This big meet brings out the bests

Garrett Seawell hung back, pounced at the right moment and pushed himself as hard as he could over the final two laps to surge to victory.

Maria Malone wishes she could have won that way – even though she dominated her race.

Either way, the high school juniors capped a day of personal bests for area distance runners Saturday in the Sacramento Meet of Champions at Hughes Stadium by winning their respective 3,200-meter races.

Seawell, of Woodcreek High School, was named the Boys Track Athlete of the Meet for his performance as he shaved four seconds off his personal best to win in 9 minutes, 12.21 seconds. Seawell made his move after the first turn on the seventh of the eight-lap event, racing past Acalanes senior Nate Beach.

"I was just sitting behind, and I knew I had a little leg speed left," Seawell said. "The pacer was slowing down a little bit, so I decided to take over.

"The last lap was just pure adrenaline," he added. "I felt some pain, but not as much as usual. I was mentally ready, and I knew it was going to hurt, but I knew I had to fight through the pain."

Malone, of Folsom, won the girls 3,200 with a PR of 10:45.69. Though the meet program listed her PR at 10:40.55, Malone said that was a converted time from her 3,000 victory in the Stanford Invitational. "I've technically never run (a 3,200) that fast," Malone said.

Although she finished nine seconds ahead of runner-up Kelsey Smith of South Tahoe, Malone said she could have run even faster had the race been closer.

"I really didn't feel like I had my best race," Malone said. "I'm not a very good front leader, but I'll do it if I have to."

Meanwhile, Davis senior Laurynne Chetelat, who entered the girls 1,600 ranked fifth in the state in the event, shaved two-tenths of a second off her personal best, winning in 4:53.37.

Entering the final leg, Chetelat was four seconds off the pace for the national record Alex Kosinski, formerly of Oak Ridge, set in last year's Meet of Champions.

"Coming out today, I knew I wasn't going to be close to Alex's time (of 4:38.15)," Chetelat said. "If I had come in under 4:50, I would have been very happy with that."

In other events, Vacaville swept the boys hurdles races, with senior Marcus McMillan winning the 110 and junior Kyler Martin claiming the 300.

Sacramento-area runners also placed first in all three boys sprint events.

In a matchup of Northern California's top two sprinters, Franklin's Gavin Banks topped fellow senior Gregory Turner of River City in the 100 before Turner won the 200 with a time of 22.11.

Banks said he could have done some things differently.

"I tried to relax and, when I ran, not tense up like I normally do," Banks said. "But I may have to go back to my old style of race."

Asked why, he said, "Because (my time of) 11.02 (in the 100) is terrible."

Grant senior Durawan Howard won the boys 400. He almost became the area's only multievent winner but was edged at the last second by a Monterey runner while finishing the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay.

Rodriguez senior Vijay Tidwell placed first in the boys 800. Vallejo senior Lauran Johnson (girls high jump) was the area's only field event winner.

The Meet of Champions is the last big invitational meet before Sac-Joaquin Section postseason meets begin.

"It's huge," Seawell said. "This is basically our NorCal championship."