 3200. Mackenzie Rogers of Poway ran in the big time 3200 last week at Arcadia with a time of 10:17. Mackenzie will be the class of the field. Sophomore Jason Para of Millikan took out the lead in the seeded 3200 last week in Arcadia and finished with the a time of 8:54. Jason will be challenged in the 3200 by Agoura's Ethan Godsey who finished right behind Jason in the time of 8:54. The 1600 could be a contest between Canyon of Anaheim teammates Isabella Frisone and Emma Hadley. Cross Country state champion Max Sannes of Big Bear is listed in the 1600. Ethan Godsey of Agoura would also be a favorite, but he is listed in the 3200. Chris Waligorski of Redondo Union won his school's invitational 1600 in early March. The girls 4 X 1600 has a strong line up of Great Oak, Newbury Park and Campolindo.
There are a number of college and elite races on Friday from the 800 to the 5000. Notable West Coast athletes include 800 meter athletes Kate Jendrezak of UCLA and Alyssa Brewer of USC, 1500 meter athlete Lucy Jenks of Stanford and Garrett MacQuiddy of California. The elite 5000 women's race has a great field of Elish McColgan of Great Britain, Karissa Schweizer of Bowerman and Emily Infield who is running unattached, but was a long time Bowerman athlete.
Saturday
The invitational girls 800 looks to be a great race. Cate Peters of Monte Vista ran in relay events at Arcadia and it will be great to see her race Arielle McKenzie of La Canada who boasts a PR of 2:08 and Emma Hadley of Canyon (Anaheim). Marcel Mitchell-Francis of Long Beach Wilson achieved his PR of 1:53 at Arcadia and Ryan Fabian of Oxnard has not run an open 800 since the beginning of March, but has a 1:54 mark. Later in the day, the boy's DMR will be interesting as 4 X 800 Arcadia champion Bellarmine Prep will go against third place 4 X 1600 finishing team of Loyola. Also breaking news, Newbury Park scratched the 4 X 800 and will attempt the high school record in the DMR.
Teammates from Portland's Union Athletic Club, Raevyn Rogers and Sinclaire Johnson toe the line in the elite 800. The men's 800 has several stars that will press the stadium record including current stadium record holder Bryce Hoppel and Olympian and former USC star Isaiah Jewett will challenge. Looking forward to watching the woman's 1500 with Elish McColgan of Great Britain in the field and the outdoor debut of Elise Cranny of Bowerman. Dani Jones of New Balance and Rebecca Mehra of Oiselle (Palos Verdes alum) adding to the depth of the field. Eugene's OTC Elite athletes Vincent Ciattei and Will Paulson lead the men's 1500 field.
Chehalem Field and Track Classic - April 15
Newberg High School - Newberg, OR
Some of the top distance programs in Oregon and SW Washington meet in Newberg on Friday evening with the elite mile being the highlight. Senior Kaiya Robertson of Franklin looks like the class of the field with a seed time of over ten seconds over the second fastest runner. The season is still in the early stages and Lincoln's Keira Saavedra and Eva Novy-Hildesley will challenge Kaiya and Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley of Corvallis, who won last week's Sherwood Need for Speed Classic in the 3000. The boy's elite mile is set up to be a competitive field. Last week at Sherwood's Need for Speed Classic, Franklin's Charlie North and Sherwood's James Crabtree ran 8:19 to the finish line with North edging Crabtree. The two of them match up again in the elite mile. The Lakeman brothers Caleb and Aaron of Tualatin and Aiden Smith of Lincoln will also add spice to the race.
The 3000 girl's race looks to be a duel between Riley Cash of Lincoln and Josie Fale of Ida B Wells. Donagh Palmer of Franklin won last week's 1500 at Sherwood Need for Speed Classic and comes into the boy's 3000 as the favorite. Tucker Bowerfind of Lincoln and West Salem's Jack Meier and Logan Schwartz all have times to take the win in the 3000. The meet also offers a 4 X 800 for the distance teams.
Pasco Invite - April 16
Edgar Brown Memorial Stadium - Pasco, WA
The 59th edition of the Pasco Invite will include Washington schools from both sides of the Cascades and teams from Oregon and Idaho. There are no entries available when we went to post. The stronger area distance teams will be in attendance like Rocky Mountain (ID), Bishop Blanchet, Eisenhower and Kamiakin.
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