Despite absence of competition, Crawford, Davis-Lyric, Graves-Blanks and January eclipse 1983 fully automated mark by Long Beach Millikan, along with hand-timed performance the following year by Hawthorne to run 57.75 for fastest effort in meet history, No. 12 all-time among U.S. prep lineups

By Landon Negri for Dyestat

ARCADIA — The record book will show Upland’s 4-x-110-meter shuttle hurdles team was by itself, separated historically from others by more than a second Friday at the 53rd Arcadia Invitational.

Really, though, all you had to do was watch to appreciate how alone the Highlanders were.

Running unopposed after originally being scheduled to compete against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, the team of Kai Graves-Blanks, Davis Davis-Lyric, Dequan January and Delaney Crawford obliterated the shuttle hurdles marks for the meet, and for the state of California, by more than a second with a time of 57.75 seconds at Arcadia High.

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Breaking the state record meant knocking off a mark set 38 years ago by Long Beach Millikan at 59.17. The previous meet record, set by Brophy Prep of Phoenix in 2007, was 59.28. There was also a hand-timed performance of 58.6 produced by Hawthorne at the 1984 Mt. SAC Relays that only added extra motivation for the Highlanders.

It was also the No. 12 performance in U.S. prep history, with Upland ascending to the No. 10 school all-time in the event. The national record is 56.32 achieved by Westside High of Anderson, S.C., in 2004.

“Anything under 58.5 to break the record,” January said, when asked of the team’s goal Friday. “We got that. We ran it by ourselves, so we got that next year, too.”

It truly was an odd sight to see Upland running by itself with no one in a lane on either side, or anywhere on the track. But Graves-Blanks said the Highlanders felt right at home.

“We trained like that every day at practice,” he said, “and we finally got the result that we wanted.”

Graves-Blanks opened with a leg in 14.2. Davis-Lyric went next, and though he wasn’t sure what his time was, he expressed disappointment in knowing it wasn’t a personal best, but was happy about the record.

Then he was reminded the team mark set records by more than a second.

“Oh, seriously?” he said.

After January’s third leg, Crawford closed in a time he wanted, striding in at 13.9 seconds to cement the time and touch a wild celebration along with the Upland girls’ team.

“My goal was to go any 13-split,” Crawford said, “and I got it, so I’m proud of (myself) and I’m proud of my boys.”

Friday was not a crowning achievement for the shuttle hurdles; nor was it for Crawford. There’s more to come.

He will run for Upland on both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and compete against Stockton St. Mary’s junior Jadyn Marshall in the 300 hurdles Saturday in a showdown of elite multi-sport athletes and the top two competitors in the state in the event.

For the team itself, all four boys plan to return for the 2022 track season, and they’re already setting sights on breaking their own shuttle hurdles record next year. Graves-Blanks even suggested chasing 56 seconds.

“It means a lot,” Crawford said. “This whole year, we’ve been preparing for the shuttle hurdle relay record. Record, record, record, and we got it. We’re so proud.”

The Upland girls didn’t set records but did run 1:00.24 in the event with seniors Jordyn Grady, Ajah Anderson, freshman London Davis and senior Cieanna Norman-Thomas. The Highlanders are the first girls program in meet history to break 1:00.50 three times, including their program record 58.50 in 2018.

Long Beach Poly is the only other girls program in state history to also run under 1:00.50 on three occasions.

“Even though we didn’t get the record like we wanted,” Grady said, “the boys did it for us.”