Santa Barbara High and San Marcos track & field athletes turned in strong showings at the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday.
Carter Battle, a senior for the Dons, led the local competitors by breaking a 44-year-old school record.
Santa Barbara High
Battle came out on top in the Open Division High Jump with a mark of 6-8.75, beating out Santa Barbara High legend and former NFL Pro Bowler Randall Cunningham.
The mark also moved Battle to No. 5 in California and No. 2 in CIF-SS Div. 2.
“That’s a big jump on a big stage,” Dons head coach Olivia Perdices said. “Randall Cunningham is a Santa Barbara legend. To take down one of his school records is huge.”
In the pentathlon, Elina Stump came in sixth place with a personal-best 4,401 points. She earned personal records in the 100 hurdles, high jump, shot put and 800-meter race.
“Elina had a great weekend,” Perdices said. “She was the youngest competitor in a quality field. Four personal bests within a multi is fantastic and more importantly, she was steady throughout all seven events.
“That said, a lot of this is still very new to her and there’s a lot of room to grow and find more points in all seven.”
The boys distance medley relay team of Matthias Everest, William Covington, Nico Tassos and Battle rounded out the Santa Barbara High athletes with an 11th-place finish at 10:33.97.
“Great racing from all those boys to finish 10 spots above where they were seeded,” Perdices said.
The Dons will compete in the Mt. SAC Invitational next weekend.
San Marcos
Avery Leck represented the Royals at the Arcadia Invitational, taking home fourth place in the heptathlon with a total of 4.603 points.
She registered personal bests in the 100 hurdles (14.51), javelin (100-11) and shot put (28-4.5). She finished in second place in the 100 hurdles and javelin.
“There was a very competitive field this year,” San Marcos head coach Marilyn Hantgin said. “Girls from Hawaii, New Zealand, Minnesota made for a really fun event. Avery had some great improvements.
“The heptathlon is a long two day event. Avery did a great job at handling the heat and elements throughout the two days.”
Leck also competed in the 300 hurdles, crossing the finish line in 44.38 seconds to pick up a third-place medal.
“Avery is a competitor,” Hantgin said. “She qualified to run the 300 hurdles, so after she ran her 800 meters, she had about an hour rest to get ready for her hurdle race.
“She just wants to get better and improve on her times. Arcadia is a special place to run and I don’t think she wanted to give up the opportunity to compete with such high level runners.”
The Royals will also be at the Mt. SAC Invitational next weekend.