Showdown Coming in 100 Final

SACRAMENTO —  The 100-meter dash takes place midway through a track meet, but after the preliminaries during the state championships Friday at Hughes Stadium, organizers might want to move today’s finals to the end, saving the best for last.

Jamere Holland of Woodland Hills Taft ran 10.38 seconds in his heat, equaling his personal best and the best time in the nation by a high school sprinter this year. Rodney Glass of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame was only a step behind, qualifying in 10.43 seconds -- fourth in the nation this year.

“I came here to win,” said Holland, who added that he wanted to send the following message: “I can’t be messed with.”

Holland backed up that claim when he won his 200-meter heat in 20.92 -- a personal best and third in the nation this year.

Glass’ 100 time was a personal best, but the news wasn’t all good for Notre Dame. Hurdler Garrett Green might be lost for the meet after an accident during the 300 hurdles.

Val Dai’Re of Atwater Colony, running in Lane 5, kicked over the second-to-last hurdle into Green’s Lane 6. Green tripped over the fallen hurdle, tumbled and bruised a knee.

Green, whose state meet qualifying time ranked fourth out of 27 runners in the preliminaries, finished the race but did not advance to the finals. Notre Dame coaches filed a protest, but officials ruled that because on-track officials did not raise a flag indicating an infraction, Green had no recourse.

Green ran a leg on the 400 relay team that qualified for the finals earlier in the day but did not run on the 1,600 relay team, which qualified for the final spot. The injury probably will keep Green out of the relays today.

Ebony Collins of Long Beach Wilson ran the 300 hurdles in 40.80 -- the second-fastest high school time in the nation -- and won her preliminary easily.