ARCADIA, Calif. — It has become a rite of passage for many of the nation’s top high school track and field athletes. Every spring they migrate to Arcadia High in the town of the same name to compete in what has become the biggest and most prestigious regular-season track meet in the country.
“Per capita there is no place better than Utah. Utah is more fertile ground than any state in the country per capita, although Michigan would be up there, too.” — SLCC distance running coach Issac Wood
More than 200 future Olympians have competed in the Arcadia Invitational — among them Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Noah Lyles and Michael Norman — and 33 national records have been set here.
Last week a record 690 high schools from 36 states gathered for the 55th running of the meet,Utahns figured prominently among them. Over the years, the state has earned a reputation as a mecca for distance and middle-distance runners, and last weekend they did not disappoint.
Daniel Simmons, a junior from American Fork High, took the lead in the last few laps of an epic 3,200-meter run Saturday night under the lights. He charged down the final homestretch and led right up until the tape, when Simeon Birnbaum, a sub-four miler from South Dakota who is headed to the University of Oregon, edged him by .04 hundredths of a second. Both Birnbaum and Simmons broke the official national high school federation record for the mile. Birnbaum clocked 8:34.10, Simmons 8:34.14 and North Carolina’s Rocky Hansen 8:34.87. According to MileSplit, only four preps had ever broken 8:40 before this race.
“I felt like a put my best effort out there ... that’s all I wanted,” Simmons said afterward in an interview posted on Dyestat. “... I was after the memory and the effort ... I looked at the clock and thought, all right, we’re racing now.”
Three other Utahns also blazed fast times — Herriman’s Noah Jenkins was fifth (8:43.19), Mountain View’s Liam Heninger was sixth (8:44.20) and Olympus’ Jojo Jourdon was 10th (8:46.87). They were among the 23 boys who broke nine minutes in the race, 16 of them under 8:50.
It recalls something that was said a year ago by Issac Wood, a former BYU coach who now leads the distance-running program at Salt Lake Community College: “Per capita there is no place better than Utah. Utah is more fertile ground than any state in the country per capita, although Michigan would be up there, too.”
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Moments after the boys 3,200 race, the women’s mile began and another Utahn finished second in the fastest race of the season. The mile featured two tall sophom*ores — California’s Sadie Engelhardt, the fifth-fastest prep miler ever, and Utah’s Jane Hedengren (Timpview High), whose father John was an All-American distance runner for BYU. Engelhardt opened up a big lead with a 67-second first lap and went on to finish with a nation-leading time of 4:36.26. Hedengren was second in 4:41.08. Not bad for a girl who considers herself a two-mile “specialist.”
The good times kept coming. In the boys 800, the first three finishers broke 1:50, led by California’s Aaron Sahlman in 1:49.07. A year ago Carter Cutting, a junior at Corner Canyon at the time, won the race with a time of 1:51.55; he ran much faster this year — 1:50.27 — but finished fourth. Cutting, who moved back to Oregon with his family last summer, has signed with BYU.
The girls race also produced nation-leading marks. Californians Mackenize Browne and Ali Ince clocked 2:03.07 and 2:03.17, respectively, in a race that put seven girls under 2:10.
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Earlier in the day, a pair of Utahns starred in the open division of the girls 800. Alta High’s Elyse Jessen and Skyridge’s Kylie Olsen, who will be teammates at BYU next year, went head to head, while BYU coach Diljeet Taylor watched from the stands. Jessen, an all-state soccer player last fall, took the lead halfway through the race and crossed the finish line in 2:08.99, ranking her 11th in the nation. Olsen closed hard and chased Jessen to the finish, clocking 2:09.33. Both runners broke the previous open meet record of 2:09.54.
Two other Utahns made star turns in the invitational meet Saturday under the lights, and they weren’t in the distance races. Trevor Gough, a junior at Snow Canyon High (St. George), finished second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 37.60. Only California’s Roman Mendozza (37.39) was faster. Fremont High’s Amare Harlan, who has signed with Michigan, was second in the 100 and third in the 200 with times of 11.56 and 24.06, respectively. She faced the nation’s fastest sprinter in Mia Brahe-Pedersen, who blazed times of 11.17 and 23.02.
Other notable performances by Utahns: Lehi’s Sarah Ballard was third in the seeded 100 (11.99) and fourth in the seeded 200 (24.63); Pleasant Grove’s Stephen Dahdouh was fifth in the invitational 110 high hurdles (14.38); Park City’s Easton Brotherson was third in the open 110 hurdles (14.50); and Lone Peak’s Boston Bybee was third in the open mile (4:59.08).
Editor’s note: Doug Robinson is a sprint coach at Corner Canyon High.
