This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Track Notebook: Arcadia Distance Runners Remarkable Again

Apaches open Pacific League competition by overpowering Muir in a dual meet.

The depth of quality distance runners at Arcadia seems to only be getting stronger. While some runners will be graduating this spring, the Apaches already have superstars waiting in the wings to take over as leaders for their squad.

“We have a lot of younger kids that are doing well and they’re starting to come around for us,” Arcadia coach Chris Schultz said. “This might be the best all-around team we’ve had. We’ve got a lot of depth.”

The Apaches opened the Pacific League dual-meet season by dominating longtime Pacific League and national power Muir in both the boys and girls varsity levels.

Find out what's happening in Arcadiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Arcadia won 108-27 in the boys varsity competition and 132-3 in the girls varsity.

Arcadia also had success over the weekend.

Find out what's happening in Arcadiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ammar Moussa finished second in the boys invitational one mile run by clocking 4 minutes, 9 seconds. Jantzen Oshier of Trabuco Hills in Mission Viejo won in 4:07.78. Both are amongst the fastest times in the nation in the event.

Arcadia’s Sergio Gonzalez finished 13th in 4:18.57.

The Apaches also had solid performances in the Mt. Carmel Invitational in San Diego.

Freshman Miranda Stiver ran 2:18.10 in the 800 meter event, which is the fastest time in the state this year by a ninth grader. Glindyll Mancia ran 2:18.59 in the same event, making her the fourth faster sophomore in the state this year.

 Pasadena Games

Many local schools attended the Pasadena Games at Pasadena City College on March 26.

La Salle senior Itohan Aikhionbare won the girls discus with a best distance of 126 feet, 9 3/4 inches, more than 20 feet further than her nearest competitor.

San Marino junior Omhunique Browne turned in a number of superb performances. She won the small schools 100-meter dash in 12.25 and the 200 in 25.90.

She also took the 100 meter low hurdles in 15.61 and the 300 hurdles in 46.60.

St. Francis junior James Knowles won the 110-meter high hurdles in 14.82 seconds. Knowles was third in the 300 hurdles in 39.74.

Monrovia got a solid performance from Kia Smith in the large school girls 100-meter hurdles. Smith won her race in 15.39.

Her teammate Skylar Buchanan finished third in a tough 100 meter race in 12.47.

South Pasadena got solid performances from its girls distance runners.

Sophomore Anika Renken took third in the girls invitational 3,000 meter race in 10:59.66. Freshman teammate Helena Van Loan was fourth in 10:59.84.

Flintridge Sacred Heart had two girls run under a minute in the small schools 400 meters.

Junior Stephanie Vargas won in 58.10 and Drew Washington was second with a time of 59.43.

Arcadia Invitational Coming Up

The Arcadia Invitational will be held April 8-9. Meet director Rich Gonzalez has been sorting through thousand of names and entries this week as he puts the final touches on meet’s participants.

One thing for certain is that Moussa and South Pasadena’s Sam Pons will participate in the invitational portion of the meet and most likely in the 3,200-meter race.

Both broke the nine-minute barrier as juniors, which puts them in elite company amongst the nation’s best.

Jim Riggio's weekly “Track Notebook” appears on all Patch sites in the San Gabriel Valley area.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Arcadia