Webb Wins Mile at Arcadia

Webb Wins Mile at Arcadia
Other Top Distance Performances
By Ryan Lamppa, Running USA wire

ARCADIA, Calif. - (April 14, 2001) - At the Arcadia Invitational, miler Alan
Webb was the talk of the meet--before and after as the senior from Reston,
Virginia who last January became the first U.S. high schooler to break 4
minutes for the mile in nearly 34 years won the featured event, the boy's
mile in 4:01.81.

Webb and challenger Ryan Hall of Big Bear, Calif., both wearing blue, held
nothing back from the first lap (59 seconds) to the last one. Under cool,
slightly breezy conditions, the duo hit three laps at 3:03 with Webb in
front. Down the backstretch, Webb pushed the pace with Hall right behind.
The crowd rose in anticipation of something special.

With 200 meters remaining, the Michigan-bound Webb put the hammer down and
pulled away from a fading Hall. As Webb neared the finish line, all eyes
were on the clock. Would he break 4 minutes? Not quite, but an impressive meet
record performance nonetheless.

The Jefferson twins, John and Sean of Delray Beach, Fla. passed Hall in the
final 150 yards to finish 2nd and 3rd (4:05.54 and 4:07.25) while Hall
placed a game fourth (4:08.37). The top 8 ran under 4:13.

Later in the evening, the Jefferson twins led their distance medley relay
team to a victory in 9:57.88 (#3 all-time). Webb anchored his team to second
(10:04.55), and although he made a run at it with a lap remaining, the seven
second deficit he inherited at the exchange proved too large to overcome.

In the boys 3200 meters, Bobby Lockhart of Winchester, Virginia won in
8:57.08 and pulled seven other boys to 9:10 or faster.

In the girls' distance events, Alicia Craig of Gillette, Wyo. used a 70
second third lap to gap the field and held form to win in 4:46.49. Amber
Steen and Alejandra Barrientos of California followed in 4:47.61 and 4:47.88
respectively. The top nine were under 4:59.

In the 3200, sophomore Megan Kaltenbach of Aurora, Colo. threw in a 1:11
penultimate lap to break open the race and cruised to victory (10:11.97).
Kaltenbach ran a solid negative split (second half faster than the first,
5:11 vs. 5:00). 2000 Foot Locker runner-up and California's 3200 meter
defending champion, Anita Siraki was second in 10:16.79. The top five ran
under 10:30.

The most incredible performance of the meet was by Niklas Arrhenius of Orem,
Utah who threw the discus 234 feet, 3 inches, a national record by over 9
feet! The old record was 225-2 by Kamy Keshmiri in 1987. To complete his
day, Arrhenius also won the shot put with a 63-05 heave.

500 high schools from twenty different states and two foreign countries
participated in the 34th Arcadia Invitational and another sell-out crowd
enjoyed the action which included numerous meet records and all-time meet
performances.

For full results and photos, visit the website:
http://www.prep.caltrack.com/

###