By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
ARCADIA, Calif. – Blake Shaw had never fallen in a race before. Then again, he’d rarely felt so sluggish.
The national 800-meter leader from Cypress Creek High (Houston, Texas) hoped to shatter his 1 minute, 49.78 second personal best but when he didn’t break 54 seconds in the first lap he pretty much went into survival and victory mode.
He had endured a flu bug all week, after all, so maybe breaking the 1:50 barrier was a bit unrealistic.
So he thought about his grandparents in the stands – “they’ve only seen me compete only a couple times,” he said later. He thought about impressing his future USC fans – he’s signed a letter of intent to the nearby track and field juggernaut.
And ultimately, he thought about the prestige of winning at the 41st annual Arcadia Invitational, an event that has boasted 105 eventual Olympic team members and had 23 national records set.
With a trio of out-of-state champions steaming on his heels and a heated, roaring, short-sleeved crowd of about 5,000 packed tightly around the Arcadia High track warning him a comeback coupe seemed imminent, Shaw asked his long, loping, weary legs for one last surge.
He crossed the line in 1:51.19, stumbled, and fell in a heap of his own sweat and now blood, along with sand, rubber and every other ingredient of an all-weather track.
“Frankly, it was kind of embarrassing,” he said later. “But anything to win.”
Indeed he had held off seniors John Kline (Desert Vista, Phoenix, Ariz.), Joe Abbott (Galena, Reno, Nev.) and James Eichberger (Catalina Magnet, Tucson, Ariz.) by about the width of a pancake. They finished in 1:51.33, 1:51.64 and 1:51.75, respectively.
When asked about his bloodied/orange rubberized right forearm stain, Shaw laughed.
“I wanted to bring home some of the track I suppose,” he said.
Who wouldn’t want a memento from this storied meet.
Once again, the event under unusually warm (temperatures soared above 90 during the afternoon and cooled into the high 70s by evening) more than lived up to its lofty “When the lights come on, the stars come out,” billing.
Though Shaw’s performance was gritty and thrilling, time-wise it took a middle-of-the-pack seat to another record-setting blockbuster.
There were 10 new national season marks set, and another shattered by double jump winner Will Claye (Mountain Pointe, Phoenix, Ariz.) in the triple jump (51 feet, 7½ inches) but unfortunately no wind gauge was available. It was virtually a windless night.
On top of everything – quite literally – was the performance of Chris Derrick, a senior at Neuqua Valley (Naperville, Ill.) who ran the fastest 5,000 race ever in an all-U.S. high school event, crossing in a ridiculous 13:55.96, breaking his personal best by almost 30 seconds.
It was the first time Arcadia included the event, which isn’t largely run in high school meets and didn’t even register a season-best mark on the largely-recognized dyestat.com national list.
But according to Jack Shepard’s High School Track Annual, considered the bible for all track and field records, it was the ninth fastest 5,000 mark ever by a high school runner. The other eight times were done in non-high school events.
According to dyestat.com reporter SteveU, Derrick was just hoping to finish at 14:10 which is 68 seconds per lap. He came in at a remarkable 9:03 after eight laps, but didn’t waver or even break stride and actually bettered 2:10 over his last two laps which would have won the girls open 800.
The crowd went giddy when Derrick sprinted down the final straightaway, winning by almost 40 seconds over a star-studded field that included runner-up Doug Smith (Gill St. Bernard’s School, Gladstone, N.J.) who finished in 14:35.32.
“I didn’t know if I had 2:10 in me (the last two laps),” Derrick said. “But this is a great track, a great event and the fans are amazing.”
Derrick’s performance finished off a remarkable evening of long-distance supremacy.
The often frail, gangly kids rarely steal the spotlight, especially in a meet of this stature, but the meet’s two 3,200 races indeed spun the visors of track historians and connoisseurs throughout the stadium.
In what some considered the finest California girls distance race, Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo) junior phenom Jordan Hasay sprinted past seemingly un-passable Woodbridge (Irvine) senior Christine Babcock in the final 100 meters to win in a meet record of 10:03.07 to 10:04.03.
The 5-foot-9 Washington-bound Babcock, who set a long-standing state-meet record with a national-leading 4:38.85 time in the 1,600 last June, had held off the 5-2 Hasay at every instant over the final two laps. But she couldn’t cut off Hasay in the final stretch.
The two were never separated by more than a stride the entire eight laps, with each holding the lead several times over the first 2,400 meters.
“My plan was to make a move and take the lead at six laps,” Hasay said. “But I couldn’t overtake her. She wouldn’t let me. There were many times I just thought it wasn’t my day.
“I didn’t want the race to come down to a sprint. She’s a better kicker than me. She’s faster than me. But I guess I had just a little more left.”
Same was true for Luke Puskedra (Judge Memorial, Salt Lake City, Utah), who prevailed in a remarkable back-and-forth duel with New Zealand’s Dominic Channon, with a 61-second final lap to win in a national season best of 8:46.60 to 8:48.00 for Channon.
Seven of the top eight 3,200 marks in the country were recorded in the race and it was the second Arcadia win in a row for the Oregon-bound Puskedra.
“I think winning here last year helped,” Puskedra said. “At 300 and 200 to go I didn’t know if I had enough to overtake him. I just had to push and I had enough. It feels awesome.”
More awesome storylines from a remarkable meet:
TAKE THAT GOLDEN STATE: Considering more than 80 percent of the participants are from home state California, which historically produces world-class track and field athletes, the Golden Staters usually dominate the winners-circle.
In Saturday’s Invitational however, half of the boys 18 events were won by non-Californians, including two by Claye, who also won the long jump at 24-1¼. His triple jump was a national best under any conditions by more than seven inches.
Other out-of-staters to prevail were the aforementioned Shaw, Puskedra and Derrick, Charles White (Cherry Creek, Colo.) in the mile (4:13.60), Cedrique Smith (Agua Fria, Avondale, Ariz.) in the 110 hurdles (14.25), Bryce Hall (Davis, Kaysville, Utah) in the shot put (61-1) and the 400 relay team of sophomore Anders Battle, junior Spencer Chase and seniors Allante Battle and Luke Matthews who won for Desert Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) in 41.35.
That means winners were represented by six different states. Interestingly, not a single athlete outside of California won a girls event. So the final breakdown was: California (26 winners), Arizona (four), Utah (two), Texas (one), Colorado (one) and Illinois (one).
LONG TIME-DISTANCE COMING: It was one of the oldest meet records in the books.
Way back in 1989, Jayson Lavender cleared 17-3¼ to win the pole vault, a record that stood all the way until Saturday night. It was not only a long-standing mark, but long traveled as Lavender was from Wichita Falls, Texas.
But Lavender had nothing on Los Gatos senior Nico Weiler, who extended his national lead with a mark of 17-4. Weiler is a second-year foreign exchange student from Germany.
The record was Weiler’s goal, but he was more excited about just winning at Arcadia, which has featured 105 eventual Olympic team members and had 23 national records set in its 41-year history.
“To win here is huge,” said Weiler, the defending state champion. “It’s the first time this year I’ve jumped like I was suppose to jump.”
The only “bad” news for Weiler was he twice barely missed at 17-8, which would have broke his personal best of 17-6¼. On his first and third attempts, Weiler was clearly over the bar but hit it on the way down, drawing huge groans from the some 5,000 fans packed around the track.
“Oh well,” said Weiler, who won set a state-meet record in June at 17-2. “I can’t really complain. I had solid vaults all night long and I was over 17-8. It will come. I just need to be patient.”
Weiler is just happy to be competing for Los Gatos again this year. The 18-year-old said he was 99 percent certain over the summer that he would have to remain in Germany for his senior season.
But the Thursday before school opened his host dad Jack Little “pulled some amazing strings. He called me and said ‘do you want to come back?’ I couldn’t get back over here soon enough. I’m so thankful for what (Little) did.”
TAKE TWO: Smith prevailed despite not only a strong headwind (2.1 meters per second), a slow start but also a second take. A sensor problem with the electronic clock stopped the first go-around which isn’t so unusual. What was unique is the double-gun – sounded to signal a problem at the start – didn’t go off until the runners were at the fifth hurdle.
Smith was in the lead and looking strong the first go-around.
“Usually we know by the first hurdle if there’s a problem,” Smith said. “I was upset because we were halfway done with the race before they called us back. It took some time to get back into it mentally. There’s a lot of pressure at this meet. There’s a lot of college coaches.”
In the end, Smith (14.25), from lane 5, overtook Dominguez (Compton, Calif.) senior Devron Walker (14.27), Loyola (Los Angeles) senior Ryan Holmes (14.32) and Mountain Point (Ariz.) senior Michael Woodham (14.36) on the final hurdle to win a very tight finish. It was well off his personal best of 13.97 but Smith was happy with the win.
“I really had to reach,” Smith said of his first race in California.
Smith said he’s considering going to college at Azusa Pacific, located about eight miles east of Arcadia.
“Hope I impressed the coaches,” he said.
PURVIS BLUR: It was another stellar night for the Purvis sisters from St. Elizabeth in Oakland California.
Julian Purvis was patient in her race, overcoming a relatively slow start and chasing down James Logan (Union, City, Calif.) senior Briana Stewart to win the 100-meter hurdles in 13.59. She not only broke her previous national season-leading mark of 13.81 but she bettered the meet mark of 13.71 set in 1996 by Dominique Calloway of South, Denver, Colo.
Stewart, who also took second in the triple jump (40-7½), also broke the previous meet mark in 13.67, a personal best.
“Briana really pushed me,” Julian Purvis said. “I didn’t get a great start but I felt really strong from the fifth hurdle on.”
It was a big victory for the Michigan-bound hurdler after she hit the eighth hurdle and almost fell last at the Stanford Invitational and finished second. Julian Purvis won the state championship as a sophomore, but finished second last year to now Mt. Pleasant (San Jose, Calif.) senior Vashti Thomas, who missed Saturday’s meet with a hamstring injury. Thomas, by the way, won last year’s state meet in a barely wind-aided 13.03, while Purvis was at 13.32.
Julian Purvis said the Stanford setback was temporary.
“It wasn’t that big of deal (last week) but it feels good to come back with a big win like this,” she said. “The problem is I’m faster than I’ve ever been so I’ve had to make some adjustments between the hurdles. Hopefully I get it all worked out by the end of the year.”
Her sister Ashton Purvis was thankful for a fast start in the 200 meters, which she won in a national season and personal outdoor best of 23.54 seconds. The sophomore slipped out of the blocks in the 100, eventually took the lead at the 60 mark and won in a wind-aided 11.54, edging Yasmin Woodruff, of St. Mary’s Academy (Inglewood) in 11.64.
“I wanted to go 11.3 or so in the 100 but I brushed it off and really bucked up in the 200,” Ashton Purvis said. “Winning here under the lights is the best. All the eyes are on you.”
Ashton said she was inspired by her sister. “I’m so proud of (Julian), she ran so well. But I always look up to her.”
STAR IS BORN: Cathedral (Los Angeles) junior Randall Carroll had just completed an interview for the 5,000 fans, the Los Angeles Times and FOX Sports Net television.
His 100-meter win at 10.49 seconds over Rancho Cucamonga junior Charles Saseun (10.59) and Oaks Christian senior Chris Owusu (10.60) was good for his confidence and star power.
“It really hasn’t set in,” Carroll said. “Before now I wasn’t not that well known.”
He certainly wasn’t at Arcadia after an isolated school problem got him suspended by the school from the meet last year.
“I stood and watched the 100 finals from the first row,” Carroll said. “It was no kind of fun.”
Carroll, a powerful 5-foot-11, 193-pounder who has already committed to USC in football, learned from the mistake and came back strong last season, finishing third in the state 100 finals in 10.52.
In the summer, he ran a 4.31 40-yard dash at the USC football camp to help land him the offer from one of the country’s finest gridiron schools.
SPRINT REVENGE: Carroll will likely see Stanford-bound Owusu on the football field in a couple of years.
Owusu came back and edged Carroll in the 200, 21.41 to 21.44. The duo not only share the same position on the football field, wide receiver, but respect.
“We talk and are friendly but were not really friends,” Owusu said of his rivalry with Carroll. “I tend not to really talk much to people once we get on the track or playing field. But he seems like a real good guy and he’s a heck of a competitor. It’s fun racing him.”
NIGHT VISION: Long Beach Poly freshman Akawkaw Ndipagbor recalls attending many Arcadia Invitationals growing up.
“I’d watch the races and say to myself, ‘wow, maybe that will be me someday,’ “ she said.
Someday has arrived for one of the country’s top ninth-graders as she ran a national-best 400 in 53.43, which bettered her remarkable eighth-grade time of 53.73. Later she anchored Poly’s winning 1,600 relay time with a 53.8 split as Poly finished in 3:44.22.
The other girls on the squad were Erica Winston, Tanisha Hawkins and Autumn Fowler.
Earlier she ran the anchor leg of Poly’s winning 400 relay team that included Erica Winston, Tanisha Hawkins and Autumn Fowler and finished in 47.64.
She was the only athlete in the meet to contribute to three victories.
That deserves a “wow.”
41st ARCADIA INVITATIONAL
The Stars Came Out
1 All-High School Event National Record
Boys 5,000 – Chris Derrick (Neuqua Valley, Naperville, Ill.) 13:55.96
10 National-Leading Marks
GIRLS
200 - Ashton Purvis (St. Elizabeth, Oakland, Calif.) 23.54
400 – Akawkaw Ndipagbor (Long Beach Poly, Calif.) 53.43
3,200 – Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep, San Luis Obispo, Calif.) 10:03.07
100 hurdles – Julian Purvis (St. Elizabeth) 13.59
300 hurdles – Kori Carter (Claremont, Calif.) 41.58
Distance medley relay – Torrey Pines, Calif. (Erin Gillingham, Ashlin Yahr, Shelby Sims, Alli Billmeyer) 12:06.15
BOYS
Mile – Charles White (Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, Colo.) 4:13.60
3,200 - Luke Puskedra (Judge Memorial, Salt Lake City, Utah) 8:46.40
1,600 relay – Dominguez, Compton, Calif. (Kivon Grant, Aaron Hester, Leon Dilihunt, Menoah Wesson) 3:12.13
Pole vault – Nick Weiler (Los Gatos, Calif.) 17-4
3 Meet Records
Girls 100 hurdles – Purvis
Girls 3,200 – Hasay
Boys pole vault – Weiler
Multiple Winners
Ashton Purvis (St. Elizabeth) 100 and 200
Akawkaw Ndipagbor (Long Beach Poly, Calif.) 400, 400 relay, 1,600 relay
Will Claye (Mountain Pointe, Phoenix, Ariz.) long jump, triple jump
Anna Jelmini (Shafter, Calif.) shot put, discus.
All Meet results courtesy of dyestat.com
Saturday evening
Saturday day open events
Friday results
More MaxPreps stories
Friday results/Saturday preview
A special thanks to Meet Director and dystate.com editor Rich Gonzalez and the entire Arcadia Invitational staff. E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
