Arcadia Sports Notebook: Moussa Delivers Strong Performance at Ben Brown Invitational

Notes from around the Arcadia sports scene:

There have been many great distance runners to come out of the San Gabriel Valley.

But there may not be any at the high school level that can top Arcadia senior Ammar Moussa.

Last Saturday, Moussa competed in the Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton, which featured select high school and collegiate runners.

But it didn’t make any difference as the University of Colorado-bound star turned in an outstanding performance in winning the 5,000-meter race in 14 minutes, 13.82 seconds.

Most of the runners in the race were collegiate athletes.

The second place finisher was South Pasadena’s Sam Pons, who ran a 14:16.44.

Those are the top two times in the nation this year for high school runners.

Moussa wasn’t the only Arcadia runner to run in the race.

Senior Allen Leung finished in 15:02.30, and senior Eric Garibay in 15:06.61. Apache senior Esmond Wei finished in 15:54.52, and Apache junior Ben Hsueh finished in 15:55.59.

Arcadia senior Catrina McAlister, who is also headed to Colorado, ran in the women’s 5,000 and finished in 17:45.40.

All the runners competed under for Arcadia coach Jim O’Brien’s USATF club team “O’Brien’s Army.”

Moussa will represent the U.S. in the World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain on March 20.

Softball season underway

The Apache softball team has started the season with a 1-3 record. The victory came against South Pasadena, when Arcadia won 7-4. Breana Flores hit a home run against the Tigers.

“It was four good solid games,” Arcadia coach Megan Leahy said. “We’re on a good start.”

Arcadia will play Temple City in a nonleague game on Wednesday.

Fast times for Apache swimmers

The swim season is young, but that doesn’t mean some Apache swimmers aren’t in fine form.

Last week several swimmers posted marks that are CIF consideration times in Division II.

Jonathon Kwon received a consideration time for his 4:52.57 effort in the 500-yard freestyle.

Steven Li also received a consideration time for his 58.19 in the 100-yard backstroke.

For the Apache girls team, Samantha Winthein received consideration times in the 50-yard freestyle (25.93) as well as the 100-yard free (55.92).

Arcadia defeated Pasadena Poly 122-34 in a boys in the dual meet. The Apache girls team was victorious 109-59.

Boys Tennis off the hot start

The Apache boys tennis team improved to 4-0 last Wednesday with a 16-2 win at Glendale. Arcadia, which is ranked No. 3 in the CIF-Southern Section Division III coaches’ poll, swept the Nitros in singles and won seven of nine sets in doubles.

Travis Tu and Albert Chen had solid performances in singles play.

Checking in on the football team

The defending Pacific League champion Apache football team is looking strong with quarterback Myles Carr (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) returning next season. In drills during football conditioning class, Carr looked very fit throwing the ball. Reigning league MVP Taylor Lagace (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) is his top receiving target.

Finally …

The Arcadia Invitational Track Meet, which features some of the top athletes in the nation, is just a month away. It will be held April 8-9.