Track and Field Elite Compete at Mt. Sac Relays

It was a perfect day for some sun and run on Saturday at the 53rd annual Mt. Sac Relays.

Saturday's action was highlighted by a good majority of the high school events, as track and field powerhouse Long Beach Poly had an impressive all-around performance at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

The Jackrabbits won the boys and girls team events by healthy margins, When the day was nearly all done and with 20 events scored, the Poly boys had 111 team points, well ahead of Los Angeles Loyola (57 points) and Gardena Serra (54 points). While the Poly girls had 122 team points after 22 events. followed by North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (60) and Great Oak and St. Mary's with 42 points.

"Mt. Sac is always a great tune-up," head girls coach Crystal Irving said. "We bring the entire team and it's a great showcase for our athletes. There's lots of colleges here and it's great if they can earn scholarships. We had lots of PR's (personal records) and even our alternates came out here and turned in great times."

Among the top performers on Saturday included Covina High School sprinter Remontay McClain and Agoura High School hurdler Johnathan Cabral, who each won two individual events on Saturday.

McClain, the defending state champion in the 100 and 200, won both invitational events with 10.66 and 21.14 runs.

Cabral was impressive in winning the 110 and 300 meter hurdle invitational races. He edged Diamond Ranch's Andrew Fischer in the 110 with a 37.49 run to Fischer's 37.79. In the 300, Cabral boasted an impressive 13.38 run, which bested the high school meet record at Mt. Sac and was nearly a second better than La Costa Canyon's Julian Todd-Borden (14.40).

La Puente Bishop Amat's Kylie Price was also a double winner on Saturday, winning the 100 invitational (11.82) and the long jump invitational (19-10 1/2).

The Harvard-Westlake girls' relay teams also had a performance to be proud of over the weekend. In Friday's races, the 4 x 800 relay team set the fastest outdoor time in the nation this year and also broke the Mt. Sac record with a 9:03 run. On Saturday, they also set a national-leading mark in the sprint medley invitational at 3:57.23 and won the distance medley invitational.

Out of the many track clubs that came to compete in the open races this weekend, the Oregon Track Club made its mark. On Friday. Russell Brown set a meet and stadium record in the men's Elite invitational 1500 with a time of 3:35.70. The following day, Jesse Williams set a meet and stadium record in the high jump at 7-8.

Aside from the high school races, there was also college races, Olympic developmental races and paralympic races among others.

Joseph Smith came all the way from Sacramento and was a winner in the men's 50-99 200 meter dash for Masters runners.

"Mt. Sac is just a great place to run and I support it all the way. I've been coming here since 1978," said Smith, 52, who also serves as a coach for the Sheldon High School track and field team. . "I bring all my young kids here to compete see the competition. You have all these colleges here and just some of the best track and field athletes in the nation."

Smith also made a special note of the role track and field playing in his life.
"I was raised in Crenshaw and track gave me something to do," he said. "It really saved me."

Locally, Cerritos High School's Neehar Thakor took second place in the seeded pole vault at 14-06.00, while Gahr High School's Joshua Perkins had a very active day.

Perkins took third in the seeded 400 dash (49.77), seventh in the 200 invitational (22.19) and was a member of the fifth-place 4 x 400 relay team in the open division (3:24.87).

CERRITOS HIGH SCHOOL
BOYS
Pole Vault Seeded
1. Scott Greenman (Clovis) 15-06.00 2, Neehar Thakor (Cerritos) 14-06.00

High Jump Seeded
1. Dan Carlson (St. Francis) 6-02.00. 5. Thao Tran (Cerritos) 5-10.00

GIRLS
4 x 1600 Relay Seeded
1. Long Beach Millikan 21:35.74, 12. Cerritos (Jessica Sunio, Connie Caliz, Kathia Avila, Gina Tai) 22:50.

GAHR HIGH SCHOOL
BOYS
400 Meter Dash Seeded
1. Ariel Arguello (Paramount) 49.08, 3. Joshua Perkins (Gahr) 49.77

4 x 100 Relay Seeded
1. Roosevelt 42.40, 11. Gahr (Delshawn McCllean, Perkins, Kalip Davis, Quincy Dickens) 43.80

200 Meter Dash Invitational
1. Remontay McClain (Covina) 21.14, 7. Perkins (Gahr) 22.19

4 x 200 Relay Seeded
1. Chaminade College Prep 1:30.15, 13. Gahr (James Collins, Samar Anderson, Vinson Thomas, Quincy Dickens) 1:32.93

4 x 400 Relay Open
1. Silverado 3:21.20, 5. Gahr (Anderson, Ricky Elliis, Perkins, Christian Fowler) 3:24.87

For full results of the Mt. Sac Relays please visit http://www.mtsacrelays.com/results.html