Arcadia
Men's 800 Run
As the sun went down and the lights came on at the Arcadia Invitational in California, two Arizona runners toed the line for the men's 800 Invitational. Two weeks ago at the Chandler Rotary James Eichberger (Catalina Magnet) and John Kline (Desert Vista) gave the stadium crowd a race to remember. Kline shot off the starting line and hit the 200 meter mark in 23 seconds. By the time he reached 400 meters he already had a substantial lead but with 200 meters left in the race Eichberger made a surge and hung on until he edged out Kline for the win. Eichberger's time of 1:51.55 was the milesplit US#2 time in the nation and just missed the All-Time Arizona state record. Kline's time of 1:52.33 placed him in the US#3 spot. With both seniors unlikely to race each other again in Arizona, they headed to California for a re-match in a very strong 800 field and a slightly different outcome. Kline came in second to Blake Shaw (1:51.19 Texas) and his time of 1:51.33 broke the Arizona All-Time state record set in 1992 by Steve Ybarra bumping him into the US#2 time in the nation. Eichberger placed 4th in the race in 1:51.75 and is ranked 3rd in the nation.
Men's Long Jump and Triple Jump
While John Kline and James Eichberger were battling it out in the 800m run, Will Claye from Mountain Pointe was doubling up in the Long Jump and Triple Jump. Claye's long jump of 24-1.25 won the long jump but it was his incredible 51-7.5 triple jump that launched him into 1st place in the nation. His triple jump also broke the Arizona All-Time record of 51-0 set last year by then sophomore Bryce Lamb of Chandler High School.