Track and field’s best in California set for Arcadia Invitational

With the state track and field championships canceled for a second consecutive year, the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday at Arcadia High School will serve as an unofficial state championship event, considering that 34 of the entrants have state-leading marks. It’s the best of the best in California competing.

The first running event for the invitational portion of the meet is at 5 p.m. Field events begin at 3:45 p.m. There are also events on Friday and open competition Saturday afternoon. No spectators will be allowed. The event will be livestreamed from its website. Organizers worked hard to get approval from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to hold the competitions and will employ safety protocols to make sure the event goes off without issues.

Just getting an invite this year is a reward to many seniors who have desperately wanted to have an event to show off their skills against top competition and record a time or mark that might convince a college recruiter to take a look.

Among the standouts entered are distance runner Mia Barnett of Crescenta Valley, pole vaulter Paige Sommers of Westlake Village Westlake and the sprinter duo of Domani Jackson of Santa Ana Mater Dei and Patrick Ize-Iyamu of West Hills Chaminade. Newbury Park will be represented by its many outstanding distance runners.

By Saturday night, there should be new athletes to admire after proving they are the best in the state against top competition.

Here’s the link to heat sheets.