Entering the Friday Night session of the Arcadia Invitational and not disappointing with their performances on April 10, the Los Alamitos High School girls and boys 1600m Sprint Medley Relays (SMR) are both ranked No. 1 in California and the USA.
Both relays came well prepared for their events with the Girls team containing 2014 Orange County100m champion Sara Limp who is currently the No. 1 Orange County, along with 400m runner Ashley Willingham and No. 3 Orange County 800m runner Katie Izzo. The boys team includes No. 2 Orange County 400m runner Andrew Carty and No. 3 Orange County runner Thomas Heib.
In the boys race, after 200m legs from seniors Brandon Douglas and Manuel Gomez, senior Andrew Carty began his 400m leg with the team in 6th place, then took the lead as they approached the final exchange. Half of the race is run in the final leg and junior Thomas Heib ran a comfortable first lap of his 800m leg before relinquishing the lead to teams from Long Beach Wilson and Cathedral.
On the backstretch with 300m to go, Heib appeared to be boxed in and settled into 5th place as a runner in front of him stumbled. Entering the final straightaway in 4th place nearly 10 meters from the lead, Heib mounted a heroic kick and in the final 30 meters closed the gap for the victory.
The Los Al boys relay time of 3:27.64 lowered their No. 1 National and California time, moved them into the Top 5 All-Time at the Arcadia Invitational, and 5th in the Orange County record books.
In the girls race, junior Anijah Green and senior Sara Limp positioned the Griffins with a slight lead before handing off to junior Ashley Willingham. Willingham opened up a 10-meter lead over the St. Mary’s team in her 400m leg before handing off to senior Katie Izzo. Izzo ran a personal best 800m leg and contributed to the team lowering their time by nearly 6 seconds.
The Los Al girls relay time of 3:58.63 lowered their No. 1 National and California time, moved them into 2nd Place All-Time at the Arcadia Invitational and set a new Orange County record.
The following Griffins will continue to compete in the Saturday morning Open and evening Invitational sessions:
Boys Open 4x100m Relay–Manuel Gomez, Tyler Coffman, Holden Edmonson, Brandon Douglas
Boys Open 110m Hurdles – Bailey Thayer
Girls Open 100m – Sara Limp
Girls Open 800m – Katie Izzo
Girls Open 200m – Sara Limp
Boys Open 4x400m Relay – Manuel Gomez, Bryce Sullivan, Thomas Heib, Andrew Carty
Girls Seeded 4x100m Relay – Ashley Willingham, Anijah Green, Kenna Limp, Sara Limp
Girls Seeded 400m – Ashley Willingham
After an historic night session at the Arcadia Invitational which included setting No. 1 USA times and school records in the girls and boys 1600m Sprint Medley Relays, the Griffin’s continued to produce records during the Open and Invitational sessions on Saturday.
In the 400m seeded event, junior Ashley Willingham shaved over half a second off her time to lower her school record to 55.93, maintain her position at the top of the Orange County leader board and move into the Top 10 statewide.
“Ashley continues to run stronger and faster every week and her hard work ethic is paying off. Her performance today was astonishing, especially after the great 400m leg she ran yesterday in the 1600m SMR,” said Holly Iris, sprints coach.
“Ashley set a goal of breaking into the 55s this season and her kick at the end got her that time. Running in an outside lane is difficult but she looked very focused, relaxed and determined. I’m proud of her accomplishments thus far and I’m very excited to see how the rest of this season unfolds as she competes at Mt. SAC, OC Championships and on through League and CIF,” said Coach Iris.
Earlier in the day, senior Andrew Carty also lowered his 400m time by over half a second and set a school record at 48.25 which places him as No. 2 in Orange County by only .01 of a second.
“Andrew runs composed, relaxed and charges. I was thrilled to see him take charge in the last 100 meters and break the record that was set in 2005,” said Coach Iris. “It’s been Andrew’s goal to break the record this year and Arcadia couldn’t have been a better place to do so. Andrew showed his competitive drive in taking the lead during the 1600SMR last night and I look forward to seeing him compete at that level thru the League and CIF meets,” said Coach Iris.
Senior Katie Izzo knocked nearly two seconds off her 800m time to lower her school record in a heat that featured a blistering pace on the first lap. In the field events, sophomore Kallie Given cleared 5’ 5” to break the school’s Frosh/Soph High Jump record.
Additional school records set at the Arcadia Invitational include:
Frosh/Soph Girls 4x800m– Bronsyn Ledgard, Delaney Sanacore, Ashlynn Almasy, Nicole Bliss
Varsity Boys 4x200m – Manuel Gomez, Holden Edmundson, Andrew Carty, Brandon Douglas
Varsity Girls 4x200m – Ashley Willingham, Brianna Taylor, Kenna Limp, Sara Limp
The Griffins continue resume their League Schedule in a Dual Meet against Huntington Beach HS on Thursday, April 16.
About The Los Alamitos High School Track Team
Additional information about the Los Alamitos High School Track and Field program including 2015 Schedule, news and school performance lists can be found at www.losaltrack.com.