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ARCADIA INVITATIONAL/NIGHT: Arcadia's McAlister steals the showPublished by
Posted: 04/10/2010 10:42:09 PM PDT
ARCADIA - The venue was the same for Arcadia High School's Catrina McAlister, but the cheers and camera flashes were new. Under the bright lights and in front of a capacity crowd, McAlister convincingly showed why the spotlight belonged to her, clocking a personal best of 10 minutes, 27.86 seconds to win the 3,200-meter invitational Saturday night at the 43rd Arcadia Invitational. McAlister, a junior, finished third in the event last year, but there was no denying her bid for glory this time around. It didn't take long for McAlister to pull away from the field; in fact, McAlister was so far ahead by the third lap that she couldn't believe the separation. "I was looking at the screen and that helped a lot," said McAlister, who collapsed in the arms of a friend when she crossed the finish line. That she was spent was apparent, telling a friend she hadn't yet gathered herself enough to hold the winning medal and watch. A few minutes later, though, she sported a wide smile as she addressed a crowd that she easily and quickly won over. "I knew there were girls that would be right there with me, and that's exactly what happened," she said. "They stayed there until I knew I was ready to go and went." That happened after the one-mile mark. "That's when I knew it was time to go," she said. "I was looking at the screen and saw the gap and was like, `Wow.' That really motivated me to keep separating from the crowd. "It was weird to see such a big gap, but I kept telling myself, `This is my track.' I practice on this every day, so there's no reason why I couldn't run well today." McAlister improved on her previous best of 10:29 set at the Irvine Invitational. Bishop Amat's Kylie Price, a junior, won the 100-meter dash seeded event with a 12.00 mark, edging Precylla Nared of Trabuco Hills, who clocked 12.07. Price also finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 18-9 1/2. San Koree Hines of Diamond Ranch finished fourth (14.73) in the 110-meter hurdles seeded, and fellow senior Ryan Gibson (15.21) tied for seventh. Bishop Amat's Darien Johnson finished sixth (14.85). Damien sophomore Jarrett Gonzales finished fifth (39.44) in the 300-meter hurdles seeded. Covina's Remontay McClain finished third in the 200-meter seeded with a time of 21.94. Trabuco Hills' Jantzen Oshier posted a winning time of 4:12.80 in the mile invitational. That mark currently is the second best in the nation behind Alex Herring of New Mexico (4:12.17). Mater Dei's Michael Woepse in the pole vault attempted a meet-record 17-2 but failed to clear the mark in three attempts. He still won the event, though, after clearing 17 feet. Alex Bishop of Brophy Prep (Ariz.) finished a distant second with a mark of 15-7. Pasadena's Alexis Walker, a senior, cleared 5-8 to finish second behind Long Beach Poly's Tara Richmond, who also cleared 5-8 in the high jump but required fewer attempts. Sixteen runners finished under the 9-minute mark in the 3,200-meter invitational. Jake Hurysz of Eastern Alam (N.C.) won with an 8:49.76. At the end of the race, Arcadia's Ammar Moussa, who finished 11th at 8:58.46, had some harsh words for South Pasadena's Sam Pons, who finished fifth in 8:55.76. Moussa, California's 2009 Gatorade Runner of the Year in cross country, looked visibly upset and wanted Pons to know he was unhappy about getting pushed. Moussa chose not to elaborate when asked about it, but it was clear he was disappointed with his finish. "Incredibly disappointed," Moussa said. "It was not the weekend I was looking for. I wanted to come out here and prove myself. I'm happy that I broke nine (minutes), but I also wanted to be able to compete more. I wanted to be more up ahead, and I wasn't able to do that." 626-578-6300, ext. 4485 Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/sports/ci_14862201#ixzz0kwRFqatf More news |