Braves Open Up Well at Millikan
Many runners and a few field eventers came together on Saturday,
March 2 at the Millikan Distance Carnival. This invitational
is different then others that the team attends because the
only featured races are events from the 400m to the 3200m.
A number of highlights came from this meet despite a fairly
strong headwind that is notorious for plaguing Long Beach Veterans
Stadium.
400m: The two stars here were Garrett Schott and Josh Bradford.
Schott was placed in the 1st heat, but matched up nicely with
the stronger area sprint programs such as Serra (Gardena),
and Dominguez (Compton). He raced to a fine early season time
of 50.2h. Running in the 2nd heat was Bradford. Competing in
an equally impressive heat, Josh raced to a lifetime best time
of 51.6h to place in the top 4 in his race. Bradford, who has
never had the chance to finish a full track season because
of injuries, is looking stronger each time out this 2002 season.
His senior year should be a breakthrough. Other runners vastly
improving their 400m times were Archie Aragon, Jeorge De La
Cruz, and Howard Earl.
800m: No blazing times here, but with a crew of 800m runners
that are all underclassmen the future should look bright. It
seemed like the common time in this race was between 2:09h
and 2:10h. Runners included in this group were: Mahesh Gandhi,
Carl Van Ness, and Osvaldo Lopez (note: Garrett Schott was
2:10 but it was a one time race). Another bright spot in this
race saw Freshman Emiliano Uranga run 2:16 in his first try
at this distance.
1600m: The exclusion of Senior Randy Hills from the 1600m,
and 3200m (illness) gave way to his other Brave distance counter
parts. Senior Daniel Estrella and Junior Tony Martinez ran
4:34h and 4:35h respectively to earn themselves lifetime PR's
in this event.
3200m: Anthony Martinez earned himself the "unofficial" Brave
Runner of the Meet with his performance here. Martinez PR'd
by running a fine early season time of 9:56h, a 20 second PR
over last year. Two PR's in the same day gives Tony a great
outlook on the rest of his season. Also in the mix but not
holding on as well was Daniel Estrella. His time of 10:02h
gives him his 2nd best time ever and is also a positive boost
to the rest of his season. With the re-addition of Hills this
trio could give the Braves three runners under 9:40 for the
3200m. |
