ARCADIA TRACK & FIELD INVITATIONAL: FELIX FLIES TO BEST IN 200.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

Allyson Felix is only racing against history. If that wasn't common knowledge before, it became apparent Saturday night.

The L.A. Baptist of North Hills sprinter blew out a field of the top runners in the country by more than a second and beat her own fastest time in the nation this season by more than half a second, running a 23.08 in the 200 meters with no wind at the Arcadia Invitational.

Felix's time equaled the 17th-fastest of all time by a prep and was the sixth-fastest ever outdoors. Her previous best was a 23.31 last year.

``Tonight, I knew I would have to push myself,'' Felix said. ``Before the race, me and my coach were talking and said I should go for it despite the lack of competition.''

Felix, only a junior, said she will now set her sights on sub-23 seconds. Rarefied air, indeed. She will have her first opportunity next Saturday at the Mt. SAC Invitational.

Earlier in the evening, Felix ran the nation's best time in the 100 this season, one second from her personal best. She was expecting to have competition from Zenobia Reed from Texas, but Reed dropped out because of injury. Running next to the empty lane, Felix finished at 11.54.

``I would have liked to have her around so I could get below 11.5,'' Felix said. ``I was a little disappointed, but I decided to focus on my race.''

Felix found out about Reed's absence in the tent before the race. Without Reed, her best competition was from sophomore Shalonda Solomon of Long Beach Poly. Last year, Solomon ran the best freshman time in California since Marion Jones, just as Felix last season ran the best sophomore time since Jones. Felix got off to a quick start and beat Solomon by .28.

Felix's accomplishments were high, though not unexpected. She is considered the best female prep sprinter in the state by most.

Travis Patterson, a senior out of Royal of Simi Valley, came out of nowhere to post the fourth-best time in the nation this season in the 800 at 1:53.69.

Competing in the invitational for the first time, Patterson bested his previous personal record by more than two seconds to win a close race. Patterson didn't even make it to the state finals as a junior.

``I expected to get passed up at the end,'' Patterson said. ``Everyone was in the same spot in the final seconds and that really pushed me.''

Noah Smith from Taft of Woodland Hills, the top male sprinter in the area, had a frustrating night. First, Taft finished third in the 400 relay after a bad exchange. Then Smith finished sixth in the 100 with a time of 10.87.

But it was only the second time this season Smith has run the 100. He is moving more toward the 200 and 400. His disappointment was evident after his best event, the 200. Smith finished in fifth place at 21.68, .3 off his personal best.

Smith thought he had a shot to win the 200, but finished more than half a second behind. ``I don't know what's wrong,'' Smith said. ``I felt good coming off the turn, but I had nothing on the second kick.''

In the final event of the night, Taft ran its best 1,600 relay of the year, yet finished third behind Long Beach Poly and Bakersfield. Poly had the fastest time in the nation this season at 3:13.30. Taft's time of 3:15.92 was a second and a half ahead of its time at the Pasadena Games two weeks ago.

Poly clearly has taken over as the top 1,600 relay team in the nation. Taft opened the season as the best by beating Poly twice indoors at the L.A. Invitational and National Scholastic Track and Field Championships. This was the first time this year Poly has defeated Taft in the relay.