With many state meets only a few weeks away, the last big invitationals of the year are starting to wrap-up. In this week's Monday News & Notes section we discuss the top highlights in Texas over the weekend, big results out in California and much more, including Chanelle Price's (PA) trio of races.
Monday News & Notes Highlights - Texas regionals impress all-around - Stars shine in Sacramento Meet of Champions (CA) - Chanelle Price (PA) blazes a trio of times - Bad weather slows top Illinois match-ups - The Week AheadMonday News & Notes (4/28)
A Big Weekend in Texas (TX)
Texas Coverage and Results (TXRunning.com)
With the state meet in Texas less than two weeks away, some of the top performances at regionals this weekend were simply incredible. Leading the way was the fantastic sprint double by LaKeidra Stewart (Mansfield Timberview, TX). Stewart earned U.S. #1 marks for 100m and 200m, winning the shorter sprint in 11.44 and the longer in 23.26. The top boys performance came in the 4x200m relay, which saw Hightower (TX) run a U.S. #6 all-time mark in 1:24.06, which also ranks them U.S. #1 currently.
In the field events, Stephen Saenz (Rio Grande City, TX) won the shot put at his regional with a U.S. #1 toss of 67-06.75. Saenz has shown consistent improvement the past month and looks to be the first athlete to break 70 feet this season. Meanwhile, Victoria Lucas (Midland, TX) won the girls high jump Saturday at her regional with a U.S. #1 mark of 6-00.25.
Two other track performances that stood out where the Dunbar (TX) girls 4x200m relay squad winning the event in 1:35.94, good enough for U.S. #11 all-time and a U.S. #1, while freshman Chelsey Sveinsson (Greenhill School, TX) ran the U.S. #3 all-time freshman girls mark for the one mile run, finishing third in the Penn Relays girls mile in 4:43.51. Also, Shade Weygandt (Mansfield, TX) upped her PR in the girls pole vault, setting a U.S. national record for juniors with a clearing height of 13-10.
Sacramento Meet of Champions (CA)
Sacramento Meet of Champions: Meet Page / Results
The best of the best in California continue to show their cards, as many of the top athletes in the northern part of the state came together to compete at the Sacramento Meet of Champions. Leading the way this year was Briana Stewart (Logan, CA), Justin Miller (California, CA) and Ashton Purvis (St. Elizabeth's, CA). Stewart showed her leaping abilities by beating Alitta Boyd (Moreau, CA) for the girls triple jump crown, besting Boyd 40-07 to 40-03. Boyd then came back to place second in the long jump with a leap of 18-07.50.
Meanwhile, Miller continued his assualt on 17 foot barrier in the boys pole vault. All season long Miller has shot for that mark and after Saturday's 16-08 winning performance it leaves the senior less than half a foot away. Ashton Purvis earned impressive marks as well, winning the sprint double of 100m and 200m. In the shorter sprint the sophomore cruised to an easy 11.94 win, while picking up the top spot for 200m with a 24.00 finish.
Ashton's sister Julian Purvis (St. Elizabeth's, CA) won the 100m hurdles in a great time of 13.78, besting runner-up Briana Stewart by .09. Another top girls performance came from Kayla Sanchez (Carson, CA) in the 300m hurdles, winning a close race in 43.31 over some stiff competition. Logan (CA) won the girls 4x400m relay as well with one of the best times in the country, winning the championship with a 3:44.97 time.
On the boys side a few performances really stood out other than Miller's vault. In the high jump Maurice Valentine (Castro Valley, CA) won with a clearance of 6-10, leaving him just short of cresting the seven foot barrier for the first time this season. Also, Garrett Seawell (Woodcreek, CA) turned in perhaps the top distance performance of the day as the junior ran 9:12.21 for 3200m. The top relay performance came in the 4x400m relay, where Monterey (CA) beat Grant (CA) to the line in a close race, winning 3:19.66 to 3:19.69.
As if this event needed any convincing with just how deep and talented the fields were, an example of its greatness came in the boys and girls 400m dash events. On the boys side of things, five athletes finished between 48.63 and 49.62, while five girls finished between 55.80 and 56.83. Those are by far some of the deepest sprint fields for 400m seen this year.
Chanelle Price is at it Again (PA)
WAHS Invitational: Meet Page / Results
After running 2:03.98 last week at the New York Relays, Chanelle Price (Easton, PA) kept the momentum going, this time by helping her team quite a bit. Price guided her team to third place in the 4x800m relay at the WAHS Invitational, spliting 2:03.8. Price then came back later in the day to win the 800m dash in 2:05.10 (hand time) and help her team finish second in the 4x400m relay with a split of 53.1! With Price's preparation for the Olympic Trials seemingly going very well, it will be exciting to see how she progresses over the coming months.
Bad Weather Slows Illinois Match-Ups (IL)
Prospect Invitational / Palatine Relays
Windy, cold and wet conditions slowed down many of the top performers this past weekend in the Midwest. Illinois highlighted some great distance match-ups Friday at the Prospect Invitational and Saturday at the Palatine Relays, however due to the weather those races weren't as great as many anticipated.
The Prospect Invitational Friday evening started on time, but by the time the 3200m run was set to go off the rain started coming down in droves and the meet was postponed until Saturday. Both meets went off Saturday as expected, although 30-40 mpw gusts certainly didn't help the competition. At the Prospect Invitational the battle between Foot Locker finalists Kevin Havel (Hersey, IL), Bobby Nicolls (Regis, CO) and Griff Graves (Abingdon, VA) took place, with Havel pulling away over the second half of the race to win in an impressive 8:59.12. Nicolls placed second in 9:07.09, while Graves took third in 9:10.65. Havel then came back to win the 1600m run in 4:16.74, while Nicolls and Graves packed their bags to head to the Palatine Relays to face mid-distance star Mat Smoody (Palatine, IL).
At Palatine, Smoody set an insane pace early on, going through the 200m mark around 28 seconds and the 400m split in 60 seconds. With such blustry conditions, this certainly was not the safest of moves. From there the pace slowed dramatically and Graves took the pace. Graves continued to push and came up victorious, while Smoody finished second overall in 4:20.80. Smoody also won the 800m dash earlier in the day in 1:56.30.
Two other top performers stood out at Palatine. Tim "Mookie" Williams (Palatine, IL) won the boys 100m and 200m dashes in 10.90 and 21.80 (both hand times) respecitvely, while earning the top marks in both the long and triple jump with 23-04 and 46-07 performances. Williams earned boys athlete of the meet honors.
On the girls side, Toni Graham (Conant, IL) continued to show why she is the top sprinter in the state, landing wins in both sprints. Graham won the 100m dash in 12.00 and the 200m dash in 24.70 (both times hand timed). She won the girls athlete of the meet.
The Week Ahead
It's that time of year again. Track and field state meets are starting to pop up all around, while the best of the last invitationals take place. Leading the way this weekend in state championships are meets in Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Louisiana and Georgia. Each of these championships have athletes capable of putting up a few U.S. #1 performances, so keep an eye on our state previews later this week.
In regular invitational action, the Jesse Owens Invitational (OH) brings together much of the top talent in the state of Ohio to the two day event at the Ohio State University. The Jesse Owens Invitational is one of the most historic meets in Ohio and OSU coach Robert Gary tends to invite who he thinks will perform well.
The BYU High School Invitational (UT) also brings together much of a state's top talent. The top stars in Utah will be in attendance, including distance phenom Luke Puskedra (Judge Memorial, UT), who will be looking to work on his speed a bit as he prepares for a quartet of events at his state meet in a few weeks time.
One meet not to be overlooked is the Anchorage Invitational (AK). While the Alaskan track and field season tends to get overlooked, this meet has some bright spots. Jordan Clarke (Bartlett, AK) threw a U.S. #1 in the shot put two weeks back and is one of the top discus throwers in the nation. He should put up some big marks here. Also, junior Trevor Dunbar (Kodiak, AK) is entered in the meet and may provide some great distance results.