Arcadia, California, April 05-07—The Bullis School of Potomac, Maryland, headed to Arcadia with the intention that the East Coast powerhouse could tame the Wild, Wild West.
It did so in convincing fashion with relay wins in the 4 x 100, 4 x 200 and 4 x 400, along with an individual victory from 300H standout Masai Russell, who was also a member of all three of the relays.
The Bulldogs began their quest Friday night with a solid win in the 4×2. The team of Ashley Seymore, Leah Phillips, Lauren Harris and Russell combined for a 1:36.18–1:37.21 victory over Rancho (Las Vegas).
Fast forward to Saturday and the team of Russell, Seymore, Sierra Leonard and Phillips had a bit more trouble with Upland’s team of Jada Hicks, Chelsea Daye, Kennedy Smith and Jordyn Grady in the 4×1, edging the Californians 45.72–45.78.
The next victory was a solo effort by Russell in the long hurdles. What was to be a showdown between Russell and Emily Sloan (Rock Canyon, Highlands Ranch, Colorado), who had already won the 100 hurdles in 13.43 (the No. 2 time nationally), finished with an 0.97 advantage to the Bullis senior, whose list-leading 41.28 (#1 nationally) topped Sloan’s 42.25.
The Easterners capped their weekend with the 4×4 unit of Russell, Harris, Phillips and Leonard’s comfortable victory over Rancho 3:44.58–3:47.35.
Friday night’s “Burning Batons” was highlighted by the long relay dominance of Great Oak (Temecula, California). It ran list-leading times in both the 4×8 and 4×16.
In the 4×8, a team of Ericka Burgess, Arianna Griffiths, Fatima Cortes and Tori Gaitan combined for a 9:05.34–9:08.84 win over Santa Cruz (California). It was the fastest outdoor time in the nation this year.
Three hours later in the 4×16 Great Oak did not panic after Saugus High’s Mariah Castillo opened in 4:51.5 while Sandra Pflughoft led off with a 5:06.6 that left Great Oak well positioned for its latter legs.
Griffiths’ 5:01.9 (10:08.5) moved Great Oak up to 2nd, 6 seconds behind Saugus, but that deficit did not last long as Cortes’ 4:56.0 gave the Wolfpack an insurmountable lead before handing off Gaitan, whose 5:04.4 added up to a nation-leading 20:09.46.
Defending champion Sterling Lester (Marietta, Georgia) knew she would have her hands full in the 400, as she was scheduled to go up against ’17 runner-up Tierra Robinson-Jones (O’Dowd, Oakland).
Both ran sub-54s last year and this year Lester may have still had some fatigue in her legs after setting a new meet record in a heptathlon (5288) finished off by a 2:12.16 earlier in the afternoon.
Robinson-Jones may have felt an advantage being in lane 4, inside of Lester’s 5, but at the gun both preps were chasing Kennedy Simon (Westlake, Atlanta) in lane 6, who led coming out of turn 2 into the homestraight.
The alarm sounded for Lester and Robinson-Jones, as both shifted into another gear and passed Simon 40m from the finish. As they neared the line, Lester and Robinson-Jones were neck and neck and the better lean would decide the winner.
After studying the photo, both were given 53.37 with Lester getting the nod for the win after going to the 1000ths, 53.366 – 53.370.
Not far behind was Gizelle Reid of Rancho in 53.64, followed by Megan Hunter (Provo, Utah) in 53.79 as Simon slipped to 5th in 54.07.
With no Claudia Lane to contend with (she opted not to run after winning the 3200 in 10:24.72 at the Stanford Invitational on March 31), the 3200m turned into a solo effort by soph Katelynne Hart (Glenbard West, Glen Ellyn, Illinois).
Her list-leading 10:02.56 (worth 10:06.06 for 2M) was remarkable given that she ran wire-to-wire and kept even splits throughout the race. After coming through 1600 in 5:00, she maintained 75-second pace for another 600m before slowing down to 76 on lap 6 and 77 on lap 7. She rebounded and finished with a 75 for a 6.5-second margin over Mariah Castillo (10:09.12).
Four jumpers surpassed 40-feet in the triple jump and the 42-2¼ PR for Kali Hatcher (St. Mary’s, Berkeley) topped the list. Lexi Ellis (Curtis, University Place, Washington) was an inch back at 42-1¼.
ARCADIA GIRLS RESULTS
Arcadia, California, April 05-07—
100 (1.0): 1. Ariyonna Augustine (Poly, Long Beach) 11.56; 2. *Deanna Nowling (Calabasas, Ca) 11.59; 3. *Chinyere Okoro (Amador Valley, Pleasanton, Ca) 11.63;
4. Aalyiah Wilson (Stockdale, Bakersfield) 11.69; 5.** Jaydn Mays (North Canyon, Phoenix) 11.75; 6. **Hannah Waller (South Lakes, Reston, Va) 11.76.
200(1.7): 1. Okoro 24.08. Open 200(3.0): 1. Ezinne Abba (Etiwanda) 24.09w.
400: 1. * Sterling Lester (Marietta, Ga) 53.37; 2. Tierra Robinson (O’Dowd, Oakland) 53.37; 3. Gizelle Reid (Rancho, Las Vegas, Nv) 53.64; 4. *Meghan Hunter (Provo, Ut) 53.79.
800: 1. *Alyssa Brewer (California, San Ramon, Ca) 2:09.81; 2. Jana Shawver (West, Lees Summit, Mo) 2:11.41; 3. Brooke Manson (Eastlake, Sammamish, Wa) 2:11.80; 4. Kelly Makin (Sunset, Beaverton, Or) 2:12.64.
Mile: 1. McKenna Brown (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad, Ca) 4:49.63; 2. Madison Mooney (Broomfield, Co) 4:49.92; 3. Sadie Sargent (North Summit, Coalville, Ut) 4:53.63; 4. ***Audrey (Mayfield, Pasadena) 4:54.10; 5. ***Mia Barnett (Village, Sun Valley) 4:54.29. 6. *Jessica Riedman (La Costa Canyon) 4:56.00.
3200: 1. **Katelynne Hart (Glenbard West, Glen Ellyn, Il) 10:02.56 <10.06.06 HSL>
2. Mariah Castillo (Saugus) 10:09.12; 3. Gillian Wagner (Redwood, Larkspur) 10:15.11; 4. Haley Herberg (Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo) 10:18.93; 5. Camila Noe (Bozeman, Mt) 10:18.99; 6. **Corie Smith (Buchanan, Clovis) 10:21.51; 7. *Kristin Fahy (La Costa Canyon) 10:22.53; 8.
100H(1.3): 1. Emily Sloan (Rock Canyon, Highlands Ranch, Co) 13.43; 2. Jada Hicks (Upland, Co) 13.54; 3. Danae Dyer (Temecula Valley, Temecula) 13.68;4. Aalyiah Wilson (Stockdale) 13.81.
300H: 1. Masai Russell (Bullis) 41.28 (HSL);
2. Sloan 42.25; 3. Sadye Peschke (Bella Vista, Fair Oaks) 42.71.
Seeded 300H: 1. *Kyla Robinson-Hubbbard (Calabasas) 42.37; 2. Nikki Merritt (Santa Margarita, Rancho Santa Margarita) 42.50.
Relay Events
4 x 100: 1. Bullis 45.72; 2. Upland 45.78; 3. Rancho 46.07; 4. Westlake, Atlanta 46.40; 5. Serra 46.70; 6. Chandler 46.77.
4 x 200: 1. Bullis 1:36.18; 2. Rancho 1:37.21; 3. Killian, Miami 1:39.76; 4. Westlake 1:40.71; 5. Central, Fresno 1:41.32.
4 x 400: 1, Bullis 3:44.58; 2. Rancho 3:47.35; 3. Westlake 3:47.64; 4. Serra 3:48.98; 5. Chandler 3:49.65.
4 x 800: 1. Great Oak 9:05.34 (out HSL);
2. Santa Cruz 9:08.84; 3. Lees Summit West 9:16.81; 4. Chandler 9:18.05; 5. Mission Viejo 9:23.21.
4 x 1600: 1. Great Oak 20:09.46 <20:16.48> (HSL);
2. Pine Crest, Ft. Lauderdale 20:24.73; 3. Buchanan 20:28.52; 4. Claremont 20:48.05; 5. Saugus 21:05.51; 6. Vista Murrieta, Murrieta) 21:17.90.
800Med: 1. O’Dowd 1:44.33; 2. Poly 1:45.64; 3. Dana Hills 1:45.74; 4. Sheldon, Sacramento 1:45.96.
SpMed: 1. Los Alamitos 4:02.36; 2. Wilson, Long Beach 4:04.50; 3. Oaks, Westlake Village 4:06.00.
DisMed: 1. Oak Ridge 11:42.85 (HSL);
2. Santa Cruz, Monterey 11:48.15; 3. Great Oak 11:55.52; 4. Pine Crest 11:58.30; 5. Vista Marietta 12:11.21.
4 x 100H: 1. Upland 58.50.
Field Events
HJ: 1. **Rachel Glenn (Wilson, Long Beach) 5-9.
Seeded HJ: 1. *Alysah Hickey (Coronado) 5-9.
PV: 1. Alysia Allen (Reed, Sparks, Nv) 13-1; 2. *Ellie Talius (Eastlake) 13-01; 3. Hayley Rayburn (Platte Canyon, Bailey, Co) 12-7.
LJ: 1. Jai Gruenwald (Chandler) 19-4½; 2. ***Jade McDonald (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) 19-4½.
TJ: 1. Kali Hatcher (St Mary’s, Berkeley) 42-2¼; 2. Lexi Ellis (Curtis, University Place, Wa) 42-1¼; 3. Allanah Lee (Castro Valley) 40-6¼; 4. *Jazlynn Shearer (Silver Creek, San José) 40-5.
SP: 1. *Jocelynn Budsig (Fowler) 46-8½; 2. Makayla Kelby (Lee’s Summit West) 45-11¼; 3. *Natalie Ramirez (West Ranch, Santa Clarita) 45-9½.
DT: 1. Kelby 168-6; 2. Erica Grotegeer (Wheatland) 166-5; 3. ***Faith Bender (Liberty, Bakersfield) 160-2; 4. Ramirez 154-1; 5. Budwig 152-8; 6. Hall 150-5.
Hept: 1. 1. Lester 5288 (HSL);
2. Allie Jones (San Marcos, Santa Barbara) 4830; 3. Arianna Gregg (Acalanes, Lafayette) 4632.
