Great Oak eyes national record at Mt. SAC Relays

By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

The sign at Hilmer Lodge Stadium proudly states, "Where the World's Best Athletes Compete."

In the 57th edition of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, and the event's final edition before the stadium undergoes a $62 million renovation in the coming years, Great Oak is trying to add one more remarkable record to the venue's list of historic performances.

The Wolfpack will race Friday night in the girls 4 x 1,600-meter relay, looking to break a national high school record that has stood for nearly a decade.

Kiyena Beatty, Sydney Belus, Destiny Collins and Evelyn Mandel set the California state record April 10 in the girls 4 x 1,600 at the 48th Arcadia Invitational by running 19 minutes, 58.71 seconds to edge Desert Vista, which set the Arizona state mark of 19:59.91.

The performances were the fifth- and sixth-fastest times for the outdoor 16-lap relay in U.S. prep history, trailing only the 4 x mile relay marks of Suffern (New York), Roxbury (New Jersey), Tatnall (Delaware) and Saratoga Springs (New York).

"I think it's still sinking in for me. Once we got out of Arcadia, I mean honestly, all that was on my mind was that we just missed the national record. It didn't really occur to me that we were the fastest team in the state," Mandel said. "We had a really great race, but I don't think it was perfect. We had a good experience, but at Mt. SAC, we're there to break our own time."

Suffern set the 4 x mile record of 19:56.75 at the 2006 Eastern States Championships, with Roxbury coming up just short of the mark two weeks later by clocking 19:58.07 at the New Balance National Championships.

Great Oak's converted 4 x mile time would be 20:05.67, requiring Collins, a junior, and her sophomore teammates to improve their collective efforts by nine seconds.

"There's been some amazing runners to come through California like Jordan Hasay and Sarah Baxter. To see that we have a state record even though they've had amazing people on their teams, including themselves, it's a great feeling," Collins said. "It would be great to have a national record because we live in one great country and to share that with my amazing teammates would be such a blessing and such an exciting feeling."

Collins led off the 4 x 1,600 relay at Arcadia in 4:53.44, Beatty followed in 5:03.80, Mandel clocked 5:02.27 and Belus closed in 4:59.18, holding off an amazing anchor from Desert Vista's Dani Jones, who split 4:46.09 and temporarily took the lead with 200 meters to go, before Belus delivered an inspirational kick to secure the victory.

"I thought of those girls and I wanted to bring it home for them, so I just kicked harder. I just wanted to pull through and win for those girls. We've been talking about this for a long time and I wanted to do it for them," Belus said. "We're really motivated to go get that national record. I know we're all going to be doing our best to go get it, so it's exciting."

All four athletes have run 5:01 or faster in the 1,600 and are driven to improve their splits to post a time around 19:49, a converted 4 x 1,600 mark for Suffern.

"I didn't have the race I really wanted. I ran 5:03 and I wanted to run way faster than that and break 5 minutes," Beatty said. "This week we're going to be very motivated for that. I think we have a huge chance of breaking it. Hopefully we can all get our times faster and get that record."

Great Oak will adjust its lineup from Arcadia to have Collins on the anchor, hoping she can deliver another memorable performance for the Wolfpack like last year as a member of the victorious Mt. SAC distance medley relay.

"We think it's really possible. We just make sure to all run our 'A' game race and hopefully it will come down," Collins said. "We know we do have a record on the line if we want to get it at the end of this year, we're going to try our hardest to really run fast."

Three of the 10 fastest times in the history of the 4 x 1,600 or 4 x mile have been run at the Mt. SAC Relays in the past four years by Redondo in 2012, Saugus in 2011 and Davis Senior last season.

For all of Great Oak's success running the prestigious 2.91-mile course adjacent to Hilmer Lodge Stadium, it would only be fitting for four members of the reigning CIF Southern Section Division I cross country champions to produce another record on the Mt. SAC track.

"We're at Mt. SAC a lot and it's really cool that we have a chance to set the 4 x 1,600 national record at Mt. SAC," Belus said. "I know we're still looking to go out there and try to run the best race we can, which we did last weekend. We all want it so bad. We don't want to wait until next year. We want it this year."

With Collins receiving an invitation to compete June 20 at the Brooks PR Invitational, Great Oak won't have an opportunity to run the relay again with the same lineup at the New Balance National Championships, so there is a greater sense of urgency for the athletes to pursue the national record an hour away from their Temecula homes.

"With our goals and cheering each other on, we'll be racing the clock no matter who is chasing us," Mandel said. "I definitely think we have more in us. We've been talking about that all week and strategizing and doing our calculations. If each one of race up to our capabilities, we have a really good shot at smashing the national record."

Great Oak coach Doug Soles said the girls being able to defend their 4 x 1,600 title was the fondest memory from all his teams competing at the Arcadia Invitational.

If the Wolfpack can produce the most significant race in program history at the Mt. SAC Relays, Great Oak would join Hawthorne, Long Beach Poly, Harvard-Westlake and University High of Irvine as the California schools to currently hold national high school records.

"When it comes to setting the goals, the girls drive the bus. These aren't my goals, they are the ones that set them and I try my best to help them reach those goals," Soles said. "It's a very selfless group. They push one another because they don't want to let each other down and they want to share in the success together."

Great Oak is also scheduled to run the distance medley relay and 1,600 sprint medley relay Saturday, but the Wolfpack can leave a lasting memory in one of the world's most famous track and field stadiums with another exceptional effort Friday.

"Just thinking back (to the state record), it's a huge accomplishment and I'm very honored to have that and I feel very privileged and blessed," Beatty said. "We want that record, but no matter what happens during the race, we're doing it for each other. That's what makes this so special."