The crowd roars as the athletes thunder past, their spiked shoes pounding the red rubber track beneath their feet. Thousands of athletes, coaches and fans line up along the side, cheering for their teammates, only adding to the mounting excitement of the night. This was the scene at the Arcadia Invitational, an elite track meet located in Arcadia, California. The 58th annual occurrence of this invigorating event took place on Friday and Saturday, April 9-10. Four of Issaquah’s top scoring athletes competed, battling other elite athletes for a score.

Nate Laursen was the first to run under the lights on Friday night. He ran the 3200 meters, otherwise known as the two mile run. He ran hard, and finished with an amazing time of 9:32.27- the same as two sub 4:50 miles in a row.

Clara Michael ran next, starting Saturday’s events with an 800 meter race, or two laps around the track. She ran an incredible race, crossing the line in the top five finishers for her heat. Michael remarked that “I stayed composed and didn’t allow myself to think about pain and instead just focused on competing in the heat.” Despite a difficult start, she worked her way through the pack to finish with a season best time of 2:15.78, matching her personal record.

Ella Miller ran last, competing in the 300 meter hurdles. She also ran a season best time, finishing at just 47.82 seconds- all while jumping over hurdles in her path.

Jackson Battistoni competed in the high jump, leaping an astounding 6 feet and 2 inches over the bar, or 1.88 meters.

These athletes earned their way to an elite meet, and certainly let their talent shine in their races and events. The Issaquah High Times formally congratulates them on their well earned times and incredible accomplishments. As these athletes move forward, towards more meets and even the upcoming postseason races, they continue to train hard each day. Their hard earned marks in races and events only push them to work harder, towards their next big goal.