A San Marcos Athletes personal reveiw of the Arcadia Invitational
There are those special places that people hold dear and strive to get to. For the singer it’s Carnegie Hall, for the soccer player it’s the World Cup, for the football player it’s the super bowl, and for the high school track runner it is the Arcadia Invitational. The talent at this meet is rarely rivaled when it comes to high school track and it is an absolutely thrilling experience. The stands are jam packed with track nerds rattling off splits, cheering, jumping up, and even betting on the outcome of each race. The excitement is overwhelming to say the least.
This year, two relay teams from the San Marcos Distance Squad traveled down to LA to compete in this meet. I was a member of the girl’s team, which also included junior Sarah Terry and seniors Bryn Kass and Esther Flores. It was so exciting for me to experience this with my distance teammates because I’m usually stuck with a bunch of sprinters and jumpers, not that they’re bad or anything, us distance runners are just a different breed J.
When we arrived in the afternoon the heat was scalding, the temperature around 90 degrees, and the air dry. After running the 4×800 in that weather I was so thankful we would be running our 4xmile at 8:20 at night. As the 8 o’clock hour approached we began to warm up, snapped a few pre-race photos and about 20 minutes before our race they herded us into the waiting pen. The pen was full of nervous energy, but our team was so excited to be involved in a meet of this caliber.
At 8:20 on the dot our first leg of the race, Sarah Terry, toed the line. The gun went off and the 30+ girls on the starting line took off under the lights of the packed stadium. Sarah came around the first lap in a strong 2nd place, however I think she may have underestimated the strength of her competition as she soon found herself in a pack towards the middle/back of the field. She still managed to split a strong 5:35 and handed off to Bryn who, at that point in the race, was more by herself as the group had spread out considerably. Overall, throughout her leg she passed more people than passed her which helped us move up in place. Bryn split a great 5:32. Then the baton was passed to Esther who dropped back a little bit initially, but overall maintained the pace Bryn had set splitting another 5:35. Meanwhile, I was waiting off the track watching my teammate’s race waiting my turn. I was struck by the atmosphere surrounding me. Standing on the track in front of the screaming fans and blaring lights definitely added to the thrill. As I toed the line I waved Esther down in the mob of girls waiting to receive the baton, and before I knew it I was in the race. I was running by myself initially, but soon caught up to a pack that I stayed with the majority of the race, leading at times and hanging on for dear life at others. The last 200 I was leading, but unfortunately could not hold them all off as I crossed the finish line in a 5:35 split to complete a team time of 22:17. Our team was for the most part satisfied with the performance and thankful for the opportunity to race with such awesome competition.
The remainder of the meet, which continued on into the next day, was amazing to watch. San Marcos made a strong showing in our 4×800, 4×400, men’s 4xmile, shuttle hurdles, 300 and 100 meter hurdles, and long jump. For more results check out http://www.dyestatcal.com/?pg=readmoremeetresults. Overall, it was an exciting, successful, hot, weekend enjoyed by all.
*Written by San Marcos senior Angie Afman (track event specialist in the 1600m & 800m)
