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Ten Stories to follow 2009 Arcadia
Five Boy-Five Girl Events of Special Interest
Fri-Sat April 10-11, 2009 Arcadia HS, CA
Ten to Watch at Arcadia
Doug Speck - Editor DyeStatCal
It is time for the annual weekend long circus at Arcadia, where tons of great folks and relay groups from all across the country come to Southern California for the annual track, field, and relay extravaganza. The quality is amazingly high as usual, with some areas of particular interest along the way that deserve a bit of background.
What follows are 'ten to watch' at 2009 Arcadia, which is by no means meant to demean any of the other events, who very well may rise up and surpass in the headline department the events summarized below. It should be a ton of fun and hope you are along in person for the ride. If not the able to make it in person, the coverage at DyeStat will be complete so join us there!
We have weaved the Boys and Girls down the list below
1) Boys 300 Intermediate Hurdles. Record time in the barriers?
Every once in a while an athlete comes along who seems born' to an event. Tall lanky Reggie Wyatt (La Sierra, Riverside) has the perfect blend of speed, strength, and stride pattern as he travels around the oval over the 36" barriers in this event. A 300 meter sprint interrupted by eight three foot high barriers should not look as easy as it does for the Riverside County star. He has done so much so far in his career, National Frosh (37.42) and Soph (35.90) 300 Meter Hurdle records, and a Soph class standard at the full 400 Meter Intermediate distance at 50.10. As he closes in on the final couple of months of his senior year he has an acknowledged goal of breaking the National Prep standard in the 300 Meter barrier event at 35.28 set by Jeshua Anderson (Taft, Woodland Hills) from the 2007 State Meet, the contest where Reggie raced his 35.90 Soph class record. At 7:54 p.m. Saturday evening at Arcadia Reggie will toe the line with a good group, and attempt to rocket that backstretch and fly down the homestretch as Jeshua Anderson did in 2007 on the way to his 35.75 here or David Klech (California, San Ramon), another of those amazing barrier toppers, as he raced the 35.45 Meet Record back in 2006. That is quite a string of hurdlers, with Wyatt seeking his place in history Saturday evening, an effort certainly worth focusing on.
 
photos by Jeannette Seckinger and Kirby Lee - Image of Sport.com
Roosevelt (Greenbelt) Maryland and Long Beach Poly - Ladies with the Batons!!
2) Girls Relays - Great Stories with Ladies and the Batons!
Roosevelt (Greenbelt, MD) and Poly (Long Beach, CA) have had a series of stunning efforts recently carrying the baton, with great anticipation around the efforts of the two groups this weekend. Roosevelt dominated the Prep indoor circuit this winter, with the East Coast school in recent years an amazing tradition, the 2009 winter product leading the nation at the 4x200 (1:38.15) and 4x400 (3:41.75) distances. They exploded outdoors last week at the Florida Relays, blasting 45.38 in the 4x100 relay, the fastest one lap baton time ever by a prep squad outside of Texas and California, with a 4x400 Nation-leading win at Florida of 3:41.40. They won the 4x1 at Florida by over two seconds (!), and with the likes of Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley 46.47), Serra (Gardena 46.61), Poly (Long Beach-46.63), and St. Mary's (Inglewood-47.02) here this weekend, all with the ability to run faster, the opening 4x100 Saturday evening here will be a super contest! The 4x400 closes the meet down Saturday, with Texas Relay Champs Poly (LB-3:43.85) and upstart Serra (Gardena-3:45.01) helping make it a classic event as they battle the 3:41.40 Roosevelt group. The Raiders are also entered in Friday's 4x200 relay with the chance for fireworks there also as they battle with California's best.
The Girls from Long Beach Poly, with a great group up through the 1600 distance, rolled into Austin a week ago for the Texas Relays, taking no prisoners as they carted home just about all the big relay hardware. When the dust cleared, their efforts included three Nation-Leading efforts, the 4x800 (9:07.95), 1600 Medley (4:01.37), and Distance Medley (12:10.38), with their 3:43.85 4x400 victory trailing only Roosevelt and their effort from Florida on the yearly National List. Poly will race the 4x800 on Friday at Arcadia, with team members scattered around in individual events and in the 4x100 and the 4x400 relays on Saturday. There will be some special action with batons in hand this weekend!
photo by Victor Sailer - photorun.net
3) Boys Discus - Finley latest Arcadia great with the platter?
Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. the Invitational portion of the meet will start with this Boys' Discus event. A fine group will battle on the facility that has resulted in three National Records through the decades, the last two in-season' Boys' demolitions of the platter standard taking place here, with Kamy Keshmiri (Reno, NV) blasting 224-03 in 1987, then Niklas Arrhenius (Mountain View, Orem, UT) setting the still standing prep standard of 234-03 from 2001. Mason Finley (Buena Vista, CO), a 6-8 330 pound giant who threw 222-01 last year for a National Eleventh grade record, is here to throw, his 2008 best the #3 in US High School history behind the duo mentioned above. The UCLA-bound Finley threw 68-00 indoors this winter in the Shot Put, and opened up at 207-00 in the Discus, with anything possible as this tremendous athlete spins in the ring at the east end of the Arcadia facility this weekend!
If you do not make it out there the cheers may be for something special in the late afternoon.
photo by John Oshiro
4) Girls 3200 - Jordan's magic in the fourth year!
Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep, San Luis Obispo) goes for her fourth consecutive win over eight laps here at Arcadia, with the young Central Coastal star continuing her rock-star' status as the gracious senior with the flowing blond hair and powerful stride cannot help but be one of the your favorites. She has earned it as locals have had the honor of viewing the progression of one of the nation's top age-groupers, back as a frosh racing from the gun and grinding the opposition up along the way. Over the years under the careful direction of Coach Armando Siqueiros she has developed into a wily racer, last year here running along with National Mile record holder Christine Babcock (Woodbridge), before racing away to a final stretch sprint win. She has made a fan of those in all event areas through the years, with tremendous appreciation for her efforts once again assuredly a part of Saturday's highlights. She has some really fast goals for 2009 and keep an eye on her as she pounds the laps in the 3200!
Elias Gedyon - photo Kirby Lee - Image of Sport.com
5) Boys Mile and 3200 - new faces on the national scene?
The distance races at Arcadia have always been a highlight, with stars from decades past like Barrie Williams, Curtis Beck, Eric Hulst, and Eric Reynolds finding them pushed down the meet all-time lists by the recent revival led here by Alan Webb, Chris Solinsky, and an army of others. The meet has been the coming out' for many a young or mildly known athlete who seized the moment and rocketed into the headlines nationally with a huge effort. The Boys Mile and 3200 this year have a couple of athletes who have made a local splash of real quality, with this competition very possibly their national level contests that could springboard them to real total US prominence. Elias Gedyon (Loyola, LA, CA) came to the prep ranks as a middle schooler of age-group renown, able to run under 50 seconds for a 400 and sub 4:30 for a mile. He luckily landed at Loyola HS in Los Angeles, with a super distance tradition, and ended his frosh year with a super fall Cross Country season, and 1:51.91 best for 800 Meters in winning the Intermediate Division at the USATF JO's. During his 2008 soph fall Cross-Country campaign he amazed with a new State Meet course soph class record, ahead of some impressive National harrier champs on that grade list, then already emerged this spring with a 4:09 1600 meter relay leg in anchoring a Distance Medley squad chasing the fine Dana Hills HS group. He competes in a Mile event Saturday evening with a ton of sub-4:15 types, with the contest a great test for Gedyon in all areas of conditioning, tactics, speed, and strength, with much anticipation on how he will handle the test, and possibly move to the "head of the class."
In the Boys' 3200 Derek Wehunt (Sickles, Tampa, FL) has been rocketing up the Regional lists, with the eleventh grader blazing over a good field in the late March Florida State Relays with a 61 second last lap in the rain to win at 9:06.78. This past weekend he blazed a 4:11.14 to take the Florida Relays, with a 1:52.9 800 meters from earlier in the spring. After a 100th place at the State 4A Cross Country Championships in late November, and 60th at the Foot Locker South Region Derek has obviously come more than a small ways this spring. With a herd of folks capable of racing under 9:00 this weekend at Arcadia, Derek will certainly have some company, with the Floridan certainly bearing close watching in that lead pack along the way. He shows the ability to leapfrog to the "head of the class" also in this national level affair.
Anna Jelmini - photo Kirby Lee - Image of Sport.com
6) Girls weight events - Jelmini up the All-Time lists?
Talented Central Section star Anna Jelmini (Shafter) had a super eleventh grade year in 2008, with State Championships in the Shot Put and Discus, with 50-04 (SP) best and 183-11 (DT), with a seventh in the World Junior (under age 20) Championships in the Discus. The 183-11 is the equal #4 prep mark ever, with the 50-04 just outside of US Prep history's All-Time top thirty. Anna passed on basketball the winter of her senior 2008-2009 year, and emerged at the Simplot Indoor Games Shot Put with among US history's Top Ten all-time 51-05, and she is into a fine spring. She has thrown 50-11 and 180-03 already, and hopefully has taken a glance at the Meet Records here of 51-01.5 by Kirstin Heaston (Ygnacio Valley, CA) from 1993 and 180-02 by Seilala Sua (St. Thomas Aquinas, Ft. Lauderdale, FL) from 1996, a National Federation record when Sua threw it. A wonderfully talented athlete hopefully you can witness one of Anna's throwing events this Saturday as the latest Shafter and Central Section star goes in search of records!
 
photos Bob Caper - BroncoPix.com - Kirby Lee - Image of Sport.com
National Leader Nick Ross (7-03) - Defending State Champ Harrison Steed
7) Boys High Jump - Five Seven Footers should soar!
The Golden State has had a super spring season in this horizontal jump, with four seven footers on the docket! Jules Sharpe (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) stepped off the basketball court in early March and a week later soared over 7-01 to throw down the challenge to all. Nick Ross (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta) then handled much improved local rival Skylar LaCour (Rancho Verde, Moreno Valley) 7-01.25-7-00.25 at the Rancho Verde Relay of Champions. Ross later soared a Nation-leading 7-03 in a dual meet, with defending State Champ Harrison Steed (Jserra, San Juan Capistrano) also over 7-00 this spring, and 7-01 last year. Add to the above group Alabama 6A Champ who jumped 7-01 at the Florida State Relays in late March, and this is a tremendous field! The Meet Record is 7-03 by Michael Morrison (Willingboro, NJ) from 2003.
 
photos by Doug Speck & Kirby Lee - Image of Sport.com
Alitta Boyd and Ciarra Brewer
8) Girls Triple Jump - History on the runway?
California's amazing string of top Girls' Triple Jumpers continues, with the nation's best in attendance Saturday evening. Alitta Boyd (Moreau, Hayward) was second at State last year and leads the nation outdoors this spring at 41-07.5 from last weekend at the Oakland Relays. She has a lifetime best of 42-01.5, and was the National Junior (under age 20) champ last year at 43-01w. She also took the USATF JO Young Women's division title last summer. She will face off against area rival Ciarra Brewer (Logan, Union City), who was a terror this indoor season, leaping to a National soph class record at 42-00.5 while winning the Nike Indoor National title. Ciarra chased the All-Time US frosh records in 2008, and ended with the National age-14 best of 41-08.25 and finished just short of the 41-08.5 Ninth grade record of 41-08.5 by Ychlindria Spears (Texas) from 1999. Both athletes obviously have fine competitive records, with their clash here potentially a classic! The action will be hot on the backstretch for the 4:50 p.m. event with half a dozen others over 39 feet in the competition!
photo by Rich Gonzalez
9) Boys' Distance Relays - Can the Dolphins continue their magical season?
Dana Hills (Dana Point) had a super Fall Cross-Country season, sweeping to all the Statewide honors including the #2 All-Time team time at famed Woodward Park in Fresno in taking the State Division I contest in late November. The squad had a bit of frustration with their seventeenth at the Nike Cross Nationals, but it probably brought them back to reality and formulated a bit more resolve for the spring Track and Field season. The squad, powered by Tyler (4:11.58 1600) and Ryan (1:54.42 800) Valdes, rocketed to 10:11.99 (Distance Medley) and 7:45.42 (4x800) clockings three weeks back at the California Relays, both easily the best time in the Nation at that time, the 4x800 still standing up to all challengers in the country for the season. This past week the stock of the Dolphins on the track went up as Zak Phillips and Jesus Molina raced under 1:56 for 800 meters in a dual meet, with Phillips blazing 4:18.52 last weekend for 1600 meters at Trabuco Hills! With five sub-1:59 800 runners and seven sub 4:29 runners over 1600 meters this season the squad has a few great athletes to draw from on relays! The Dolphin group will focus on Friday's 4x1 Mile and Saturday's Distance Medley Relay in the baton department this coming weekend, with a ton of challengers of quality to make it interesting. It will be fun to see if the Orange County stars with the blue and white stripes can stay ahead of the packs. We find it tough to vote against them succeeding!
 
photos by Kirby Lee - Image of Sport.com & Doug Speck
Kori Carter (Claremont) and Turquoise Thompson (Serra, Gardena)
10) Girls Long Hurdles - National pecking order established here?
The 300 Meter Low Hurdles on the Girls' side here is another of those stunningly successful groups who could end the evening with a wholesale destruction of the yearly national prep list. Quality and successful careers abound among those at the starting line, with the three quarters of a lap contest to tell an interesting tale as stars begin their drive towards May and June individual honors. Turquoise Thompson (Serra, Gardena), last summer the USATF JO Young Women's 400 meter hurdles champ in an impressive Nation prep leading 57.67, marking her as one of US history's top fifteen high schoolers in the event. She has a best over the 300 meter barrier distance of 41.74 from 2007. Kori Carter (Claremont), the defending State Champ in the 300 meter hurdles, was 41.28 last year and is the nation's #2 returnee in that event, with a 43.36 dual meet effort from mid-March. Nyjah Cousar (Wilson, Long Beach) currently has the country's #3 clocking outdoors at 43.25, and she was 42.34 last year, seventh at the State Meet and the country's =#7 athlete who is back for 2009. Ericka Nowell (Perris) was 41.88 last year, third at State, and she is the #3 returnee in the country for this spring's campaign. That is a ton of quality at the top, so sit back at 8:03 p.m. Saturday evening after they reset the height after the Boys smoke the oval in their 300 Meter barrier contest for this super group of young ladies to romp!
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