Over the course of an hour, the Arizona high school track and field record book was rewritten again and again and again and again.
Four state records were broken by runners at the Arcadia Invitational in Southern California on April 8, according to the Arizona Republic.
First Williams Field High School (Gilbert, Ariz.) runner Saira Prince won the 100-meter hurdles in 13.58 seconds. She cleared al 10 hurdles and broke the previous mark of 13.59, which was set in 2014.
Defending Div. I state champion Tyler Mathews of Red Mountain High School (Mesa, Ariz.) was the next Valley resident to break an Arizona record. He ran the 800-meter in 1:49.32, eclipsing the former record of 1:50.12. Mathews finished second in the race, falling to someone else with an Arizona connection: Newbury Park star Aaron Sahlman, who is committed to Northern Arizona University.
Mountain Pointe High School (Phoenix) senior Jayden Davis then broke the 400-meter record with a time of 46.45 seconds, besting the previous one by .02 seconds. He finished third in the race.
Davis told the Republic that he felt inspired after watching Prince and Mathews break records.
“Seeing all those Arizona athletes being able to do that, I definitely felt that time, that race at Arcadia was that moment to set the state record,” he said. “Going into it, I was like, ‘This is the time to do it.'”
Prince wasn’t done for the night. She finished the wild hour of Arizona racing in the 300-meter hurdles, winning with a time of 41.24 seconds that broke the previous state record of 41.38.
With that, Arizona runners left their mark on the prestigious California high school race over the course of 60 remarkable minutes.
Visit the Arizona Republic to read more about Saira Prince.
Read the profile on Jayden Davis here.
