By John Dye

Golden times in the golden state

Monique Henderson 50.74 - Nicole Denby 13.20 - Ryan Hall 8:55.12 - Serra Gardena and Warren Rogers- Alejandra Barrientos hurt

The girls 400 figured to be the highlight of the meet, and it did not disappoint. Angel Perkins and Monique Henderson had taken turns breaking the National Federation record the last two weeks. Now, they round the far turn as 12,000 fans roar. Then Henderson finds an extra gear to race across the finish line in 50.74 -- the all time high school girls record by any standard. It topped Denean Howard's 50.87 in 1982, which Jack Shepard's High School Track 2000 lists as the all time record before tonight. The crowd continues to cheer in approval as Monique takes a much slower victory lap.

This climaxed four straight incredible weeks for this event.

May 12 - fr Jerrika Chapple 52.65, Texas State Meet
May 20 - so Angel Perkins 52.28, California Southern Section Division finals
May 27 - jr Monique Henderson 51.31, California San Diego section finals
June 3 - jr Monique Henderson 50.74, California State Finals

Later, Henderson and Perkins duelled again in the 200 meters with the same result. Perkins stayed with Henderson as long as she could before Henderson eased ahead at the finish in 23.19 to Perkins' 23.40. There were five girls under 24 seconds!

Riverside North sr Nicole Denby broke the national federation record in the 100 hurdles with a 13.20 time and led her J. W. North Riverside team to the girls championship.

Big Bear jr Ryan Hall, rapidly emerging as one of the nation's truly elite distance runners, left defending 3200 meter champion Josh Spiker after four laps and won all alone in 8:55.12 by 10 seconds. Spiker, who is still recuperating from a serious stress
fracture suffered after winning the big Mt. SAC cross country invitational last October, held second ini 9:05.36. Hall totally dominated the race despite his relaxed, seemingly effortless style. After 65 and 71 second laps to start, with Fernando Cabada in company at the front, Hall and Spiker started drawing away from the pack. Then Hall separated himself from Spiker with 65 second laps 4 and 5. He settled into the 66-67 second range as he increased the margin in the last three laps.

Serra Gardena, a small private school led by senior sprinter Warren Rogers, won the team title with 38 points earned in four events. Rogers won the 100 meters (10.42) when fastest qualifier Albert Hollis pulled up lame. Rogers also ran on the winning 4x100 (40.97) and 4x400 (3:12.94) relays. Steven Smith rounded out the Serra scoring with a second in the 300m hurdles. Coach Richard Gatlin predicted the victory in the Daily Breeze, a Torrance CA newspaper. Hollis limped home in the 100, but Dante Washington of Clovis West was carried off after he fell 30 meters up the track.

Also of note:

• Girls Relays -- J.W. North of Riverside 3:41.11 put the icing on the cake of its team title in a stirring 4x400 that confirmed North's conquest of 3-year national leader Long Beach Wilson in the Southern Section Masters meet the week before. The anchor leg was a furious fight between Tracee Thomas of North and Lashinda Demus of Wilson. Demus took the baton in 3rd place and promptly raced to the front in the backstretch as the crowd roared. But Thomas fought back and caught Demus in the last 40 meters. Wilson 3:42.28 was second, with Berkeley third in 3:45.53. Earlier, Berkeley mastered the 4x100 field in 45.96 with the same girls who won for San Lorenzo a year ago.
• Girls 100 -- Monterey sr Sani Roseby was the winner in a garrison finish with five girls crammed within 0.08 seconds. The Finish Lynx photos gave Roseby and runner-up Porchea Carroll the same time, 11.90, with Aisha Margain, Nicole Denby, and Alexis Weatherspoon right there.
• Boys SP - Rhuben Williams 63-2.5. A very popular victory, with the fans on the fence shouting every time Williams came up to throw. Williams' mother Cherie and step father Ron Wilson, who run a video company, were on hand to tape every moment. Cherie, who called herself Rhuben's "press agent", said there would be a press conference Monday 6/5 to announce his college choice. Rhuben took campus trips to Oregon and UC-Berkeley.
• Girls 1600 -- Alejandra Barrientos, suffering a pinched nerve in her right leg for 3 days going into the finals, dropped out of the prelim on Friday. This seemed to open up the race for Montgomery jr Sara Bei. But Maria Carillo soph Jenny Aldridge 4:49.63 beat fellow North Coast runner Bei 4:49.98 for the first time. Barrientos watched the race in a wheel chair near the finish line. Bei took command on the third lap and seemed to have the race in hand, but could not hold off Aldridge in the stretch. This reversed the result of the North Coast section final, with Aldridge improving by 8 seconds.
• Boys HJ - St. Mary's sr Ebon Glenn 7-0. Glenn declared himself a Saturday jumper." He said, "My PR in practice is 6-4, but the crowd at meets on Saturday psyches me up. It was a great day to PR." The tall Glenn is a basketball player too and pointed out that he only high jumps about 2 months a year, so there may be room for improvement. He hasn't decided on college, but he said it will be a Pac 10 school.
• Girls 800 -- Corona del Mar sr Liz Morse, headed for Princeton, 2:08.16, with two more under 2:10 (Morgan Banks 2:09.10 and Angelita Green 2:09.58). Morse led all the way, but was pushed by Banks in a 30 second closing 200 meters.
• Girls 3200 -- Glendale Hoover jr Anita Siraki dominating in 10:18.50, with Sara Bei second again. The methodical Siraki started leaving the pack after a 2:37 opening 800 meters and then drew away with steady 77 second laps until closing with 74.
• Girls 300H - 1999 girls athlete of the year Lashinda Demus 40.41 US#1
• Girls PV - Temple City jr Laura Chen 12-4
• Girls SP - Karen Freberg 50-7.25
• Boys 200 -- Long Beach Poly sr Bennie Robinson won big in 20.96
• Boys 800 -- Don Lugo sr Mike Serratos 1:51.75. After Brian Anderson set a 54.5 pace, Serratos went on top in the backstretch (1:24.9 at 600 meters) and refused to yield in a close stretch battle.
• Boys 1600 -- West Hills San Diego sr Evan Fox 4:09.44 (Jin Daikoku 4:10.95). Fox was named the CIF scholar-athlete of the year before the state finals.
• Boys PV - Shane Hackett 16-4
• Boys DT - Travis Pendleton 203-5