Evangeline Williams, Josiah Bowman and Makenna Herbst shine at Hi-Racer Meet of Champions Distance Classic

EL MONTE – Against an elite field, it was a freshman who took home the crown.

Trabuco Hills’ Evangeline Williams was only 10th with 800 meters left, but rallied to win the invitational 3,200 meters Saturday night at the 34th Hi-Racer Meet of Champions at Arroyo High.

The distance-only meet was taking place for the first time at Arroyo High after spending more than a decade at Azusa Pacific University.

Post-event interviews

While it wasn’t an extremely fast race, Williams’ time of 10:44.27 edged out seniors Erika Kirk of Vista Murrieta (10:46.93), an SMU commit, and Stanford-bound Maya de Brouwer of La Canada (10:47.77) to win the race, suggesting it is just the beginning of the high school track and field community watching Williams achieve success.

Evangeline Williams of Trabuco Hills High | Photo courtesy of Pete Marshall

“The first mile was a little slow, so the second mile I wanted to leave all I had out on the track,” Williams said. “I just really kicked it in. I just wanted to go sub-11 (minutes). I wasn’t expecting to win. It was a pleasant surprise.”

Other invitational races were won by more established standouts.

In the Michael Paredes boys mile run, the race was so tight that it wasn’t clear until several minutes later that Paso Robles’ Tyler Daillak, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo commit, edged out Tesoro’s Griffin Kushen (4:10.63 to 4:10.65) after there was a false start.

“I’m actually glad there was a false start because I got off to a bad start,” Daillak said. “The second start I did a lot better. I immediately asserted my dominance. … (Then) I made my move with 300 meters to go.”

The race was so tight that while Daillak won the race, it was the Duke-bound Kushen who was credited with the best 1,600 split (4:09.02 to 4:09.08) before Daillak passed him in the final 9.34 meters.

The boys 800 was not only very tight, but outstanding times were posted as well.

Sage Creek junior Josiah Bowman ran a lifetime-best 1:50.39 to edge JSerra junior Alden Morales (1:50.80).

Josiah Bowman of Sage Creek High | Photo courtesy of Pete Marshall

Bowman’s time is not only the best time in the 800 in California in the early stages of this outdoor season, but Bowman’s and Morales’ marks would have also ranked among the elite performances in the country last year.

“I”m really happy with the time,” said Bowman, who elevated to the No. 5 competitor in meet history, with Morales moving up to No. 8.

“My goal this season was to go 1:49 or under, but I’m super stoked to hit 1:50 this early in the season. The race went out super hot that first 200 and I’m more of an even negative splitter in the 800. I was a little worried, being in last for that first 300, but 500 to go, I started making a move.”

The boys 3,200 was won by Venice senior Paul Tranquilla (9:00.44), which can be considered a surprise. That’s especially considering Tranquilla didn’t run the 3200 at all last year and this season, he set his PR three weeks ago with an effort of 9:22.26 while finishing third at the Marie Smith/Malibu Invitational.

“The goal was to race from the back for the first lap and a half or so, and just work my way up,” he said. “I’m really happy. I felt good the whole race.”

The largest margin of victory in the six events came in the girls 800, which was won by Carlsbad senior Makenna Herbst, who in 2:04.72, the best time in the state this year.

Herbst, an Arkansas signee, achieved the second-fastest performance in meet history.

Claremont freshman Grace Smith was second in 2:11.77.

“The goal was 2:02. I didn’t quite get there, but I’m still happy that I’m consistently under 2:05 now,” Herbst said.
Her 2:04.72 is an outdoor PR, but Herbst ran 2:03.83 at New Balance Nationals Indoor just a week ago in Boston.

In the girls mile, there were seven runners within a second of the lead with 400 meters remaining, before Arcadia junior Charlotte Hopkins (4:55.10) edged out JSerra’s Chloe Elbaz (4:56.75), a UCLA commit, to take home the title.

Charlotte Hopkins of Arcadia High | Photo courtesy of Pete Marshall

Six athletes achieved sub-5 performances for the full mile.

“I think the expectation wasn’t necessarily to focus specifically on a time,” Hopkins said. “It was just go with the race and see how it played out.”