California athletes sweep all four elite races in second of three events in Arizona organized by Newbury Park coach Sean Brosnan; Del Oro’s Riley Chamberlain and Sage Creek’s Bryce Gilmore secure mile victories

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

MESA, Ariz. – On a cool and breezy Saturday night in the desert, a boys 3,200-meter race turned scalding hot.

It looked more like a championship clash from the heat of May than a February pop-up event with runners just trying to find some work.

In his first competitive 3,200 in high school, Newbury Park junior Colin Sahlman led a contingent of five athletes to break the 9-minute mark by winning the event in 8 minutes, 47.05 seconds during the second meet of the Sundown Track Series at Eastmark High.

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Sahlman prevailed in a star-studded field that included athletes with multiple state championships. On the girls’ side, Crescenta Valley senior and twice a California state cross country runner-up Mia Barnett outdueled junior Lauren Pansegrau of Middleton High in Wisconsin to win the 3,200 in 10:15.82.

Del Oro junior Riley Chamberlain, a two-time California state cross country champion, won the girls’ mile in 4:52.51, with Sage Creek junior Bryce Gilmore prevailing in the boys’ mile in 4:14.67.

Sahlman’s victory came after a brisk race-long pace shifted into another gear in the final 400 meters. He ran that 400 in 56.05 seconds to outkick senior Judson Greer of Melissa High in Texas (8:49.29) and Larry Josh Edwards of University High in West Virginia (8:50.20). Senior Caleb Boutelle of Pine Creek High in Colorado was fourth in 8:59.21 and junior Isaiah Givens of Pasadena High in California finished fifth in 8:59.64.

“Definitely crazy,” Edwards said. “I mean, I knew going in that this was going to be a fast race. It was kind of the showcase event here. And just knowing the people that were running – of course Colin and Judson – I expected fast times.”

Sahlman led much of the second half of the race after the pacer dropped off. Edwards moved to lead in the penultimate lap before Sahlman answered with the blistering final lap to win.

In the first Sundown meet Feb. 13 at Queen Creek High, Sahlman – a member of the Newbury Park cross country team that won a national championship at the Nike Cross Nationals in 2019 – set a personal best in the mile by running 4:09.86.

Saturday makes him 2 for 2 in 2021, following a 5,000-meter victory in December at Eastmark, leading five Newbury Park athletes under 15 minutes by clocking 14:27.03.

“With about 800 meters left, (Edwards) took it out and took the lead,” Sahlman said. “He was pushing it. I didn’t really know if I could stay with him, but I knew I had to if I had a chance in this race. I stuck with him, and about 200 meters left, I gave it all out.”

“I made a move around 600 left,” said Edwards, who set a personal best by a second – he ran 8:51.88 in the 3,200 on Feb. 7 at the SPIRE Showcase in Ohio. “It did not pay off, as you can tell,  But I’m glad I made it. I would’ve been kicking myself had I not.”

Greer, a three-time Texas state cross country champion, saw improvement in his kick, even if he couldn’t catch Sahlman. He bettered his previous personal best of 8:56.99, set at the Coppell Relays last year.

“Usually, my kicks aren’t great, to be honest,” Greer said. “This shows me that I can kick fast. I still have room to improve and everything.

“Definitely closing in sub-60, probably the first time in any race, is nice.”

Barnett’s win was also a classic, turning back an impressive challenge from Pansegrau. In the process, she beat her previous personal best by seven seconds, set at the APU Distance Meet of Champions in 2019. Barnett, a 2019 Foot Locker Nationals finalist, is signed with Virginia.

“I think I’ve been training to be able to do that,” said Barnett, who has still yet to actually officially run a race under the Crescenta Valley banner after transferring from nearby Village Christian a year ago.

“My coach was telling me before this, ‘Don’t really have a specific goal but trust your training, trust how fit you are and how I’m on another level than I was in my sophomore year – the last time I did a 3,200.”

Junior Ella Borsheim of Bellarmine Prep in Washington was third in 10:29.67, her third time under 10:30 in the past 10 months, including twice in Arizona, along with the Desert Dream Last Hurrah in June.

Gilmore offered what was probably the biggest surprise of the night, overtaking Eugene Sheldon’s Vincent Mestler – an Oregon signee – and Simi Valley Royal’s Angus Fitzgerald, a Boise State recruit, in the final half-lap to win the mile. His mark was a PR by eight seconds.

“I felt like, ‘OK I can do this; I can kick,’” Gilmore said of how he felt entering the bell lap. “I was just going to stick with them and toward the end, in the last 200, just start making my move. And that really worked in the last 100.”

Chamberlain took the lead in the mile after Desert Vista sophomore Lauren Ping set a strong early pace. Her Desert Vista teammate, junior Katie Sigerud, ran her first sub-5 minute mile in 4:55.64 to place second. Ping was third in 4:58.77.

“It was a good opportunity to get the first race under my belt and kind of get track season rolling,” Chamberlain said.

Saturday marked the second of three such Sundown Track Series meets, a tour organized by Newbury Park cross country and track coach Sean Brosnan, who has continued to find a way to stage competition in Arizona, as California has struggled to return life to normal since the COVID-19 pandemic’s arrival almost a year ago.

The tour’s third and final meet is scheduled for March 27 in a return to Queen Creek High.