Williams’ Night Is More Than a Qualified Success

It was no accident that Sade Williams of Rancho Cucamonga won the 200- and 400-meter races during the Southern Section Masters track meet Friday evening at Cerritos College.

The sophomore from Rancho Cucamonga, among the top runners in the nation at those distances, turned in times that rank among the top four high school marks in the nation this year.

But doing it on a day when her mission was solely to qualify for next week’s state meet wasn’t exactly her plan.

“My intention was to just qualify for next week,” said Williams, who ran the 200 in 23.56 seconds and the 400 in 52.88. “If I happen to win and run a good time, then that’s a bonus.”

That’s the attitude of many elite athletes at the Masters meet, which is little more than a state qualifying meet. The top five finishers in each event and anyone else who meets qualifying marks advance to the state meet next week at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.

The first-place finisher in each event was given a small medal, but there were no team scores and most weren’t really concerned with winning, which is why Williams was among the few who turned in a national-caliber performance.

Mark Matusak of Los Angeles Loyola, the defending state champion in the 1,600, finished fourth in the event Friday in 4:12.14. He ran 4:07.94 -- the second-fastest time in the nation this year -- in the section finals last week.

“My plan was to just run comfortably and finish in the top five,” he said. “I liked what I did out there. I felt good during the 3,200 so I know I didn’t go too hard.”

Knowing when to push hard and when to hold back is especially challenging for distance runners because meets this time of year are scheduled so close together. League preliminaries, league finals, section finals, Masters, state prelims and the state finals all take place within four weeks.

“I don’t know if it’s too much, but it’s a lot,” Matusak said. “The toughest thing is to be patient because sometimes you feel good and you want to push it, but you have to save some for next week.”

Ebony Collins of Long Beach Wilson took the same approach. Competing in four events Friday, she refrained from pushing herself too early. She placed second in the 100 and third in the 100 hurdles, then let loose in the 300 hurdles with a first-place 41.07 -- the second-best high school time this year.

“I wanted to win all of them, but I’ll take qualifying,” said Collins, a junior who also ran a leg on Wilson’s winning 1,600-meter relay team. “I haven’t been consistent this year so it feels good to get back to where I was last year.”

Rodney Glass of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame took a slightly different approach. Like everyone else, he said qualifying for state was his main goal, but he also was gunning for a personal best in the 100. He achieved both when he ran 10.51.

“I just want to keep improving every week,” said Glass, a junior whose time ranks among the top 10 in the nation this year. “I got a good start so that was the key.”

Huntington Beach Edison junior Tori Pena caught the attention of the crowd during the pole-vault competition. She easily cleared 13 feet 1 inch on her second attempt, becoming the fourth high school girl to surpass 13 feet this year outdoors.

She then set her sights on clearing 13-8, which would have been the second-best vault ever by a high school girl, but came up short.