Track and field: Top locals head to Arcadia Invitational

Tony Altobelli

ARCADIA - After a one-year stint at Citrus College, the 34th annual

Arcadia Track and Field Invitational is back at Arcadia High and an

estimated 2,000 athletes from around North America and Australia are set

to set the track on fire.

“This meet is even more competitive than the CIF State meet,” Newport

Harbor High boys coach Bim Barry said. “It’s a great tuneup for CIF and

it’s a very exciting meet to be a part of.”

Included in those 2,000 standouts include a handful from the

Newport-Mesa area.

Leading the local pack is Newport Harbor High senior Amber Steen.

Steen, last year’s CIF Southern Section Division II champion in the

1,600, and two-time Division II cross country champ, posted the nation’s

top 1,600 time at the Adidas Meet of Champions with a time of 4:50.2.

Look for Steen to improve on her fourth-place showing from last year’s

meet, when she clocked in with a 4:58.33.

Some of the runners who will be nipping at Steen’s heels include

Alicia Craig from Campbell County High (Wyoming), Virginian Kelly

Otstott, Arizona’s Sally Meyerhoff and California’s Alejandra Barrientos.

All have posted times under five minutes this year.

Corona del Mar’s Julie Allen will be among the elite in the girls

3,200 finals.

Allen, the 1999 Orange County Runner of the Year, according to the

L.A. Times, transferred to CdM this spring from Fountain Valley.

As a Baron, Allen was ninth in the 3,200 at last year’s Arcadia

Invitational with a 10:51.86. She also holds the CdM school record in the

1,600 (4:59.1).

Sophomore Sharon Day leaps into Saturday’s high jump competition with

some pretty impressive credentials.

Day, a multitalented athlete for the Mustangs, has a career

personal-best mark of 5-feet-9 under her belt, only one inch off of this

year’s top qualifier, Jenna Grimaldi of San Francisco’s St. Ignatius

High.

Day has cleared 5-6 this season while trying to compete in other

events. With only the high jump to concentrate on, look for Day to easily

clear that mark on Saturday.

Other 5-9ers in Saturday’s pack include Schquay Brignac of Taft High

and J.W. North’s Chaunte Howard.

On the boys side, Newport Harbor’s Dan Moyer represents the Sailors in

the 300 intermediate hurdles.

Moyer, a member of the Sailors Division II champion 1,600 relay team,

will look to follow the footsteps of last year’s hurdles standout Trevor

Jones, who placed second in last year’s 300 IH and is now a freshman at

UCLA.

Showing consistency, Moyer has placed first or second in every meet

he’s competed this year.

“This is a great opportunity to give Dan some incredible competition

before the CIF meets get underway,” Newport Coach Bim Barry said.

“Hopefully, he’ll pull out a lifetime-best time and will take something

out of this experience.”

Also running in the finals will be the Sailors’ distance medley relay

team of John Peschelt, Chris McMillen, Jesus Santana and Rich Weber.

Corona del Mar’s Josh Yelsey, who finished 18th at last year’s

invitational in the 1,600 (4:23.18), looks for even faster numbers at

this year’s meet.

In addition to the finals, there will be an open meet during the day,

with several locals competing.

Diana Hossfeld, Jenny Cummins, Season Meservey, Katie Quinlan and

Travis Beardslee from CdM will compete, as will Newport Harbor’s McMillen

and Peschelt.

The open meet begins at 11 a.m., while the invitational meet kicks off

at 4 p.m.