After his second win of the day in the boys’ 400-meter, Stanley let off a pearly-white smile and a kiss to the crowd at the Arcadia Invitational, drawing an underline with his hand under the “GHC” on his chest.
After his third — well, his third was spoiled, Stanley’s legs dead for the boys’ 200-meter after two pedal-to-the-metal races. Streaking out ahead of him, though, was consolation and a friendly Highlander face: junior Jordan Coleman, who put his hands to his head in sheer disbelief after crossing the finish line a slot in front of buddy Stanley.
“Good job,” said Stanley a couple minutes later, embracing Coleman with a huge smile. “Killing my triple crown, though. Killing me.”
For Stanley, for Coleman, for others from Granada Hills and a dominant Carson girls’ team, Saturday night’s Arcadia Invitational was about sheer pride. Bigger than the medals around their necks. Bigger than first-place times. Here were City Section programs that felt undervalued, underappreciated, underrepresented, coming out at a national-level meet and putting on an absolute show.
(Craig Weston)
In a remarkable feat, the Granada Hills boys and Carson girls swept the 400 relay invitationals, the Highlanders tying the Arcadia boys’ record with a time of 40.28 seconds. Stanley added the 400-meter crown and Coleman the 200-meter, outpacing runners from across the country to notch monumental wins for the City.
“It’s huge,” said Granada Hills coach Johnny Wiley. “I feel like we’re not only here for track and field, we’re here for all the sports in the L.A. City Section. We want to be that team to carry the standard and say, ‘We’re competitive at this level, too.’”
So, too, is Carson, whose surplus of sprinters — Reign Redmond, TaAhjah Fann, Christine Gray and Kaitlyn Williams — continued to set a high bar for a growing powerhouse in girls’ sprints.
In recent years, City Section wins in high-level meets have been few and far between, coinciding with a “fall from the pedestal” — as Stanley put it — in athletic prowess across the section.
It’s created a natural chip on the shoulder for every athlete in the section. Take Redmond’s words: They feel counted out. Outside the conversation. So Saturday night’s wins were huge as a “recruiting tool,” Carson sprints coach James Shannon said — another accomplishment to further draw high school athletes to stay in their local community.
“It opens up doors to a lot of kids that live in the area of Carson,” Shannon said of winning at Arcadia.
Aaron Sahlman of Newbury Park celebrates after winning the 800-meter race at the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday.
(Nick Koza)
And few athletes in recent City years have compiled a more impressive resume than Stanley, who led Granada Hills to a City Section football title last fall and continued blazing trails on the track Saturday. His time of 45.92 in the 400 meters came second only in Arcadia history to now-world-record-holder Michael Norman in 2016.
But the most highly anticipated matchup of the night between Stanley and Gardena Serra star Rodrick Pleasant never materialized, as Pleasant was scratched from heats in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter.
With a 100-meter field suddenly absent the favorite, Oaks Christian junior Chase Farrell emerged the Southland standout, running a 10.42 to finish second. Standout, too, because it’s easy to stand out when your hair is quite literally dyed as shades of cheetah print. And when you wear a golden lightning-bolt necklace. And a lightning-bolt earring.
“I gotta make a name for myself somehow,” said Farrell, also a receiver for Oaks Christian’s football team. “Gotta get people looking at me. So that’s how I do it.”
Eyes gravitated, too, to Ventura’s Sadie Englehardt, who jumped so far in front of the pack in the women’s mile that the only intrigue was whether she’d smash her own Arcadia record of 4:35:16 set a year earlier. She came a hair-length’s short, with a time of 4:36:26 in another dominant performance.
But the ultimate highlight Saturday was the runners who, as Stanley said, “put on for the L.A. City.”
“The City Section hasn’t always been gravy for us … we don’t get the talent these other schools get,” Shannon said. “But now, all that stuff has changed.”
Other standouts
Senior Mackenize Browne of JW North set a new Arcadia record in the girls’ 800 meters with a time of 2:03:07 … Senior Davis Davis-Lyric continued Upland’s dominance in hurdles, winning the boys’ 110 meters in 13.85 … Newbury Park’s Aaron Sahlman notched the second-fastest time in Arcadia history in the boys’ 800 meters at 1:49:07 … Olympia (Wash.) Capital senior Hana Moll broke the national girls’ pole vault record with a height of 15 feet, 0 inches.