QUALIFICATION: Riverside Poly’s Kalea Ibarra and the girls’ 4×800 team had an impressive debut at the Arcadia Invitational.
By Jack Weggeland, Staff Writer
Many believe the Arcadia Invitational is the most prestigious and competitive high school track and field meet in the nation. It gives the best high school athletes around the country an opportunity to show their talent, willingness and pure dedication as they compete with other top athletes. This year, the event took place on April 10 and 11 at Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California. The prestigious meet is home to 24 national high school records, and it has helped produce nearly 152 U.S. Olympians.
Riverside Poly’s Kalea Ibarra (9) accomplished the difficult feat of qualifying for this track and field meet. In regards to her accomplishments Ibarra expressed, “Having the chance to compete against the best at Arcadia was extremely exciting.” Ibarra was one of 56 female athletes chosen to compete in the 800 meter run for the Arcadia Invitational. In order to qualify for Arcadia in the 800m you must run under 2:21.
In the finals, Ibarra ran the 800 meter in 2:12.77 placing her third in the heat. Her 800m time ranks her as the twelfth fastest high school athlete in the nation and the second fastest freshman in the state. “My main motivation is definitely my dad; he was an awesome runner in high school and college. I want to make him proud [and] secretly want to beat all his running times,” Ibarra mentioned.
Poly’s girls’ 4x800m team, including Ibarra, Alexandra Stetkevich (11), Alexis Louis (12) and Christina Winn (12) was among 18 teams invited from around the country to participate at Arcadia. Poly’s girls’ 4x800m team finished the race with an impressive 9:26.01 time, ranking them as the eighth fastest 4x800m relay team in the state and thirteenth in the nation.
This was Poly’s fourth consecutive appearance at the Arcadia Invitational and another highlight of Poly’s strong athletic program.