Arcadia, USA - Throwers Anna Jelmini and Mason Finley were named the male and female athletes of the meet after sweeping the Shot Put and Discus Throw competitions at the 42nd Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School on 10-11 April.

Jelmini, a senior at Shafter High (Calif.) who placed seventh in the Discus Throw in the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships, produced 15.55m in the Shot Put to move into third on the all-time U.S. high school list. The Arizona State bound Jelmini also won the discus at 56.51m. Jelmini’s marks in the Shot Put and the Discus were the top high school marks in the U.S. this season.

Finley, a senior at Buena Vista (Colo), threw 19.78m in the Shot Put and a nation-leading 67.36m in the Discus. Finley will attend UCLA next season where he will train with Art Venegas, the former collegiate coach of three-time World Shot Put champion John Godina. All five of Finley’s legal throws in the discus by the 2.03m, 149 kg Finley were 63.12m or better.
 
Home of national records
 
The meet in the Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia has in its history produced 125 U.S. Olympians and 25 national records.

Curtis Beach became the latest to set a national a record holder at Arcadia by scoring 7,909 points in the decathlon to crush the previous record of 7417 points with high school implements set by Ryan Thierault in 1993 and Curtis’ PB of 7262 set in 2007.

Curtis, who will attend Duke, had lifetime bests in five of 10 events. He posted first day marks of 10.99 (0.2w) and 6.97m in the Long Jump and PBs of 2.07m in the High Jump, 13.16m in the Shot put 48.16 in the 400m.

He continued his momentum on Day 2 with marks of 14.42 in the 110m Hurdles, 40.64m in the Discus and 4.40m in the Pole Vault. He recorded lifetime bests of 47.49m in the Javelin and 4:09.48 in the 1500m.
 
Other highlights
 
Reggie Wyatt, the 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships silver medallist in the 400m Hurdles, clocked 36.01 in the 300m Hurdles but came up short in his bid to take down the national record of 35.28 set by 2008 World Junior 400m Hurdle champion Jeshua Anderson.

Ashton Purvis, a 2007 IAAF World Youth finalist in the 100m and 200m, won the 100m in 11.78 for the second year in a row and the 200m in 23.86 for the third consecutive season.

Alex Dunne, who ran on the U.S. World Junior women’s team in the 2009 World Cross Country Championships in Amman, won the 3,200m in 10:16.83 in the absence of Jordan Hasay, who was a late scratch because of the flu. Hasay, who finished fourth in the 1500m in the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships, would have been attempting to become the first four-time winner in the event at Arcadia.

Kori Carter, a member of the 2008 U.S. World Junior team, won the girls’ 100m Hurdles in 13.60 and the 300m hurdles in 41.09. Her time in the 300m Hurdles moved Carter into No. 16 on the all-time U.S. list. The 300m Hurdles was a duel between Carter and Turquoise Thompson, the top U.S. high school returnee in the 400m Hurdles, who was second in 42.41. Thompson led onto the homestretch but was passed by Carter over the final barrier after Thompson stuttered over the final two hurdles.

Akawkaw Ndipagbor, a sophomore at Long Beach Poly High (Calif.) who placed third in the 2008 USATF Junior Championships (age 19 and under) as a ninth grader, defended her title in the 400m in 53.98 in her season opener.
 
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
 
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