Track: Menlo star wins 800 meter duel
DUBLIN – In a race that had a postseason-level buzz, Menlo’s Charlotte Tomkinson edged Concord’s Rayna Stanziano in the girls 800 meters at the Dublin Distance Fiesta on Saturday.
Both runners finished in the top six in last year’s 800 meter state championship final – Stanziano was third and Tomkinson was sixth.
On Saturday, Tomkinson produced this season’s state-leading time of 2 minutes, 10.61 seconds. Stanziano was second in 2:11.22. Entering this weekend, the state-leading time was 2:14.12.
Racing in the fastest heat, Stanziano held the lead by the 150-meter mark and crossed 400 meters with Tomkinson in a blazing 63 seconds. Stanziano led through 600 meters before Tomkinson kicked to victory.
“I didn’t know any of the splits. I had no idea what the time was until I was in the homestretch. I just kind of raced off how I felt,” said Tomkinson, a junior. “Last year this race, I was nowhere near the front.
“I’ve raced with Rayna at state. She’s a really strong competitor,” Tomkinson said. “I was just trying to stick with her in the first lap, and let her pace that, and then just kind of see what happened on the second lap and try to finish as strong as I could.”
Stanziano said it was a “good environment to run in to get a fast time early on in the season.” It was the first time that the senior has run this meet.
“I don’t think I went sub-2:15 until like close to the end of April last year,” Stanziano said. “This was a good starting point, I guess, for the rest of the season because I didn’t think I was capable of going that time.
I worked out hard this week and I wasn’t sure what I was going to have left in me,” Stanziano said. “Definitely went out kind of fast and I could feel that in my legs”
Another Central Coast Section middle-distance runner was victorious Saturday at Dublin High School. Westmont’s Garrett MacQuiddy won the fastest heat of the boys 800 in a personal-record time of 1:55.07.
“I was looking to be around the front for the second lap, and then I usually have a good kick, so I was looking to use that to my advantage,” said MacQuiddy, a junior.
Westmont is getting quite a reputation as a middle-distance power. Last season as a senior, Westmont’s Jason Gomez won the state championship title in the boys 800 meters.
In the boys 3,200 meters Saturday, there was a showdown between two defending state champions. Matt Strangio of Jesuit-Carmichael, the state titlest in the 3,200 last year as a sophomore, won the fastest heat Saturday in a national-leading time of 8:47.97. Redwood’s Liam Anderson, the state champ in the 1,600 last year as a junior, was second Saturday in 8:56.88, which was also faster than the national-leading time entering this weekend
Other event winners at Saturday’s meet included Marin Catholic’s Samantha Wallenstrom in the girls 1,600 (4:59.38, a sophomore girls meet record), Maria Carrillo’s Pierce Kapustka in the boy’s 1,600 (4:22.97), Healdsburg’s Gabrielle Peterson in the girls 3,200 (10:39.81), St Francis-Sacramento in the girls distance medley relay (12:22.61) and Sir Francis Drake in the boys distance medley relay (10:44.32).
The Dublin Distance Fiesta is considered the largest distance high school track meet in the nation with 118 schools, 2,633 athletes and 3,649 event entries. The top two fastest placers in each event qualified for the prestigious Arcadia Invitational on April 5-6.