Bryshon Nellum - Arcadia (© Kirby Lee)
Bryshon Nellum, Jordan Hasay and Ke’Nyia Richardson were selected as the athletes of the meet at the 40th Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School (6 - 7 April).
Nellum, a Long Beach Poly (Calif.) senior, was named the male Athlete of the Meet after winning the 400m in a meet record 46.02 and anchoring three relay wins, including a 45.6 400m split on a national-record setting 800m Sprint Medley Relay (1:28.43) to break the record of 1:28.95 set by Glenville Heights (OH) team that included Ohio State receiver Tedd Ginn in the 2003 Arcadia Invitational. The University of Southern California-bound Nellum also led Poly to wins in the 4 x 100m Relay in 41.39 and the 4 x 400m relay in 3:14.63.
A 2006 World Junior Championships gold medallist in the 4x400m Relay, Nellum, 18, was joined on all three relay wins at Arcadia by senior Isaiah Green. In 2005, Nellum and Green teamed on the victorious U.S. Sprint Medley Relay in the World Youth Championships in Morocco.
Nellum’s mark in the 400m broke his own meet record of 46.20 set in 2006 and was the fastest-ever by an athlete from Long Beach Poly and the city of Long Beach.
Among the notable Poly graduates is former high hurdle world record holder Earl McCullouch. Recent Poly products include Shalonda Solomon, the 2004 World Junior 200m champion, and Shana Woods, the U.S. national high school record holder in the heptathlon. Lashinda Demus, the 2005 World silver medallist in the women’s 400m Hurdles, also hails from Long Beach and crosstown rival Wilson.
Hasay and Richardson were selected as the co-female athletes of the Arcadia meet.
Hasay, a San Luis Obispo Mission College Prep (Calif.) sophomore, won the Two Miles in 10:07.65.
Hasay is among the top candidates to represent the U.S. in the 3000m in the 5th IAAF World Youth Championships in the 5th IAAF World Youth Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic (11-15 July).
Richardson, a senior at Holy Names High (Calif.) won the Triple Jump at 13.14m.
In March at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City Richardson bounded to 13.58m to smash by 19cm the national indoor junior record of 13.39m that had stood since 1991, and next season will attend UCLA where she will train under Bobby Kersee.
Home of national records
The Arcadia Invitational held in the Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia has been billed as "Home of National Records." The meet produced 101 U.S. Olympians, including Michelle Perry who was on hand to sign autographs, and 23 national records since its inception in 1968.
This year, the meet produced 24 nation-leading marks for the 2007 highlighted by Nellum, Hasay and Richardson.
In the 300m Hurdles, Jeshua Anderson, who attends Woodland Hills Taft (Calif.) - the alma mater of 1992 Olympic 400m champion Quincy Watts - clocked 35.75m in the 300m Hurdles to move into ninth on the all-time U.S. list.
Other top marks included Cory Primm in the 800m (1:49.80), Luke Peskedra in the Two Miles (9:00.51), Gary Lee in the Long Jump (7.37m), Gyasi Rivers in the Triple Jump (14.97m) and Joe Canavan in the Shot Put (20.11m).
Top marks in the girls division were turned in by Jasmine Joseph in the 400m (53.48), Justine Fredonic in the 800m (2:08.08), Jackie Coward in the 300m Hurdles (41.66) and Tori Anthony in the Pole Vault (4.14m).
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
NOTE
5th IAAF World Youth Championships - Age Categories: Only athletes aged 15, 16 or 17 on 31 December in the year of the competition (e.g. for the 2007 Championships, born in 1990, 1991 or 1992) may compete.
Full qualification standards can be found by clicking here
