TRACK AND FIELD: Baxter, Harvard-Westlake distance medley relay repeat at Arcadia

ARCADIA -- Sarah Baxter admitted she was a little concerned entering the final lap of the 3,200 meters Saturday night.

But that fear paled in comparison to the apprehension the Harvard-Westlake girls' distance medley relay dealt with following a dropped baton on the final transfer at the 45th annual Arcadia Invitational.

Thanks to a late burst of speed from Baxter and some quick thinking from Cami Chapus, it turned out well for both the Simi Valley sophomore and Harvard-Westlake's talented quartet.

Baxter pulled away from Marina's Laura Hollander in the final 600 meters to defend her title in a lifetime-best 10 minutes, 8.11 seconds to take over the national lead this year and produce the No. 4 time in meet history.

With Shea Copeland and Elle Wilson replacing K.C. Cord and Lauren Hansson from last year's distance medley relay that produced the national high school record of 11:22.23 at the New Balance Outdoor Championships in June in North Carolina, Harvard-Westlake still relied on a dominant opening leg from Amy Weissenbach and a poised anchor leg from Chapus to overcome the baton drop and repeat as champion in 11:45.18.

"I thought the baton was gone, but I guess my soccer skills came in handy," said Chapus, who recovered following the bobbled exchange with Wilson to cover the final 1,600 in 4:49.5.

"Luckily, I was able to pick it up and I caught right back up to (Redondo Union and Torrey Pines). (Lyndsey Mull from Redondo) was with me for the first 2 1/2 laps and I'd push and she'd respond, then she'd push and I'd respond, but with 600 to go I started kicking and I just kept looking on the (jumbotron) to see where she was. It feels great because it's the first time we ran this relay without K.C. and Lauren. It's a big meet and I'm really proud of (Shea and Elle)."

After Weissenbach covered the opening 1,200 in 3:30.66 and Copeland clocked 59.1 for her 400 leg, Wilson held off Redondo Union and Torrey Pines to remain in the lead before a few anxious moments ensued when she attempted to pass to Chapus for the first time in a race.

"I thought she had it and she thought I had it, but fortunately it all worked out OK. We're definitely going to work on that to make sure it never happens again," Wilson said. "Being on this relay was incredible. It feels amazing have everyone cheer you on like that."

Weissenbach said the tension for her and the Harvard-Westlake coaches is usually relieved once Chapus gets the baton, although she admitted gasping for a moment when she saw the baton hit the ground. But she expressed satisfaction in how Wilson and Copeland dealt with the pressure of Harvard-Westlake defending their Arcadia title after last year's meet record of 11:40.89.

"I'm so happy for Elle. She really impressed me how she fought all the way," Weissenbach said. "It's a night race and this was the first time we had all run together, but they both handled it so well. I had to catch my breath for a second, but when Cami picked it up, I wasn't as nervous."

Added Copeland: "I knew it just had to keep the lead and try to stretch it out. With Amy's talent, I knew I was going to be in front. These girls are just amazing and I'm so thankful they have believed in me."

Baxter led throughout the 3,200, but it wasn't until the final 600 that she could separate herself from Hollander, who clocked the nation's No. 2 time of 10:10.51, the second-fastest mark in Orange County history. Baxter's mark is No. 8 all-time in state history and Hollander's effort is 10th.

Baxter came through the first 1,600 in 5:05.5 and entered the last lap leading at 8:56.15, before closing in 71 seconds. Saugus' Karis Frankian was 16th (10:44.11).

"I knew it was going to be a tight race. I was really scared going in and they were there the whole time," Baxter said. "(Laura) is an amazing runner and she wasn't going away. I was just hoping that I could do it and I gave whatever I had left (on the last lap). I want to try to get under 10 this year hopefully. This makes it much more believable."

Oaks Christian, the defending state boys' 4 x 100 relay champion, had Ishmael Adams, Vince Colarossi, Terry Johnson and Vinnie Saucer take second in 41.48 behind Brophy Prep of Arizona (41.15), which clocked the No. 5 time in the U.S. this year. Rio Mesa was third in 41.62 and Taft was sixth in 42.82.

Notre Dame, with Khalfani Muhammad running anchor teaming with Eric McDaniel, Koa Farmer and Nick Holland, won the seeded 4 x 100 in 41.54.

Muhammad ran a wind-legal 10.60 to take fourth in the invitational 100. Saucer clocked 10.60 in winning the seeded race, with Glendale's Michael Davis placing fourth (10.79).

Muhammad took sixth in the invitational 200 (21.81), followed by Davis in seventh (21.98). Saucer won the seeded race in 21.75.

"It was exactly what I expected. This is the fastest I've run this early in the season," Muhammad said. "You have to embrace the competition. I don't feel like I had the same spark (in the 100) as I did in the relay, but every day and every race isn't going to go exactly how you want it to go. No excuses, you've got to come out on the track and perform."

Oaks Christian, with Danni Alakija -- seventh in the invitational 400 (58.42) -- on the anchor following Schuyler Moore, Sarah Johnson and Asha Culhane, was third in the girls' invitational 4 x 100 relay in 47.52, with Westlake placing fifth (48.04). Taft took third (48.01) in the seeded 4 x 100 relay, with Simi Valley sixth (48.40). Abby King joined Culhane, Johnson and Moore to place third in the seeded 4 x 400 (3:54.62), with El Camino Real (3:58.60) finishing sixth.

Oak Park's Sydney Lewis won the seeded girls' 100 in 11.90. Lewis had run the 200 during the day session, finishing sixth (24.83).

St. Francis' James Knowles was third in the seeded boys' 110 hurdles (14.40) and fifth in the seeded 300 hurdles (39.04).

Oak Park's Connor Stark was fifth in the invitational pole vault (15 feet, 3/4 inch), with Moorpark's Michael Montgomery clearing the same height to place eighth. Hart's Austin O'Neil took fifth in the invitational mile (4:14.56).

Alemany freshman Nia Britt was fourth in the invitational girls' shot put (45-7), with Crespi's Amir Ali Patterson ninth in the boys' invitational shot put (56-10). Rio Mesa's Raegan Nizdil placed fourth in the invitational girls' high jump (5-6), with Harvard-Westlake freshman Alex Florent clearing 5-4 1/4 for sixth.

Knight's Bryan Guijarro clocked 9:07.42 to take 23rd in the invitational 3,200 and Burroughs' Anthony Monroy was 13th in the seeded 3,200 (9:14.20). Thousand Oaks' Karsen Sper took fourth in the seeded girls' 100 hurdles (14.48), West Ranch's Ashley Welker took eighth in the invitational 800 (2:15.50) and Golden Valley's Chelsey Totten was fourth in the seeded mile (5:04.23).

Hart's Tim White took third in the invitational triple jump (47-7 3/4) after clearing 6-5 in the high jump and producing a 21-. Golden Valley finished sixth in the boys' distance medley relay (10:12.76), Hart took eighth (10:15.0) and Harvard-Westlake was 11th (10:18.76).

Day meet highlights: Simi Valley's Amanda Hamilton was second in the girls' triple jump (37-4 1/4), with Canyon's Tiffini Stone placing fourth (37- 3/4). Stone was third in the long jump (17-11 1/2).

Harvard-Westlake's Ben Gaylord cleared 15- 3/4 to place second in the pole vault. Notre Dame's Ginika Iwuchukwu placed third in the shot put (39-6), followed by Newbury Park's Kendall Mader (38-8 1/2) in fifth.

Notre Dame's Josh Anderson (54-6 1/2) and Eric Davis (51-9 1/2) were fourth and 10th in the shot put, with Eric McDaniel (22.31) placing second in the 100 (10.86) and 10th in the 200. Alemany freshman Dominic Davis was seventh (10.98) in the 100 and Birmingham's Hillary Hill (14.91) was seventh in the 100 hurdles.

Newbury Park was fourth in the boys' 4 x 400 (3:23.84), with Jonathan Byrne finishing fifth in the rising stars mile (4:25.77). Taft's Lexis Lambert placed third in the girls' 200 (24.76), Tatiana McCoy was fourth in the 400 (57.42) and their teammate Anthony Fowler was fourth in the boys' 400 (48.91).

Golden Valley's Jonathan Tolentino (44-9 3/4) and Josef Lucien (44-4) were sixth and eighth in the triple jump, with Crespi's Jude Olear (44-5) finishing in seventh. El Camino Real's Malik Johnson cleared 6-1 1/4 in the high jump.

Thousand Oaks' Tommy Lopez placed sixth in the mile (4:22.51) and 12th in the 800 (1:55.61), trailing seventh-place Malik Hayes of Quartz Hill (1:55.10). Caitlin Turner was eighth in the 800 (2:15.26).