Almost a third of the way through the Central High School track and field schedule there is a strange entry, right between the Queen City Invitational in Spearfish on April 8, and the Rapid City Track-O-Rama at O’Hara Stadium on April 16. It’s the Arcadia Invitational Track and Field Meet in Los Angeles.

Okay, kids, everyone on the bus! We’re going to LaLa Land. What the….! Where did that come from?

It came from patient calculation.

Several months ago, Central High School junior Tony Smoragiewicz plotted his spring assault on the South Dakota state record for the 3,200 meter race. It promised to be a daunting task. The record is held by Erik Grumstrup of Stevens who set the mark in 2001 with a time of 8:56.30. No one has come close since.

Among high school champions there is magic in the 9-minute barrier. Run below it, and you are among the elite high school runners in the nation. Run just above the 9-minute mark, and you are…really good.

How good was Grumstrup’s time of 8:56.30?

Consider this. Jeff Grossenburg of Yankton won last year’s 3,200 in the state finals with a time of 9:29.85…a full 34 seconds behind Grumstrup. Tony Smoragiewicz, only a sophomore last year, came in second with a time of 9:31.16. When I sat down with Tony last month to talk about the upcoming track season, he knew he was facing a near impossible task. He would have to cut 35 seconds off his best time from last year. That’s where the Arcadia Invitational Track Meet came into play.

If Tony wanted to be pushed to his best time, he wasn’t going to be pushed at the Queen City Invitational in Spearfish. He needed to be pushed by the best runners in the nation. Arcadia is where high school runners go to break records. Last year 16 different runners ran the 3,200 under 9 minutes.

When Tony was invited to the Arcadia meet in February, on the back of his outstanding cross-country season, he approached Dave Dolan, the Central High School track coach, and asked him to petition the South Dakota High School Activities Association to add the Arcadia Invitational to the Central schedule so that it would count as a state sanctioned track meet…for just one runner.

While the top runners in the nation were training in sunny California, Tony was slogging through last week’s snow. And then he caught cold. But he got on the plane Thursday morning (AP chemistry homework tucked safely in his backpack), and took his place at the start line Saturday night. Under the circumstances, he hoped for a solid showing. Maybe he could cut ten or fifteen seconds off of last year’s time. Maybe he could break the Central High School record of 9:23.

“The first two hundred yards, everyone went out really fast.” Tony explained after the race. “I was glad I stayed back in the pack. I knew they were going to fly out at the beginning. Then I just made my way to the front as the race went on. I ran the first mile in 4:30 flat, so I knew that I could break 9 minutes, and with one lap to go I knew I was going to be under 9.”

Tony ran the Arcadia Invitational 3,200 in a time of 8:57.65. He came in seventh. Arcadia senior, Ammar Moussa, the hometown hero, won the race in a time of 8:49.59.

True to its reputation as the best high school track meet in the country, ten runners finished under 9 minutes. (http://www.royalresults.com/liveresults/110408F034.htm)

Tony knocked 34 seconds off his state finals time from last year. Now, halfway through the 2011 track season, he is less than one second behind Erik Grumstrup’s state record.