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The slogan affiliated with the annual Arcadia Invitational in Arcadia, California, is 'home of national records.'
It was certainly an impressive weekend for Idaho athletes at Arcadia, which 793 schools registered for entries, including 362 out-of-state schools.
Skyline senior and BYU commit Nelah Roberts added to her ever-growing list of 'firsts' in a big way in Saturday evening's invitational girls 3,200 final. Roberts placed 13th in 10:14.68, which is the fastest all-time 3,200 ever by an Idaho girl and currently the No. 16 fastest time in the U.S. this season. The previous Idaho all-time best was 10:26.92 by Bishop Kelly's Emily Nist in 2012.
Entering Saturday, Roberts' personal best for the 3,200 was 10:30.63 from the 2022 4A state meet. The invitational girls 3,200 was one of the last events of the weekend, starting at 8:06 p.m. Pacific.
"Being under the lights was super fun," Roberts said Monday morning by phone from California. "We definitely got good support from the crowd. Initially, I thought (of running) sub-10 even though that's really lofty. I was definitely happy with 15, 16 seconds shaved off my PR."
This was Roberts' second appearance at Arcadia. As a sophomore, she ran 10:32.37 to place third in the seeded girls 3,200. The invitational girls 3,200, however, was more intense due to the numerous familiar faces Roberts recognized. Among her competitors were fellow Nike Cross Nationals qualifiers Anna Callahan of Washington and Emily Wisniewski of Oregon, who placed fourth and eighth, respectively, on Saturday as well as Sophia Rodriguez of Washington (11th place), whom Roberts last raced in November at Nike Cross Regionals Northwest.
"Running in the invitational was a step up," Roberts said. "There were 35 girls. I knew about half of the girls. It kind of puts a little bit more pressure on you when you know a lot of the people there. I was on the third waterfall (start). I was elbowing people 600 meters into the start of the race. I think I got spiked by one of the girls, too."
Roberts traveled to California with her mom Kynda, her best friend and Skyline cross country teammate Sadie Rhodes and Skyline head cross country coach Sean Schmidt and his wife Shannon. She said she is now turning her attention to the annual Tiger-Grizz Invitational scheduled for April 26-27 at Ravsten Stadium in Idaho Falls where she hopes to claim the varsity girls 1,600 meet record and improve on the 3,200 meet record she already owns.
She gave Schmidt much credit for helping her reach her goals and set new ones.
"Before the season even started, Coach told me I'm focusing on the longer 3,200 workouts leading up to Arcadia," Roberts said. "I really just owe it all to Coach Schmidt. He's stuck by my side and my goals and is always trying to get me to some of the more competitive times in the country. He's super dedicated to me. I feel like I really might even try to get my mile time down even more."
Roberts did not just travel to California to compete at Arcadia. Rhodes had never been to Disneyland before, so Roberts went there with her and California Adventure Park.
"We decided to make this a birthday trip for her," Roberts said.
Boise athletes made their mark at Arcadia as well.
Noe Kemper, a senior, placed third in the invitational boys 800 in a personal best and school record 1:50.68, which is No. 2 all-time ever by an Idaho boy for the 800 and the No. 5 fastest boys 800 time in the U.S. so far this season. He broke Boise's previous school record of 1:50.80 by Thomas Rigby in 2013 and is now one of three Idaho boys to ever break 1:51 for the 800.
Boise distance coach Aaron Olswanger, who has always traveled with his athletes to Arcadia, said Kemper is race savvy and that showed with his sub-1:51 time.
"We've seen what he's capable of with his workouts this year," Olswanger said Monday morning by phone. "He made the moves when he needed to. It really paid off. He made a really good move on the back stretch. It opened up lane one for Noe on the turn and on the home stretch he was in good position to kick. I think he's got more in him."
Teammates Jack Sheesley (junior) and Kaden Helder (senior) both ran personal bests and broke a school record in the process. Sheesley ran 9:03.05 for second place in section three of the open boys 3,200 and Helder ran 9:05.7 for 24th place in the seeded boys 3,200 to both beat Eric Fitzpatrick's school record from 2010 (9:10.16) in the event.
"The cool thing for Jack was he wasn't racing for time, he was racing to race," Olswanger said. "We talked about a smart race plan, always being able to see the front. Kaden in his race, people got bounced around a lot in that race."
On the girls side, Boise senior and Montana track commit Sophia Clark ran three events, including a personal best 56.40 to place second in the open girls 400. She teamed up with Grace Lanfear, Autumn Shomaker and Allie Bruce to place fourth in the rated girls 4x200 in 1:43.69 and with Lanfear, Bruce and Audrey Orme to place fourth in the open girls 4x400 in 3:56.62.
"She did an awesome job," Olswanger said of Clark. "Then we ran that 4x400, threw some girls in that who hadn't run it yet this year."
Bruce, a senior, ran 2:17.62 to place 26th in the open girls 800, fellow senior Lanfear tied for 30th in the open girls 100 hurdles (15.61) and
sophomore Orme ran 5:02.92 to place 20th in the open girls 1-mile. Adrienne Russell was competing in the heptathlon at Arcadia Multis, which is part of the Arcadia Invitational, but did not finish, and fellow senior Shomaker competed in the invitational girls long jump, but fouled her jumps.
Olswanger said Arcadia is great preparation for Oregon Relays, which Boise will travel to April 19-20 at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.
"I was talking to some of the girls as we were walking back from some of the events and pointing out all the California teams there," Olswanger said. "This is the sport around there for some of these schools. It's awesome. It's a huge experience for them and something they'll never forget."
Boise will host the Boise Relays this Saturday before traveling to Oregon Relays. Boise won the boys and girls combined team title at the 2022 Oregon Relays, and Kemper told DyeStat at Arcadia that he plans to compete in 2k steeplechase at this year's Oregon Relays. He won that event at last summer's Nike Outdoor Nationals, also at Hayward Field.
"The competition this year is so much better," Olswanger said. "Cuthbertson out of North Carolina, Long Beach Wilson is coming up, Herriman out of Utah. We're gonna have our work cut out for us."
Skyline and Boise were not the only schools representing Idaho at Arcadia.
Rocky Mountain's Brighton Heywood ran 2:18.66 to place 32nd in the open girls 800, Landon Heemeyer ran a personal best 8:59.13 to place 19th in the seeded boys 3,200 to move to No. 5 all-time in Idaho, Chloe Pollock ran a personal best 10:52.41 to place sixth in the open girls 3,200 and Cody Lucas ran 9:15.24 to place 20th in section three of the open boys 3,200.
For Coeur d'Alene, Max Cervi-Skinner ran a personal best 9:05.65 to place 25th in the seeded boys 3,200, Zackery Cervi-Skinner placed 15th in section one of the open boys 3,200 in a personal best 9:17.49 and 48th in the open boys 1-mile in a personal best 4:24.95 and Jacob King placed 23rd in section one of the open boys 3,200 in 9:25.74.
Meridian's Paisley Taylor ran a personal best 5:02.85 to place 19th in the open girls 1-mile and a personal best 10:45.61 to win the open girls 3,200, Vallivue's David Gummersall ran a personal best 48.51 to place third in the seeded boys 400 and Eagle's Andrew Ringert ran a personal best 9:00.37 to place 13th in the rated boys 3,200 to move to No. 6 all-time in Idaho.
On the Horizon
The annual Boise Relays take place this Saturday at Mountain View High School.
Olswanger said he is looking forward to adding a hospitality tent for coaches, parents and volunteers this year, and he is excited about the talented throwers who are entered.
"The number of 50-foot throwers in the (boys) shot put is unbelievable," he said.
One of those throwers is Centennial senior Kai Twaddle-Dunham, who swept boys throws titles at the Patriot Invite last week with personal bests of 58-5 in shot put and 187-6 in discus. His discus personal best is currently No. 7 in the U.S. this season, and he is also undefeated in both throws this spring.
As of Monday evening, 41 schools are registered for Boise Relays. Live timing will be available for the meet via Athletic Live on Athletic.net.
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