SACRAMENTO — Records are made to be broken, and in some cases, again and again.
Manteca High’s Zion Allen eclipsed his own 200-meter-dash school record on Saturday night, taking first place at the prestigious Meet of Champions Invitational in 21.71 seconds at American River College’s Beaver Stadium.
Earlier in the meet Allen placed fourth in the 100 (10.79).
“I got out of my blocks good this time,” Allen said of the 200. “I got off hard in the curve and in the straightaway I just opened up.”
Allen was not the only one to set a school record. Despite a very physical start and being in last place with 300 meters to go, East Union’s Evan Cooper came from behind to finish third and set a new school record in the 800 in 1 minute, 56.48 seconds The old record of 1:57.4 was held by his uncle, Kevin Cooper, and was set at the Meet of Champions in 2007.
“It was a good race,” Evan Cooper said. “I got pushed to the back straight away.
“With 300 meters left I was in the back and I started picking up, picking up. I decided to take off and try to close.”
Cooper anchored the 4x400 relay with Gerardo Cleto-Herrera, Cesar Salinas and Kainoa Ontai to a sixth-place finish (3:27.48).
Ripon’s Anthony Saucedo got out of the blocks in a hurry in the 300 hurdles and never looked back, winning the race in 38.97. Sausedo was eighth in the 100 (15.36) and earlier in the day in the open meet was sixth in the 4x400 relay (3:32.74) with Norberto Quintero, Jaden Hamilton and Devin Fitzpatrick.
“Coming into the 300s I knew I was ranked first,” Sausedo said. “But everyone here is super talented and super skilled. So I went into it with a strong mentality and pushed it as hard as I could. I didn’t get a PR, but I am proud of myself for what I did.
“I have the endurance, so I have been working on getting out fast like I did today.”
East Union’s Taylor Snaer overcame a tough draw in lane 7 of the girls 400 to finish third in 57.094, just missing second place won by Edison’s Aliyah Williams (57.091). She finished seventh in the 200 (25.49).
“I was in lane 7 in the 400,” Snaer said. “I knew I had to get out and get past 8 and 9 and try and keep up with the people behind me. It was all about getting out fast.”
Sierra’s Jeontay Berry set a new personal best and finished sixth in the long jump (22 feet, 1 inch).
“I feel great,” Berry said. “I PR’d twice today and I am happy about that.
“This is a goal that I set and I am proud that I did it.”
East Union’s Cooper Freeman ran in both the invitational and open meets, finishing 10th in the invitational 3,200 (9:26.39) and third in the open 1,600 (4:24.10).
Placers in the girls open meet were Manteca’s Alyson Schneider (second, long jump, 17-7), Ripon’s Annie Wild (third, 3,200, 11:35.24), Ripon’s 4x400 relay (fourth, 4:10.69, Wild, Jenna Skavdahl, Emily Paxton, Starla Skiles), Lathrop’s Alaba Olaleye (fourth, 33-10 ½, triple jump), East Union’s Jazmine Gutierrez (fifth, 103-0, discus) and Gabby Delgado (sixth, 102-4, discus).