Melia Cox sets national lead in 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles; Remontay McClain runs No. 1 200; Jenna Hemann takes over the long jump leadership.
Remontay McClain is the national leader in the 200 now, after his performance at the CIF-Southern Section finals.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Glaspy
California's Southern Section championships, perennially loaded with great talent, produced three 2011 national bests over the weekend at Cerritos College.
McClain also came close to thenation's best mark in the 100.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Glaspy
senior Melia Cox needed personal records to grab the national lead in two events. She won the Division I 100-meter hurdles in 13.42 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 40.94. The talented Cox also won the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet, 6 inches.
Rounding into form,
Covina (Calif.) senior Remontay McClain — the defending state champion — took over the national lead in the 200 with a winning time of 20.68. He also won the 100 in 10.31, not far off the No. 1 time of 10.28. Both times were Division 3 records.
A third Division 3 record was set when
Agoura (Calif.) star Jonathan Cabral won the 110 hurdles in 13.54. The record of 13.65 had stood since 1982. The University of Oregon recruit also captured the 300 hurdles in 37.17.
In Division 2,
Loyola (Los Angeles) senior Elias Gedyon pulled off an ironman stunt by winning the 800 (1:54.20), 1,600 (4:11.15), 3,200 (9:00.97) and running a leg on the 1,600 relay team.
HEMANN TAKES LONG JUMP LEAD
Central (Breese, Ill.) senior Jenna Hemann set a Class A state record and took over the national lead in the long jump with an effort of 20-1½ during the state finals in Charleston, Ill. The Texas A&M University recruit also won the 100 (record 12.02), high jump (5-7) and triple jump (37-11¾).
In Class 2A,
Woodstock (Ill.) senior Kayla Beattie set all-time Illinois records by winning the 1,600 run in 4:43.65 and the 3,200 in 9:56.96. The previous records dated to 1984.
HARTLE SETS TWO NEVADA RECORDSCentennial (Las Vegas) junior Nick Hartle ran the fastest 1,600 race in Nevada history when he won the Class 4A title in 4:10.23. He eclipsed a record (4:13.8) that had stood since 1982.
Galena (Reno, Nev.) senior Bryan Jordan also bested the record with a runner-up time of 4:11.34. Though the 800-meter record was only 3 years old, Hartle also wiped that one out of the record books with a clocking of 1:49.91.
LEWIS BREAKS 32-YEAR-OLD RECORDOttumwa (Iowa) standout Kevin Lewis broke a 32-year-old state record when he won the 3,200 in 9:05.25 during the Iowa state finals at Drake Stadium.
Sioux City East (Iowa) senior Shelby Houlihan set meet records by winning the Class 4A 800 in 2:08.15 and the 1,500 in 4:29.97.
POTPOURRI*
Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) superstar Gunnar Nixon left an imprint on his final high school meet by setting a state record (13.83) in the 110 hurdles. He also won the 300 hurdles in 36.93.
* Casey Bowen, a senior from
Gardner-Edgerton (Gardner, Kan.), eclipsed a 33-year-old school record when he cleared 17-1 to win the Class 5A regional pole vault.
*
Wheat Ridge (Colo.) star Annie Kunz earned the title of Superwoman last weekend. On Saturday she won the Class 4A 100 hurdles (14.09) and the 300 hurdles (43.30). Then she hopped in a car, changed uniforms and helped her soccer team win a state semifinal contest. On Thursday she had won the high jump (5-2) and triple jump (38-2).
*
Farmington (Mich.) won its first boys regional championship in 40 years by scoring 91.5 points to claim the Division I crown at West Bloomfield.
