Dragons set meet record in girls 800-meter sprint medley relay, Fountain Valley sweeps DMR titles and Murrieta Mesa prevails in both 4x200 relays as Desert Vista misses Arizona 4x1,600 record

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The biggest storyline Friday at the 78th NIKE Chandler Rotary Invitational might have been Desert Vista’s pursuit of the Arizona state record in the boys 4x1,600-meter relay.

But the strongest statement was made by Bishop O’Dowd with its performance in a showdown of California powers against Long Beach Poly in the girls 800 sprint medley relay at Chandler High’s Austin Field.

In their first matchup since competing as club teams in the 4x200 relay Feb. 17 at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho, Bishop O’Dowd relied on an impressive 400-meter anchor leg from senior Tierra Robinson-Jones to prevail in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds, the No. 2 time in the country this year.

BISHOP O'DOWD GIRLS 800-METER SPRINT MEDLEY RELAY INTERVIEW

Long Beach Poly, led by defending California state 100 and 200 champion Ariyonna Augustine, elevated to No. 3 nationally at 1:45.58.

Junior Jordan Jones and freshmen Kandace Blackshire and Jazlynn Gibbs joined Robinson-Jones in setting the meet record and running the fastest time by a California quartet since 2007.

“This race was an adjustment, especially with all the handoffs, so we had to really trust each other and we were able to get the job done,” Jordan Jones said. “It definitely takes a lot of patience, especially watching the race until the end.”

When Bishop O’Dowd – competing as CATC – and Long Beach Poly, representing Speed City, squared off at Simplot Games, Gibbs was involved in a collision on the third leg that affected the race’s outcome. CATC wound up placing third behind Denver Lightning and Step Ur Game Up from Oregon, and Speed City didn’t finish.

Gibbs and her teammates weren’t going to let history repeat itself in the sequel.

“I just learned to stay tough and hold my ground and don’t let anybody push me around,” Gibbs said. “It was a really good opportunity for us to come back.”

Blackshire and Gibbs have had the significant task of filling in roles for graduate Lauryn Moore and veterans Marnae Glover and Jasmine Powell in order to help Bishop O’Dowd remain in contention for CIF-North Coast Section and state team titles.

“I know (Jordan and Tierra) have my back and I know what they’re going to do, so I have to figure out what I’m going to do in order to help them,” Blackshire said.

Poly took the lead with the LSU-bound Augustine on the 200-meter leg and looked to junior Quwshaya Peters to maintain the advantage on the anchor against Robinson-Jones. But the Texas A&M signee made a decisive move in the final 150 meters and never looked back.

“Getting toward that last 150, I knew I had to go and I couldn’t wait. Either she was going to go or I was going to go and since nobody moved, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s just stop playing and actually run,’” Robinson-Jones said. “We’re ready. We’ve got some substitutes here and there, but I trust my team and they trust me. All we have to do is get the stick around and get to the finish line and that’s it.”

Poly prevailed in the boys 800 sprint medley relay, with Kejuan Markham, Anthony Johnson, DeAngelo Chester and Octavion Hall clocking 1:35.97 to hold off Moore League rival Long Beach Jordan (1:36.88) for the second year in a row.

Desert Vista ran a national-leading 17:44.33 in the boys 4x1,600 relay, but Sammy Van Alstine, Lee Nasewytewa, Aksel Laudon and Habtamu Cheney came up short in their pursuit of the state record 17:32.35 set in 1993 by Corona del Sol.

Fountain Valley CA swept the boys and girls distance medley relays, with Murrieta Mesa CA winning both 4x200 relays.
Sara Feitz, Lisa Ransom, Isabella Guerra and Ashley Faller ran 12:50.59 for Fountain Valley in the girls DMR, with Yuki Watanabe, Isaiah Galloway, Jacob Ferris and Esteban Prado clocking 10:50.94 to capture the boys DMR for the Barons.

Matthew Okonkwo, Jemarcus Tate, Davonte Williams and Christian Shakir-Ricks ran 1:27.27 for Murrieta Mesa in the boys 4x200, with Chioma Okonkwo, Stevie Wu, Jordin Bella and Jada Edwards clocking 1:44.01 to triumph in the girls 4x200 for the Rams.

Xavier Prep AZ won the girls 4x1,600, with Karli Baker, Caroline Liddy, Annika Nielson and Kristen Keeble running 22:54.86.

Volcano Vista NM senior Jericho Cleveland had an impressive solo effort in the boys 3,200 to run a personal-best 9:17.64.