Deep travel leads to lofty rewards at presitious Arcadia Invitational

ARCADIA, Calif. - Southern California is a big place and the Arcadia Invitational is known for its bright lights and national-leading and sometimes record-breaking marks.

But Fort Collins (Fort Collins, Colo.) senior Raymond Bozmans didn't get caught up all in that. His coaches wouldn't let him.

"Coming from a small little town like Fort Collins Colorado to California  can be a little intimidating," Bozmans said. "So the first thing we did when we got here was we went to the beach.

"My coaches just told me just to have fun out here and run my hardest."

That he did, winning the 100 meters in a lifetime best of 10.41 seconds to defeat runner-up and favorite Ronald Darby (10.55) of Potomac (Oxon Hill, Md.).

It was nothing but a run at the beach for out-of-state competitors, who won 18 of the 32 mainstream boys and girls events, including nine of the 10 boys running events.

Considering that approximately 80 percent of the competitors are from California, it was indeed an eventful day for those who traveled the furthest.

It wasn't a terribly long drive for Devon Allen and his Brophy College Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) teammates but it will be a trip they will long remember.

Allen, a top 6-foot-1, 188-pound wide receiver football recruit, put on one of the most amazing individual performances in the meet's storied history by winning three individual events, taking both hurdle races in Arizona state-record time, 13.52 (110 meters) and 36.39 (300).

He then found the energy to chase down Bozmans to win the 200 meters in 21.10 seconds, the third fastest time in the country. The two hurdles marks rank No. 2 in the nation this year. See story.

Allen also teamed with Robert Relf, Bobby Grant and D'amani Grayer to win the 400 relay in a school record of 41.15, overtaking Southern California schools Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) (41.48), Rio Mesa (Oxnard) (41.62) and targeted Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) (41.63), which had defeated Brophy Prep earlier this season at the Chandler Rotary Invitational in Arizona.

"The beat us at our place and we got them here," Allen said. "It definitely was motivation for us. But honestly, we drove in Thursday night to have fun and it all went well. We were hyped."

As were seven who earned national leading marks this season, according to the dyestat.com national leader board.
As usual, the meet, which has featured 24 national records and 45 future Olympians, was bombarded with top national marks.

Ten other events featured the nation's No. 2 marks and nine more are now No. 3 nationally on the season list.

The most impressive – almost ridiculous really – was in the boys 3200 which featured not only 16 who broke the magical 9-minute mark, but the top 34 times in the country this year were recorded in the race.

Thirty-four!

Fatsum Zienasellassie of North Central (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the charge at 8 minutes, 47.75 seconds followed by vastly improved Bernie Montoya (8:48.25), of Cibola (Yuma, Ariz.) and Cy-Woods (Cypress, Texas) senior Craig Nowak (8:49.12). Zienasellassie broke an Indiana state record that had stood for almost 40 years.

Other new national leaders:

* Hector Hernandez, of Ellison (Killeen, Texas) went 1:49.91 in the 800 to place second behind Canadian Tyler Smith (1:49.23).

* Davis (Kaysville, Utah) senior Brad Nye in the mile (4:08.80).

* Ethan Cochran, a senior at Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.), was the first to better the 200-yard mark in the discus, going 209-8. He also won the shot put (62-10).

* Templeton (Calif.) senior Savannah Camacho in the 800 (2:07.81), easily defeating Glacier Peak (Snohomish, Wash.) junior Amy-Eloise Neale (2:10.00), who just an hour earlier won the mile in a national-best time of 4:51.53.

* It was the second straight win at Arcadia by Neale, joining Simi Valley (Calif.) sensational sophomore Sarah Baxter, who ran a national-best 10:08.11 in the 3,200, edging Marina senior Laura Hollander (10:10.51), the second best mark of the season.

There were some very impressive double-winners, including Lincoln-Way East (Frankfort, Ill.) junior Aaliyah Brown in the sprints (100, 11.48; 200, 23.96). The 100 time is second in the nation and 200 is No. 3.

* Claremont (Calif.) senior Klyvens Delaunay won the long jump (23-11) and triple jump (49-4¼), the latter mark is the second best in the country.

* Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) sophomore Ashlie Blake recorded the nation's second best shot put (49-10 ½) and also won the discus (152-5).

Two of the nation's top middle distance runners of Amy Weissenbach and Cami Chapus saved their vast talents for relay portions of the meet for Harvard-Westlake, which went after its only national distance medley record of 11:22.23. But a dropped baton slowed the team greatly but they still had more than enough to win in 11:45.18.

Look for our video highlights and interviews early next week. 

BOYS
100 – Raymond Bozmans (Fort Collins, Colo.) 10.41, Ronald Darby (Potomac, Md.) 10.55, Elijah Mitchell (Roosevelt) 10.58.

200 – Devon Allen (Brophy Prep, Ariz.) 21.10, Bozmans (Fort Collins) 21.11, Darby (Potomac) 21.35.

400 – Champ Page (Dr. Henry Wise, Md.) 47.31, Rashard Clark (Dorsey) 47.54

800 – Tyler Smith (Welaskiwin Composite, Alberta, Canada) 1:49.23, Hector Hernandez (Ellison, Texas) 1:49.91, Nick Hartle (Centennial, Nev.) 1:50.35

mile – Brad Nye (Davis, Utah) 4:08.80, Marcus Dickson 4:09.41, Ryan Silva (Rincon Univ., Ariz.) 4:10.33

3,200 – Futsum Zienasellassie (Indiana North Central) 8:47.75, Bernie Montoya (Cibola, Az.) 8:48.25, Craig Nowak (Houston Cypress, Texas) 8:49.12.

110 hurdles – Allen (Brophy Prep) 13.52, Dondre Echols (Potomac, Md.) 13.71, Kenneth Walker (Kennedy-Richmond) 14.05.

300 hurdles – Allen (Brophy Prep) 36.39, Echols (Potomac) 37.11, Jarrett Gonzales (Damien) 37.33.

400 relay – Brophy Prep (Robert Relf, Allen, Bobby Grant, D'Amani Grayer) 41.15, Oaks Christian 41.48, Rio Mesa 41.62.

1,600 relay – Long Beach Poly (Richard Smith, Austin Gunter, Colin Monaco, Veth Seng) 3:18.55, St. John Bosco 3:20.40, Dorsey 3:20.43.

HJ – Noel Frazier (California) 6-9, Rashaan Jones (South Lakes, Va.) 6-9, Dakari Hightower (Curtis, Wash.) 6-9.

PV – Peter Chapman (Murrieta Valley) 16-6½, Kyser Anderson (Clovis West) 16-0½, Connor Rouse (Vista) 15.6½.

LJ – Klyvens Delaunay (Claremont) 23-11, Adoree Jackson (Serra) 23-5½, Walter Jones (Redlands) 23-4.

TJ – Delaunay (Claremont) 49-4¼, Jeff Prothro (James Logan) 48-1¼, Tim White (Hart) 47-7¾.

SP – Ethan Cochran (Newport Harbor) 62-10, Garrett Weinreich (Arroyo Grande) 61-2, Jayson Kovar (Burroughs) 58-6½.

Discus – Cochran (Newport Harbor) 209-8, Ryan Hunter-Sims (San Gorgonio) 194-4, Jayson Kovar (Burroughs) 190-0.

GIRLS

100 – Aaliyah Brown (Lincolnway East, Ill.) 11.48, Cessily Jones (Plainfield North) 11.71, Hannah Cunliffe (Odyssey Academy, Ore.) 11.75.

200 – Brown (Lincolnway East) 23.96, Arianna Washington (Long Beach Poly) 23.97, Kelly Rhines (Los Osos) 24.14.

400 – Shamier Little (Linblom, Ill.) 53.79, Chimere Ezumah (Serra) 55.75, Ellisa Bryant (Piedmont Hills) 55.87.

800 – Savannah Camacho (Templeton) 2:07.81, Amy-Eloise Neale (Glacier Peak, Wash.) 2:10.00, Shea Martinez (Davis, Utah) 2:10.37.

mile – Neale (Glacier Peak) 4:51.43, Ashleigh Warner (Mountain View, Utah) 4:52.10, Madeleine Meyers (Northwest, Wash.) 4:55.30.

3,200 – Sarah Baxter (Simi Valley) 10:08.11, Laura Hollander (Marina) 10:10.51, Katie Knight (North Central, Wash.) 10:20.11.

110 hurdles – Traci Hicks (Long Beach Poly) 13.63, Jasmyne Graham (Vista Murrieta) 13.89, Jordie Munford (Rancho Cucamonga) 13.92.

300 hurdles – Jaide Stepter (Canyon Del Oro, Ariz.) 42.22, Jade Miller (Great Oak) 42.84, Shamier Little (Linblom, Ill.) 42.95.

400 relay – Long Beach Poly (Tori Myers, Diamond Thomas, Washington, Hicks) 46.13, St. Mary's Academy 47.08, Oaks Christian 47.52.

1,600 relay – Serra (Alexis Faulknor, Kaya Agudo, Maya Brown, Ezumah) 3:47.18, St. Mary's Academy 3:47.68, Long Beach Poly 3:52.27.

HJ – Gabrielle Williams (Reed, Nev.) 5-10, Claire Kieffer-Wright (South Pasadena) 5-6, Daniel Bryan (El Camino) 5-6.

PV – McKenzie Johnson (Clairmont) 12-7¼, Amy Loschiavo (Huntington Beach) 12-7 14, Mimi Lian (Rancho Bernardo) 12-7¼.

LJ – Margaux Jones (Redlands) 19-0, Jasmine Gibbs (El Camino) 18-11 ½, Kari Heck (Sioux Falls, Wash.) 18-8.

TJ – Rachel Toliver (St. Mary's Academy) 40-3¾, Alanna Coker (Juanita, Wash.) 39-11½, Danielle Williams (Eaglecrest, Colo.) 39-11.

SP – Ashlie Blake (Liberty, Nevada) 49-10½, Tanya Sapa (La Sierra) 45-8½, Stamtia Scarvelis (Dos Pueblos) 45-7½.
 
Discus – Blake (Liberty) 152-5, Nwanneka Okwelog (Clovis West) 150-8, Lissette Mendivil (Redwood) 148-3.