Even a Cold Can’t Cool Off Granville in Masters 800 : Sophomore Runs 1:50.76 in Wire-to-Wire Victory

Michael Granville of Bell Gardens was not at his best but he was still the class of the field in the 800 meters at the Masters meet Friday night at Cerritos College.

Granville dominated his eight opponents, made up of the top competitors from the Southern Section division finals.

Despite fighting a cold that limited his training to easy jogging during the week, the sophomore raced to a wire-to-wire victory in 1 minute, 50.76 seconds, the second-fastest time in the nation. He ran the fastest time in the nation of 1:48.98 last week at the Southern Section division finals, the fastest time ever for a high school sophomore.

Matt Teson of Chino Hills Ayala and Obea Moore of Pasadena Muir were second and third in 1:52.87 and 1:52.91.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen because I have been feeling bad,” Granville said. “I can’t run other people’s races so I go out there and do my thing. One of my priorities is to take the lead, it makes me comfortable.”

The 6-foot, 170-pound Granville used a similar strategy in the Southern Section finals last week at Long Beach Veterans Stadium, setting a national sophomore record of 1:48.98.

Granville’s mark shattered an 18-year-old standard of 1:50.8 shared by William Contee of Washington D.C. and Fred Bronner of New Jersey and eclipsed his previous best of 1:51.03 run last year en route to a freshman national record.

The time also surpassed the 1981 Southern Section Division I standard of 1:49.45 held by Eddie Davis of Compton. Putting the performance in perspective, Granville’s time was fast enough to win at this year’s Pacific 10 Conference championships by nearly a second and the California Community College meet by nearly two seconds.

“I was shocked to run under 1:50,” Granville said. “I felt real energetic. I felt like I was going faster and faster with each step.”

Granville, his voice cracking, said he didn’t have the same bounce in his stride Friday night, but he did not hesitate to bolt into the lead coming off the first turn.

He reached the 400-meter mark in 54 seconds with only Moore contending. Granville pulled away from the Southern Section Division I 400-meter champion with 300 meters to go and powered down the backstretch for a 15-meter victory.

Granville didn’t match his performance at the Southern Section finals, but no one has run faster than his time Friday. Granville and Telly Moss of Temple, Texas, who has run 1:50.87, are the only athletes to crack 1:51 this season.

“My first quarter was a little slow and I got too comfortable,” Granville said. “I just wanted to qualify for the state and thought it would take a time in the low 1:50s. My tonsils and throat were hurting, but I didn’t let the cold set me back. I just hope to God I get well. The times will come with the competition.”

The top five finishers in the Masters meet advanced to the State meet Friday and Saturday at Cerritos.

Aside from Granville’s performance, it was a breakthrough meet for Jason Barreda of Loyola, who clipped nearly four seconds off his best to qualify in 4:16.38. Eric Dunn of Arroyo Grande won the race in 4:14.47, edging Brett Strahan of Newhall Hart (4:14.73) and Ricardo Etheridge of Barstow.

Barreda was sixth with 300 meters left, but overtook Jonathan Lee of Torrance Bishop Montgomery and Kevin Marsden of Thousand Oaks on the backstretch and held off a late charge by Jeff Fisher of Thousand Oaks by 0.31 seconds.

Matt Pentecost of Loyola was third in the discus after his first throw of 160 feet 1 inch. Pentecost, though, failed to improve on his next three attempts with throws of 155-5, 153-1 and 157-7. Chad Jones of Arroyo Grande edged Pentecost for the final qualifying spot with a toss of 163-1.

Coleman Johnson of Riverside Poly won the discus with a throw of 182-3 to easily outdistance runner-up Steve Gonzales of Newport Harbor (169-4).

Vince Cogan of Loyola turned in a 49.1-second anchor leg, but the Cubs finished a non-qualifying seventh in the 1,600 relay in 3:22.35.

Granville’s Personal Bests

A look at the records set by Bell Gardens High School sophomore Michael Granville.

DATE: Feb. 20,1993

EVENT: 500 yards (indoor)

TIME: 1:00.01

MEET: Sunkist Invitational (national freshman record)

OLD RECORD: 1:00.4, Troy Delamar, 1979

*

DATE: May 28, 1993

EVENT: 400 meters

TIME: 47.24

MEET: Southern Section Masters Meet (state freshman record)

OLD RECORD: 48.38, Vondre Armour, 1991

*

DATE: June 12, 1993

EVENT: 800 meters

TIME: 1:51.03

MEET: National Scholastic (national freshman record)

OLD RECORD: 1:53.06, Steve Adderly, 1987

*

DATE: June 12, 1993

EVENT: 800 meters

TIME: 1:51.03

MEET: National Scholastic (age-15 national record)

OLD RECORD: 1:52.1, James Beverly, 1981

*

DATE: Feb. 19, 1994

EVENT: 500 yards (indoor)

TIME: 57.7

MEET: Sunkist Invitational (national sophomore record)

OLD RECORD: 58.4, Gus Evnela, 1984

*

DATE: March 13, 1994

EVENT: 800 meters (indoor)

TIME: 1:51.11

MEET: National Scholastic (national sophomore record)

OLD RECORD: 1:54.28, Steve Adderly, 1988

*

DATE: May 14, 1994

EVENT: 800 meters

TIME: 1:48.98

MEET: Southern Section finals (national sophomore record)

OLD RECORD: 1:50.8, William Contee, 1976 and Fred Bronner, 1983

*

DATE: May 14, 1994

EVENT: 800 meters

TIME: 1:48.98

MEET: Southern Section finals (Division I record)

OLD RECORD: 1:49.43, Eddie Davis, 1981