By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Here are 10 storylines involving high school relays to follow at the 60th Mt. SAC Relays at El Camino College in Torrance, Calif.

Programming Note: You can watch the live Webcast here of the meet Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The USATF.TV broadcast and on-demand videos will only be available for USATF.TV +PLUS subscribers. Subscribe here.

Ready for more record runs

Great Oak CA holds meet records in the boys and girls distance medley relays, both achieved in 2016.

But the Wolfpack didn’t win either DMR title last season, with Claremont CA running the second-fastest boys time in meet history at 10 minutes, 1.90 seconds to challenge Great Oak’s mark of 10:01.71 the year before.

El Toro CA clocked 11:52.99 to edge Great Oak (11:55.18) in the girls DMR last season, neither team approaching the Wolfpack’s meet record of 11:41.54 the previous year that secured a third consecutive victory.

Great Oak not only has an opportunity to win a fourth girls DMR in five seasons and a third boys title in four years Saturday, but could take aim at one or both meet records.

The Wolfpack will receive significant challenges in both events, especially from Northern California rivals.

Oak Ridge, which relied on senior twins Elena Denner and Maddy Denner to run a national-leading 11:42.85 on April 7 at the 51st Arcadia Invitational, is entered in the girls race, along with Mission Viejo CA, Claremont CA and Saugus CA.

Great Oak, which ran 11:54.17 on March 30 at the 43rd Stanford Invitational, is scheduled to have Fatima Cortes and Tori Gaitan bookending its lineup.

In the boys race, Bellarmine Prep – winner of the DMR last season at Stanford, Arcadia and most notably the Penn Relays – boasts seniors Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau and Alex Scales on its opening and closing legs in search of its first DMR win this year.

Great Oak (10:10.64) and Bellarmine (10:11.30) ran the top two times in the country March 30 at Stanford and both have the potential to produce a sub-10 effort Saturday in a field that also includes Cathedral Catholic CA and Mission Viejo CA. The Wolfpack boasts the same lineup – Gavin Korby, Fabian Bodden, Jacob Korgan and Carlos Carvajal – that produced the national-leading effort and also triumphed April 7 at Arcadia.

Sprinters looking to make a statement

For the first time this season, the top four girls 4x100 relay lineups in California – Upland, Serra, Calabasas and Long Beach Poly – will all be on the track at the same time Saturday, seeking bragging rights six weeks away from the state championship meet.

Etiwanda and Santa Margarita, also among the 12 California programs that have run under 48 seconds this season, are entered as well, in addition to Murrieta Mesa, which has run 48.02.

Upland became the 20th girls program in state history to run under 46 seconds when its lineup of Jada Hicks, Chelsea Daye, Jordyn Grady and Kennedy Smith clocked 45.78 to take second April 7 to Bullis MD (45.72) at the Arcadia Invitational.

After winning the Inland Empire County Championship boys 4x100 by clocking 41.58 on Saturday, Murrieta Mesa elevated to No. 3 in California and neither state leader Rancho Verde or No. 2 Clovis North are entered in the Mt. SAC field. Only one other team that has run under 42 seconds this season, Long Beach Poly (41.76), is scheduled to compete.

Silent giants ready to make noise

Dana Hills has quietly put together two of the most consistent 4x400 relay quartets in California, both ranking second in the state, with the boys lineup of Nathan Fatigate, Brandon Oswald, Josh Dowdy and Max Halvax clocking 3:16.80 – trailing only Long Beach Wilson (3:16.78) – to clinch the team title Saturday at the Orange County Championships.

The Dolphins girls relay of Hailey Ray, Ximena Bustos, Mia Lawrence and Anisa Rind ran 3:50.76 to place seventh April 7 at the Arcadia Invitational, with Serra taking fourth in 3:48.98.

Although neither Dana Hills team will have the chance to race against its respective state leader Saturday, the Dolphins have an opportunity to become the first school since Long Beach Poly in 2014 to sweep both 4x400 titles.

Centennial NV is also entered in both fields, with Harvard-Westlake and Murrieta Mesa expected to challenge in the boys 4x400 and Calabasas looking to steal the spotlight in the girls relay.

Looking to add to impressive legacy

Great Oak has won three consecutive girls 4x1,600 relays and the past two boys titles, each delivering a national high school record in 2016, although American Fork UT lowered the mark of 16:52.95 set by the Wolfpack boys to 16:41.30 last year at the Arcadia Invitational.

But Great Oak has an opportunity to make even more history Friday by extending the impressive streaks.
No boys program in meet history in the 4x1,500, 4x1,600 or 4xMile distances has won three consecutive years. No girls team from an American school has ever won four straight seasons, with only a quartet from Mexico previously achieving the feat from 1993-96.

Great Oak’s 19:52.88 performance from two years ago remains the fastest girls 4x1,600 effort in prep history and the Wolfpack has a new lineup from last season, including Sandra Pflughoft, Arianna Griffiths, Fatima Cortes and Tori Gaitan. The Wolfpack also ran 19:53.81 in 2015, making Great Oak the only school all-time to have two sub-17 boys performances and two sub-20 girls efforts.

Saugus, a three-time girls winner of the event at Mt. SAC in 2009, 2011 and 2013, is also pursuing a fourth overall title. In the boys race, Roosevelt and West Ranch pose the biggest challenges to Great Oak producing a three-peat.

Clash of former champions

The girls 4x200 relay not only matches two former winners of the event, but two teams with the potential to challenge the 1994 meet record of 1:36.77 set by Long Beach Poly.

One of the groups is the Jackrabbits themselves, led by reigning California state 100 and 200 champion Ariyonna Augustine, seeking their first Mt. SAC title in the event since 2014.

Serra, the 2016 champion, is the other primary challenger, led by Jazmyne Frost and Queen Okoh.

Bonita ran a state-leading 1:40.38 on April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational, but that mark isn’t expected to survive the weekend with Long Beach Poly and Serra squaring off, along with Chino Hills CA (1:41.40) in the field.

Carson was the first team to run under 1:38 since Long Beach Poly in 2003 when it clocked 1:37.59 last season.

Attempting to clear historic hurdles

Centennial NV was only the second girls program outside California in meet history to win the 4x100 shuttle hurdles relay when the Bulldogs ran 1:00.34 last season.

Cheyenne Jones, Ashley Moore and Quincy Bonds return from that lineup for Centennial, not only trying to improve on their 1:01.28 from March 23, but looking to become the first group outside the host state to repeat as champions. The Bulldogs would join California lineups from Long Beach Poly, Muir and San Pasqual as the only teams to capture back-to-back titles.

Upland, which ran a national-leading 58.50 in the shuttle hurdles April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational, is only entered in the 4x100 relay Saturday.

Centennial won its first girls team title last year at Mt. SAC, denying Great Oak a three-peat.

An exciting encore performance

Great Oak, Roosevelt, Redondo Union and De La Salle produced four of the top five boys 4x800 times in the state when they squared off April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational.

The rematch has the potential to be even more thrilling than their previous showdown, which had all four teams separated by 1.45 seconds, and Great Oak edging Roosevelt by a 7:53.29 to 7:53.90 margin.

The presence of Dana Hills, which only ran 8:05.13 on March 31 at the 91st Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, adds even more depth to a quality field. The Dolphins are expected to insert senior Jack Landgraf into their lineup to join Josh Dowdy, Caden Denker and Carrick Denker in search of their first Mt. SAC title in the event since 2009.

Great Oak is seeking a third straight title, trying to become the first program since Long Beach Poly in 2001-03 to achieve the feat, and a fourth in five seasons.

Trying to pursue memorable trifecta

Centennial NV has the potential to become only the third boys 4x200 relay in meet history to win three consecutive years, including the first from outside California.

Only Tre Harley returns from the past two victories for the Bulldogs, last season in 1:25.97 after running 1:28.02 in 2016, and the senior is scheduled to be joined Saturday by Jacob Mecham, Gerick Robinson and Erick Scott.

The group has run a season-best 1:29.52 on March 23 at the O’Dea Relays.

Only Muir (1984-86) and Long Beach Poly (1997-99) have won three in a row, with the 1999 Jackrabbits still boasting the meet record of 1:24.35.

Murrieta Mesa and Long Beach Poly, who ran 1:26.32 and 1:28.66 on April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational to prevail against Centennial (1:30.49), are also entered, along with Harvard-Westlake (1:31.63).

Seeking a middle-distance masterpiece

Great Oak hasn’t won a girls 4x800 relay at Mt. SAC since 2014, but the Wolfpack not only have the potential to secure the title, but challenge the 2011 meet record of 9:03.77 set by Harvard-Westlake during the Wolverines’ run of three consecutive crowns (2010-12).

Fatima Cortes, Arianna Griffiths and Tori Gaitan were part of a lineup that ran 9:05.34 on April 6 to win the Arcadia Invitational. All three are scheduled to race again Friday, looking to help the Wolfpack improve on a sixth-place finish last season.

With defending champion Centennial NV not entered, Redondo Union, Vista Murrieta and Walnut will look to challenge Great Oak for supremacy.

New face, familiar place

Sophomore Everett Steward will look to make a significant impact for the Long Beach Poly lineup in the boys 1,600 sprint medley relay Saturday when he is scheduled to anchor for the Jackrabbits, who are pursuing their first Mt. SAC title in the event since 2011.

Steward, a Cathedral CA transfer, gives Long Beach Poly the necessary strength on the 800 leg in preparation to compete against Great Oak and Tesoro. Great Oak hasn’t won the sprint medley since 2012.

Ryan Bush is scheduled to anchor for Tesoro and Chris Verdugo for the Wolfpack.

Great Oak has the potential to sweep both sprint medley relays for the first time, with the girls team scheduled to anchor Fatima Cortes looking to win the event for the second time in three years. Oaks Christian, South Pasadena and Chino Hills are all expected to challenge for the girls SMR title.