By: Ciera Seasock
If you want to shine as a track athlete, one of your goals is to attend the Arcadia Invitational. The Arcadia Invitational is a renounced event that is a dream of many athletes. This two-day long event is known nationally for its superior athletes and fierce competition. There have been 31 national records set here and 179 competing athletes have made it to the US Olympics. Bailey Darnell, ‘19, Christian Roldan, ‘21, Collin Watamura, ‘19, Denae Jackson, ‘19, Brandon Andrade, ’20, and Ryan Hemphill, ‘20, are exceptional athletes that competed at the Arcadia Invitational, and they are high up in the rankings.
Each of these athletes have had a great season so far, and have all excelled in their events this past weekend. Darnell had two races to uphold, but he did not let the pressure get to him. “This was my first year going to Arcadia. It was a really cool way to finish off my senior year,” said Darnell. He finished the day with two first place medals, one for the Men’s Open Mile and one for the DMR, distance medley relay. His events were definitely a huge success for him.
A DMR is a distance medley relay, consisting of different parts. It is run by a team of four, each person doing either the 1200m, 400m, 800m, or 1600m. Darnell won first, along with Roldan, Watamura, and Hemphill. As a team, they each played a huge part in each others successes. The race was very exciting to watch in person and even online through the meet website so people could cheer on the athletes from home.
Each runner was met with a large challenge. But, they conquered the task at hand. “I was confident to have teammates with me. We have been upping our workouts and increasing our tempos. This was something I will never forget,” said Roldan.
They worked hard in practice to ultimately win first in their Open Division with an overall time of 10:30.6. This time is 14th in State right now and also the team was also able to qualify for the Mt. Sac Relays to run the DMR again.
Denae Jackson was the only female athlete this year from Redwood to make it to this meet. She competed in shot put. “It was a great experience, being able to see all those elite athletes and to compete against them was a great feeling,” said Jackson.
300m hurdler, Brandon Andrade, did well this year at Arcadia. He was both excited and nervous for his event. He was excited to be at Arcadia for the second time, but he was nervous because he has been struggling with an injury. Having an injury made his event more challenging, but he still feels like he is on his way to accomplishing all his goals.
Overall, the meet was a huge success for Redwood. Attending the meet was a large accomplishment for all these athletes; Redwood’s track team is hoping for more success in this season’s near future.