Cesar Chavez's Mayen Usoro sets freshman state record in 100 dash at Chandler Rotary

Laveen Cesar Chavez's Mayen Usoro, in the biggest high school track and field meet of her life, made a big splash Saturday in the 83rd annual Nike Chandler Rotary Invitational at Chandler High School.

It is one of the biggest high school track and field meets in the Southwest, attracting top athletes from the West.

She ran the 100 meters in 11.68 seconds to win the girls title. Her time is top 25 in the country this season for a high school girl and it set a state freshman record. Chandler Hamilton's Kori Martin was second at 12 seconds flat.

The meet record is still held by former Chandler sprinter Keri Suell at 11.60.

"I just wanted to make sure I relaxed all the way through my race," Usoro said. "I was hoping to win."

Avondale Agua Fria junior Stacey Onyepunuka, who came into the meet ranked No. 1 in the state for girls in the 100, came up hobbling with a hamstring injury but still managed to finish the race.

In the boys 100, Jordan Washington blew away the field, winning in 10.45, a top-50 time this year in the country. A junior running back at Jordan High in Long Beach, California, he has committed to play football at the University of Arizona.

Chandler senior Andereya Nsubuga was second at 10.62 seconds, which was good enough for the top Arizona 100 time in the state this year.

Washington's time wasn't a personal record.

"It's good, though, because I'm getting back into track," said Washington, who came back later and won the 200 in 21.40, a top-50 time in the USA. "Last year, my goals was to break sub-10 in the 100. I had a slow start with an injury so that was kind of tough. It's kind of good that I'm running this time, because I just got back."

Gilbert Williams Field's Saira Prince won the girls 100 hurdles in 13.86 seconds, a disappointing race for the defending state champion, even though it is a top-25 time in the nation.

"I was not proud of that race," Prince said. "The starts are killing me. We're going to start working on them this coming week. This race, I just can't let it get to me, because it was not my best race."

She was much better in the 300 hurdles, posting a personal best at 42.06, which was a top-10 time in the nation this year.

Williams Field senior Josiah Dye won the boys 110 hurdles in 14.72.

"I have the best coach," Dye said. "I need to just keep moving, run in my own lane."

Gilbert Highland senior Zach Bingham won the boys pole vault at Chandler for the second year in a row, this time at 15 feet, 7 inches. He missed on three tries at 16-6.

"I skipped my next height to go 16-6," he said. "I just couldn't pull it together. My goal is to hit 18 feet. I'm on the poles this year. I just got to do it."

Phoenix Brophy Prep's Brennen McHenry, who set a school record in his ifrst meet this season at 7 feet in the high jump, won that event at Chandler at 6-8. He tried for 6-10 but wasn't able to clear the bar on three tries.

"I wanted to go 6-10, then 7-1 or 7-3, but not today," McHenry said. "It's just one of those days. I'll figure out what went wrong."

McHenry wasn't able to beat his PR in the long jump, but he won in 23 feet, 7 1/2 inches with Julian King of Glendale Mountain Ridge coming in second at 23-0, a PR.

Clare Palin, a senior at Scottsdale Chaparral, won the girls long jump in a persona-record 18-10, a top-50 USA mark.

Kingman Lee Williams senior Drayden Allen, who competes for a school that has about 1,200 students, made a splash in the boys discus, winning at 163-2, a PR and school record and a top-10 mark in the state.

"This is a big deal for me," said Allen, who also played football. "Being able to compete against big guys, it was a big deal for me."

Phoenix North Canyon senior J'neya Hill won the girls 200 in 24.92, edging out Glendale Ironwood senior Jasmine Haskell, who set a personal record at 25.13. Both are top 10 times this year in that event.

Tyler Matthews of Mesa Red Mountain won a loaded boys 800 race in 1 minute, 51.14 seconds. That was a top-10 time in the nation. Tempe Corona del Sol's Tyler Tisinger was second at 1:54.20, a top-25 time in the USA.

Phoenix Mountain Pointe's Jayden Davis had a top-10 time in the country with his win in the boys 400 at 47.04 seconds.

Desert Vista junior wins college meet, smashes state record

Phoenix Desert Vista junior Hayden Gorovitz came to Tucson on Friday just hoping to improve on his javelin throws. He came home as the championship in the collegiate level of the Willie Williams Classic at the University of Arizona. and with another state record.

His distance of 121 feet, 8 inches not only beat out guys four to seven years older than him but crushed his own high school state record of about 203 feet he set in the season's first meet in March at Tempe Corona del Sol.

"I was not going in to win that meet," Gorovitz said. "Went in looking for more runway work for Texas next week. We always want to win meets and place high, but going to a college meet and throwing against a couple national qualifiers is a different story.

"The odds of a junior in high school going up against 19-to-25-year-olds and winning is slim to none. And going into it, I was definitely nervous. Doing my calming techniques and staying true to my fundamentals helped me get those throws in."

His last throw broke his own state record set with an earlier throw on Friday of 219-3 and gave him the title over University of Arizona junior Jared O'Riley.

"I know I have a lot more to go during this long season," Gorovitz said. "Just trying to stay healthy and taking reasonable breaks will help me achieve my goals."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cesar Chavez's Mayen Usoro sets freshman state record in 100 dash