Sanchez has a huge day

Simply put, Kayla Sanchez turned in one of the more memorable performances on Saturday by a Nevada high school track athlete.

And Carson High teammate Andrea Keirstead wasn't far behind. Sanchez won the 300-meter hurdles in a personal best 42.98 seconds on Saturday in the Meet of Champions in Sacramento. The meet features some of the nation's top athletes.

The fastest time ever run by Sanchez in the event came on Wednesday when she ran a 42.12 at Elko. But that was a hand held time, so the 42.98 that Sanchez ran will go down officially as her best. The time also ranks roughly among the top 15 times in the country.

In the meet, the top nine entrants ran in the open division and the remaining 18 entrants ran in the varsity division. Sanchez won the open 300 hurdles.

Sanchez also set personal bests in the 100, 200 and long jump. Only two runners - the top two runners in California who are both ranked in the nation's top 10 - beat her in the 100 and 200.

Sanchez finished third in the open 100 in 11.97 seconds. She won the varsity division of the 200 in 24.23, but only California's top two runners had faster times. Sanchez also finished fifth in the long jump at 17 feet, four inches.

Keirstead ran a personal best 45.71 to finish fifth in the open 300 hurdles. She also ran a 15.41 to finish fifth in the open 100 hurdles. In addition, Keirstead finished ninth in the varsity 100 in 12.64 and ninth in the varsity 200 in 25.82. "It was a great day for both of them," Carson coach Todd Ackerman said.