Champ Page won the 400-meter dash at the Arcadia Invitational with the fifth fastest time in the country Saturday night in Arcadia, California.
Page, the All-Met Athlete of the Year indoors, got a big challenge from the eight-man field but he was too strong down the stretch. The Wise senior beat Arnold Carrillo from Nevada to the line in 47.31, a personal-best time.
Page, who is signed to Ohio State, also finished fifth in the 200 (21.81).
The Arcadia Invitational is one of the most prestigious high school meets in the country, attracting some of the best athletes in the United States as well as abroad to run under the lights.
Page wasn’t the only local athlete to take the three-day, 2,700-mile trip to Southern California. Seniors Ronald Darby and Dondre Echols of Potomac (Md.) went as well and both turned in outstanding performances.
Darby missed virtually the entire indoor season because of injury, but showed on Saturday that he is almost completely back. He was second in the 100 (10.55) and third in the 200 (21.35).
Echols had a pair of runner-up performances. The All-Met took the track at dusk in the 110 hurldles and froze the clock in 13.71. He had the lead during the first half of the race, but stumbled a bit after clipping the seventh hurdle. That allowed junior Devon Allen of Arizona to slip by for the win (13.52).
Later in the 300 hurdles, when the meet was completely under the lights, Echols finished second in 37.11. The South Carolina signee found himself locked up with Allen once more, but Allen got the better of him again and crossed first in 36.39.
“It was a good race. He was stronger,” Echols said.
Echols’s 110 hurdles time is fifth fastest in the country so far this season—it was just his second time running the event this year—and his time in the 300 hurdles is fourth fastest in the country this season.
“It was a pretty big track meet for us,” said Echols, adding that the best part was a trip to the Los Angeles beaches and a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard. “All eyes were on you. That was pretty cool.”