ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, April 10–11 — In professional meets, having an Olympic gold medalist in the field is certainly a plus. If it’s a collegiate meet, the interest increases, but if a high school meet lands one, that’s more than huge, it’s unprecedented.
With Paris ‘24 gold medalist Quincy Wilson entered in the 400 and 4 x 400, pre-meet headlines were assured. Having a stable of Southern California sprinters who had already dipped under 40.00 in the 4 x 100 also didn’t hurt. But after all is said and done, after all the hoopla, it seems to boil down to the same thing every year: the 3200 is king at Arcadia.
In 2025, after taking the lead with 2 laps to go, Jackson Spencer faded to 16th (8:51.26). After an undefeated cross country season, including NXN and Brooks XC victories and an unblemished indoor/outdoor season, the Herriman (Utah) senior was determined not to let that happen again. He would be joined by Marcelo Mantecon (Belen Jesuit, Florida), Grady Lenn (De Pere, Wisconsin) and Oliver Horton (Coronado, Colorado) in the field of 32.
Spencer led the throng through 1600 in 4:20, with Mantecon, Niwot (Colorado) teammates Hunter Robbie and Quinn Sullivan a breath back and 6 others within 2 seconds.
The order remained the same through 6 laps, but with 700 to go, Mantecon — who had ripped a 1:49.75 anchor leg in the 4×8 the night before — blew by Spencer down the backstretch.
At the bell, it was Mantecon, Spencer and Sullivan, with Horton, Brian Burns (Bentonville, Arkansas), Robbie and Lenn in tow.
With 250 to go, Spencer made a move, but Mantecon, a junior, held him off. With half a lap left, Spencer moved again, and this time Mantecon had no response. Spencer flew home, winning in a meet and high school federation record 8:31.80. His 27.0/56.6 finish bested Mantecon (8:35.33) by 3.5 seconds, with Horton 3rd in 8:38.95 and Lenn 4th (8:39.62).
The quality of this race was undeniable, as 4 were under 8:40, 23 under 8:50 and 29 under 9 minutes. Add the 26 from other sections, a total of 55 went sub-9.
Aiming to avoid déjà vu from 2025, a relieved Spencer said, “I had to make sure that I was going to get into the lead because I didn’t want to turn it into what last year was.”
Earlier in the day, Wilson treated the fans to a meet record in the 400 with his 45.48, bettering Michael Norman’s 45.51 from 2016. At the end of the evening, his 46.31 relay split led the Bullis 4×4 crew to a list-leading 3:09.14.
Wilson’s only other west coast meet was in Eugene for the ’24 Olympic Trials, and after his race, he admitted, “I love the atmosphere at Arcadia. I wish I was here the 3 years before but I’m just happy we were able to come for my senior year.”
The dominant short sprinters hailed from local powerhouse Servite (Anaheim). In Friday night’s 4 x 200, the team of Jace Wells, Kamil Pelovello, Jaelen Hunter and Benjamin Harris sizzled to a 1:22.76 win to move their school to No. 4 all-time.
In Saturday’s 4×1, Servite, fresh off a California record 39.82, lined up Wells, his twin Jorden, Pelovello (all 10th graders) and junior Benjamin Harris. Here they blazed 39.70 to lower that state record along with their 40.00 meet standard from a year ago.
Harris proceeded to take the 100 in 10.32, as Pelovello got the nod over Jordan Wells in the 200. Both clocked 21.14, with Jace taking 3rd in 21.25.
The best performance from the field came in the discus, as Simon Rosselli (Mead, Washington) bookended his victory with two long heaves: his first-round 225-5 followed by 225-6 in the sixth frame.
ARCADIA BOYS RESULTS
100(1.8): 1. *Benjamin Harris (Servite, Anaheim, Ca) 10.32.
200(1.6): 1. **Kamil Peolovello (Servite) 21.14; 2. **Jorden Wells (Servite) 21.14; 3. **Jace Wells (Servite) 21.25.
400: 1. Quincy Wilson (Bullis, Potomac, Md) 45.48; 2. Davis DeGroot (Bonneville, Ogden, Ut) 46.07; 3. Ejam Yohannes (Loyola, Los Angeles) 46.96.
800: 1. Josiah Bowman (Sage Creek, Carlsbad, Ca) 1:49.54; 2. Keandre Kelly (Union Catholic, Scotch Plains, NJ) 1:49.70.
Mile: 1. Cadel Ruthven (Ft Collins, Co) 4:07.98; 2.Stephen Sziebert (Bellarmine, San José, Ca) 4:09.85; 3. Peter Mecham (Orem, Ut) 4:10.25.
3200: 1. Jackson Spencer (Herriman, Ut) 8:31.80 <8:34.77> (HSL) (6, 6 HS);
2. *Marcelo Mantecon (Belen, Miami) 8:35.33 <8:38.32>; 3. *Oliver Horton (Coronado, Colorado Springs) 8:38.95 <8:41.96>; 4. Grady Lenn (De Pere, Wi) 8:39.62 <8:42.64>; 5. *Brooks Barbee (Christ, Arden, NC) 8:40.79 <8:43.82>; 6. Brian Burns (Bentonville, Ar) 8:41.38 <8:44.41>;
7. *Quinn Sullivan (Niwot, Co) 8:41.68 <8:44.71>.
110H(2.7) ): 1. Joshua-Kai Smith (Gar-Field, Woodbridge, Va) 13.17 (a-c: 5, 9 HS);
2. Josh Hamblin (Weber, Pleasant Valley, Ut) 13.42; 3. Spencer Van Orden (Highland, Pocatello, Id) 13.44.
300H: 1. Hamblin 36.40; 2. Kendrick Joshua (Richmond Hill, Ga) 36.49; 3. Brady Tse (Harker, San José) 36.89.
Relay Events
4 x 100: 1. Servite 39.70 (HSL) (7 HS) (Wells, Wells, Pelovello, Harris);
2. El Cerrito 40.57; 3. Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks 41.02.
4 x 200: 1. Servite 1:22.76 (HSL) (4 HS) (Wells, Pelovello, Hunter, Harris):
2. El Cerrito 1:24.37.
4 x 400: 1. Bullis 3:09.14 (HSL) (Elliott 47.69, Homer 48.52, Newton 47.62, Wilson 46.30);
2. Poly, Long Beach 3:12.53; 3. Loyola 3:14.64.
4 x 800: 1. Union Catholic 7:32.78; 2. Belen 7:37.29; 3. JSerra, San Juan Capistrano 7:38.13; 4. King, Riverside 7:38.96
4 x 1600: 1. American Fork, Ut 17:07.67 <17:13.64>; 2. Bozeman, Mt 17:10.11 <17:16.09>; 3. Dos Pueblos, Goleta 17:13.43 <17:16.23>.
800Med: 1. Loyola 1:28.85 (3 HS) (Gray, Davis, Phelps, Yohannes);
2. Cathedral, Los Angeles 1:29.83; 3. Notre Dame 1:30.38.
SpMed: 1. Wilson, Long Beach 3:26.62; 2. Orem 3:27.73; 3. Faith Lutheran, Las Vegas, Nv 3:28.15.
DisMed: 1. Herriman 10:05.04 (Dalton 4:10.60); 2. Oaks, Westlake Village 10:06.22; 3. Dos Pueblos 10:07.34
4 x 110H: 1. Notre Dame 58.77; 2. Bellarmine 59.12.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Joshua Harel (Notre Dame) 6-9.
PV: 1. Dylan Yarbrough (San Dieguito, Encinitas) 16-8; 2. *Riley Gash (Arroyo Grande) 16-8; 3. Dash Wasson (Queen Creek, Az) 16-8.
LJ: 1. Ryan Shen (Monta Vista, Cupertino) 24-4; 2. *Kayden Borden (Murrieta Valley, Murrieta) 24-2½.
TJ: 1. Justian Richadson (Rancho Buena Vista, Vista) 48-4¾w.
SP: 1. Case Jacobson (St Francis, Mountain View) 65-3½; 2. Matthew Bryant (Lone Peak, Highland, Ut) 62-¼.
DT: 1. Simon Rosselli (Mead, Spokane, Wa) 225-6 (5, 6 HS) (225-5 HSL [5, =6 HS], 220-11 , f, f, 211-10, 225-6);
2. Kayden Hulet (Smith CTE, Reno) 203-11; 3. *James Conrad (St Ignatius, Cleveland) 197-3.
