Felix Puts on a Show at Arcadia Invitational

Allyson Felix of North Hills L.A. Baptist High didn’t get the career best she was looking for in the 100-meter dash in the Arcadia Invitational track and field meet at Arcadia High on Saturday night, but she more than made up for it in the 200.

Felix, the defending state champion in the 100, won that event in 11.54 seconds, the best time in the nation this year, missing her best by one-hundredth of a second. But her nation-leading time of 23.08 in the 200 crushed her previous best of 23.31 set last year and moved her into a tie for 10th on the all-time national performer list.

“It felt pretty fast,” said Felix, a junior who flashed a huge smile when informed of her time. “Right before the race, my coach and I talked about trying to run fast and staying relaxed.”

Felix, runner-up in the 200 in the state championships last year, ran a strong turn in the event and then powered away from the field in the homestretch as sophomore Jasmine Lee of Long Beach Poly finished second in 24.09.

Felix, who was selected the girls’ athlete of the meet after winning the 100 and 200 for the second year in a row, won the 100 by nearly three-tenths of a second as Long Beach Poly sophomore Shalonda Solomon was second in 11.82.

Zenobia Reed of Lamar (Texas) was expected to be Felix’s top rival in the 100, but her coach told meet organizers Wednesday that she wouldn’t be making the trip because she recently revealed to him that she had a fear of flying.

Kaylene Wagner of Goleta Dos Pueblos and Michelle Sanford of Irvine Woodbridge also turned in nation-leading marks. Wagner, a senior, cleared 6 feet in the high jump to defeat defending state champion Chaunte Howard of Riverside North and move into a three-way tie for first on the national list. Sanford, a junior, won the triple jump with a 41-foot 9-inch effort that wrested the national lead from Howard, who had bounded 41-3 to defeat Sanford in the Pasadena Games at Pasadena City College on March 30.

In the boys’ meet, Long Beach Poly turned in a state-leading 40.96 in the 400 relay and a nation-leading 3:13.30 in the 1,600 relay.

Senior Noah Bryant of Carpinteria won the boys’ shotput with a state-leading 65-11 and Travis Patterson of Simi Valley Royal was an upset winner in the boys’ 800 with a state-leading time of 1:53.69.

John Ortega

At the Mission Viejo swimming invitational:

Irvine wins girls’ title--Sophomore Courtney Cashion won the 50 and 100 freestyles to lead Irvine to the team championship at the Marguerite Recreation Center.

Irvine scored 422.5 points to edge defending meet champion Moraga Campolindo (411.5). Cashion won the 50 freestyle in a region-leading 23.83 seconds, defeating UCLA-bound Kim Vandenberg of Campolindo (24.03). Cashion came back to win the 100 freestyle in 51.10, bettering her region-leading mark by nearly a second.

The Vaqueros also won the 200 medley (1:46.73) and 400 freestyle relays (3:32.63), senior Flora Kong won the 100 butterfly (56.78), freshman Jane Hwang won the 200 individual medley (2:08.83) and sophomore Diana MacManus won the 100 backstroke (55.60).

Campolindo won seven of 11 events and totaled 470 points to easily win the boys’ team title. Paul Frankenberger won the 100 freestyle in 49.40 and Sean Boyle won the 200 freestyle in 1:46.99 to lead Murrieta Valley to fourth place, the top finish among Southland teams.

In baseball:

Chatsworth 9, L.A. Marshall 2--Justin Cassel (7-0) struck out nine in six innings and Jason Dominguez had four hits, including a three-run home run and a two-run double, to lead No. 1 Chatsworth (17-0) to the pool-play victory in the Chatsworth tournament.

In boys’ golf:

Joe Berry Junior Masters tournament--San Marcos, the No. 1 team in The Times’ rankings, shot a tournament-record 359 on the second day of competition to defeat Carmichael Jesuit, 738-748, in the prestigious event at Ancil Hoffman Golf Course. The Lions’ 738 was also a tournament record. San Marcos was led by Kevin Larsen and Collin Lee, who each shot one-over-par 74-71--145 to tie for second. Mike Ostrich of Sacramento Rio Americano was medalist at 144. Palm Desert finished fourth at 752, led by Brian Mahoney and Sean Meier, who each shot 146.