by Meet Director Doug Soles

 

The 2014 Great Oak Distance Invitational brings us some of the best boys distance teams in Southern California. This year’s meet is highlighted by not one, not two, but three boys team CA State XC Champions! D2 Champions Saugus, D3 Champions Jurupa Hills, and D4 Champions Big Bear will be joined by very solid boys programs at Rubidoux, Great Oak, Beaumont, La CostaCanyon, Rancho Cucamonga, and Salesian to create our most competitive boys fields yet! The featured race looks to be the 3200, with Steven Fahy of La Costa Canyon the clear front runner. Nick Doan from Great Oak, and Jurupa’s Michael Terran and the Reed twins Brittan and Devon will be leading the chase pack! Look for 20 guys 9:40 or better to line up in a deep early season contest, with the meet record of 9:18 sure to fall! Leading the way in the boys 800 is D4 Individual State Champion Caleb Webb from Big Bear as he preps his speed for fast miles later inthe season. Youngsters Isaac Cortes and Robbie Gleeson will be in tow, as both have run sub 1:58 so far this season and were key components on the indoor state 4x800 team that brought home the title. Pacific’s Javin Singer should also be considered a favorite as he has run really well in the 800 recently! The 1600 will feature Anthony Ortega from Rancho Cucamonga, Devon Reed from Jurupa Hills, and Brian Zabilski from Saugus, who will be pushing the pace to sub 4:20! This race will be a tight pack of about 16-20 guys the whole way!

 

Other than Saugus and Great Oak facing each other in a rematch of sorts from the opener in XC, the individual headliner for the girls this year is a familiar face each season at the GODI…Emma Abrahamson of La Costa Canyon! The Vanderbuilt heading Sr. is focusing on the 1600, where she comes in off an impressive indoor victory in the mile looking to show how fast she can run on an outdoor track (the indoor facility is 145m) this season. Giving chase will be the top girls from Saugus in Sabrina Janes and Samantha Ortega. Janes has proven to be one of the best kickers inthe state and should be very hard to beat if she is in it late, with Samantha Ortega being the more aerobic athlete, running some monster races in cross country and qualifying to Footlocker Finals at the end of the season! Great Oak’s top girls Sr.’s Haley Dorris and Ashley Helbig have posted fast times early, but will have their hands full with the talent in this race! The dark horse could be Beaumont’s Kailie Grimes, who has run with the elites at various races throughout the cross country season and who had tremendous races at this meet last year. Look for 5+ girls to seriously challenge the 5:00 barrier! The girls 400 invite is looking very competitive with last year’s winner from Norte Vista Sr. Crystal Tejada having some very real competition from Frosh Alexis Rodriguez from San Jacinto and North’s Jr. M’fon Ibekwe. Look for a very fast time there! Frosh Erin Holton from Rancho Cucamonga headlines the 3200 after a stellar frosh xc season that put her at the top of the 2017 class! Rebekah Bosler from La Costa Canyon, and a lot of youth from Great Oak should be pushing to keep up with the talented freshman. Darkhorses Catherine Luo from Whitney and Fernanda Rodriguez from Rubidoux should keep the pace honest. The 800m invite features Sabrina Janes from Saugus, the 2013 Masters Meet 800 Champion! Forget the seed times, she is widely known to have a deadly kick and will strike fear in the heart of any girl in front of her with 200 to go! Although there are some solid 3200 girls in the race, this is a speed event and Janes' teammate Ashley Heys, Beaumont’s Kailie Grimes, and Great Oak’s Audrey Wallis should provide the key competition for Janes down the home stretch.