Track leaps, races into record books

By Cybele Zhang, Editor-in-Chief|April 13, 2016

Leyla Namazie ’17 runs at a track meet. She recently set a school record in the 800-meter. Photograph courtesy of Amelia Mathis.

March 2016 was a month for the record books at Archer. Miaya South ’19 and Leyla Namazie ’17 set school records in the pole vault and the 800-meter, respectively.

Pole Vault

South vaults 8'6". It was only her second track meet ever. Image courtesy of Mathis.
South vaults 8’6″. This was her second track meet ever. Image courtesy of Amelia Mathis.

South is Archer’s first ever pole vaulter. She set the school record on March 10 at the Gold Coast Invitational Meet with her first vault for the school. She successfully vaulted 8’6″.

South trains at UCLA with a private coach and has done pole vault for two years.

“The girls have never seen [pole vault] before. So to have someone part of the team who’s jumping [8’6”] is insane,” track coach Amelia Mathis said.

According to a school-wide email, South is currently ranked eighth in the CIF-SS Division 4.

Track

On March 12, Namazie set a school record of her own at the Tri-County Small School Invitational with a 2:18.86 run of the 800-meter. She beat her prior time by about three seconds. It was also a meet record.

Additionally, Namazie set a school record in the mile with a time of 5:31.

“[Namazie] ended last season great,” said Mathis. “She’s come out leading the pack [this season]. I’m anxious to see her pushed because all of her races have been her leading the pack with no competition.”

Namazie runs with a baton. At this meet, Namazie set two school records in the 800m and 1600m run. Image courtesy of Amelia Mathis.
Namazie runs with a baton. At this meet, Namazie set two school records in the 800-meter and 1600-meter run. Image courtesy of Amelia Mathis.

“I started running and figured I could go a little faster, so I sped up a little bit until I was ahead of the group,” Namazie said. “By the first lap I seemed to have a pretty good feeling about what I was doing. I felt like I could go faster and do another lap at that pace. I gave it everything I had.”

She took first place among the 30 schools present.

“Even though I hadn’t trained any differently, I knew my mental approach to running affected me a lot. [I was] more positive and didn’t go onto the start line being traumatized but more excited,” Namazie said.

She is the number two runner in CIF-SS Division 4 and currently ranks #27 in the state.

“It’s been a great start to a great season,” Mathis said. “Those two girls are setting the tone so early; I’m anxious to see how we do in league finals.”