Arcadia Invitational yields national bests

Joe Canavan of Palm Desert chose to skip his senior football season and focus on track and field. Bryshon Nellum of Long Beach Poly and Jeshua Anderson of Woodland Hills Taft went ahead and strapped on the pads.

All three said their decisions paid off this spring, and they proved it Saturday night at the Arcadia Invitational, winning their respective individual events with nation-leading marks.

Canavan won the boys’ shotput with a personal-best throw of 66 feet. Nellum lowered his personal best in the 400 meters with a time of 46.02 seconds, and Anderson established the state’s third all-time fastest time in the 300 intermediate hurdles, winning in 35.75. Nellum and Anderson set meet records.

“I’m on top of the world right now”, said Canavan, a 6-4, 330-pound offensive guard who has signed with Utah State on a track scholarship.

Nellum, who also helped Poly’s 400 relay team set a nation-leading time of 41.39, and ran a 47-second anchor on Poly’s 1,600-meter relay (3:14.63), played receiver for the Jackrabbits last season. He said the experience helped him gain an added boost on the track.

“I got stronger during the football season,” said Nellum, who signed a track scholarship with USC but plans to play football for the Trojans in 2008. “It was beneficial.”

Anderson, a receiver, signed to play football at Washington State but may also run track, he has said.

Dondre McDonald of Inglewood won the 100 in a personal-best 10.58, edging Jahvid Best of Richmond Salesian.

The girls’ events were highlighted by the distance races and the relays. Corona Del Mar posted the sixth-best national high school outdoor time in the individual distance medley, winning in 11:41.28 behind Allison Damon, Hilary May, Claire Schmidt and Shelby Buckley.

Long Beach Poly went wire to wire to win the 400 relay in a state-leading 45.79. Jasmine Joseph, who ran the second leg on the 400 relay, also established a nation-leading time in winning the 400 in 53.48.

She turned in a 53.7 anchor lap on the Jackrabbits’ 1,600 relay team that produced the nation’s second-fastest time in 3:41.17, but finished runner-up to Greenbelt (Md.) Roosevelt, which finished in 3:40.48.

San Luis Obispo Mission Prep’s Jordan Hasay won the two mile in 10:07.65. She went through the opening mile in 4:57.7 but hoped to be closer to 4.55.

“I think running the full two miles messed up my splits a little bit,” she said.

Alex Kosinski of El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge won the mile in a meet-record 4:43.34. There were 16 nation-leading marks set at the two-day meet.

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dan.arritt@latimes.com