SOUTHERN SECTION TRACK AND FIELD: SAUGUS RUNNER GETS WIN MURAKAMI HANDS BLOOD FIRST LOSS IN 1,600 IN TWO YEARS.Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL Staff Writer NORWALK -- Shannon Murakami had never raced Nicole Blood but felt like she knew her. She's been reading about Blood's accomplishments on the Internet since ninth grade. The Saugus runner never thought she'd face Blood, who transferred to Royal of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of prior to this season. Though Blood developed iconic i·con·ic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or having the character of an icon. 2. Having a conventional formulaic style. Used of certain memorial statues and busts. status from afar, Murakami wasn't intimidated in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. once they got up close and personal. Murakami handed Blood her first high-school loss in more than two years Saturday, winning the 1,600 meters in a Div A DIV Associate of Divinity . I meet-record 4 minutes, 44.32seconds at the Southern Section Divisional track finals in Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public comprehensive community college founded in 1955 located in Norwalk, California. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a ranch that served prominently in the region in the 19th century. . Murakami jumped out to an early lead, but Blood moved ahead just before the start of the final lap There is also Final Lap (novel), a novel in the Traces series by Malcolm Rose. Final Lap is a video game released by Namco and Atari Games (for the Americas) in 1987 which was the unofficial sequel to the popular Pole Position games. . ``With 600 to go, I felt really strong, so I went,'' said Blood, the national leader in the event last year. ``I thought I had it. But, with 300 to go, my legs weren't there. Maybe I should have waited longer.'' Murakami took the lead back 150 meters into the final lap and pulled away impressively. Blood finished in 4:51.03. ``I knew what she was looking to do, and it came down to who had the most heart,'' Murakami said. ``I think I wanted it more.'' This figures to be the first of three meetings between Murakami and Blood, culminating in a battle for the state title in two weeks. The hard run left Murakami tired for the 800, where she finished second in Div. I and third overall in 2:11.30. Blood took second in the division and third overall in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10:37.19. Division winners and the top finishers up to ninth place advanced to the Masters meet, which will be Friday. Twelve advanced in the 3,200 meters. Earlier this season at the Arcadia Invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. , Michael Cybulski watched with regret as fourrunners went less than 9minutes in a 3,200 meters that he decided not to run. The Royal runner finally joined the 9-minute club himself Saturday with a top qualifying mark of 8:55.35. ``I knew I could break 9:00, I just needed the right race,'' Cybulski said. ``It's hard to do when there's nobody there to push you.'' The time moved Cybulski up to fourth in the state, and is 7seconds better than what he won the state title with last year. Rarely has Elizabeth Olear felt well enough to run her best in four events in a prep career filled with nagging injuries. The Louisville of Woodland Hills sprinter had one of those days Saturday, and hopes to finish out high school with a couple more. Olear won four Div. IV titles, all in personal or team records. She placed second overall in the 100 (11.55) and 200 (23.53), and helped the school's relays to wins. She anchored the 1,600 team to a Div. IV record 3:49.31. ``Over and over, I've prayed and iced and talked to the doctor about feeling this way,'' said Olear, who didn't completely recover from a hamstring injury hamstring injury Sports medicine A muscle injury of biceps femoris, seen in sprinters and runners, when a contracted muscle meets a lengthening force, overpowering intrinsic muscle resiliency Management RICE, NSAIDs, gradual ↑ of pain-free activity–eg, until last week. ``I'm ecstatic. I could do another race.'' Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and Oaks Christian of Westlake Village won boys team titles in Div. III and Div.IV. Rodney Glass led Notre Dame, continuing to put up great times without competition. His 10.38 in the 100meters and 21.27 in the 200, both bests at the meet, each were .06 off his top marks. ``More than individual goals, winning the division team title is something I've been shooting for since the season started,'' Glass said. ``I'm glad to accomplish that goal.'' After two long years of injuries and learning to jump off of her right leg, Lauren Reid returned to the form that had her looking like a future state contender as a sophomore. The Rio Mesa of Oxnard athlete leaped 19 feet, 4 1/2 inches on her first attempt to win the Div. III title and place as the top seed heading into Masters. The distance equaled her personal best from before a knee injury deprived her of a junior season. ``I'm really happy with that,'' Reid said. ``It's been my goal all year to get back to where I was before.'' It was not a wholly encouraging day for Reid, however. On her second jump, she tweaked See tweak. the hamstring hamstring /ham·string/ (ham´string) one of the tendons bounding the popliteal space laterally and medially. inner hamstring the tendons of gracilis, sartorius, and two other muscles of the leg. in her right leg. She passed on her final two jumps and pulled out of the triple jump. She hopes to by healed by Friday. Andrew Steben from St. Francis of La Canada-Flintridge won the Div. III title and placed second overall in the pole vault pole vault Track-and-field event consisting of a vault for height over a crossbar with the aid of a long pole. It became a competitive sport in the mid-19th century and was included in the first modern Olympic Games. with a leap of 15-6. Curtis Marsh of Royal went from an unknown to state leader and back to obscurity in a week's span. The long jumper, who leaped 23-9 1/2 last week at the preliminaries, failed to advance after dropping to 21-3 3/4 for a sixth- place finish in Div. I. matthew.kredell@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Saugus High's Shannon Murakami wins the girls' 1,600 meters in a Div. I meet-record 4 minutes, 44:32 seconds. (2) Rodney Glass' performances helped Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks to the Div. III boys' title. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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