His coaches at Helix, where Brandon Arrington, Jr., competed as a freshman, believed the 400 meters might be his best event. Having dominated the California 100 and 200-meter scene since transferring to Mount Miguel in 2024, Arrington, Jr., took a fling at the 400 last week.
Arrington raced to a :46.51 clocking in the season’s final dual meet against Grossmont and vaulted into second place in California behind the :45.69 of Temecula Valley’s Jack Stadlman.
The Matadors’ junior also became the fourth San Diego county runner to cover the distance in under 47 seconds and he ranks 11th in the country in the event this season.
Until the late 1970s San Diego County schools competed in the 440-yard, quartermile distance. The distance for 400 meters is 437.443 yards with a conversion to metrics being 0.3 seconds.
Fully electronic times also affect hand stopwatch timing, depending on the distance.
Many old 440-yard races started from a chute and covered just one turn of the track and 220-yard races were on a straightaway.
Mission Bay star Jim Cerveny’s 1957 state meet record of 1:52.7 in the 880 at Berkeley began in a chute and covered three turns of the track.
EVOLUTION OF 440-YARD RECORDS
| OFFICAL TIME | YEAR | NAME | SCHOOL | WITH METRIC CONVERSION |
| :51.6 | 1913 | Leslie Dana | San Diego | :51.3 |
| :49.6 | 1929 | Irvine (Cotton) Warburton | San Diego | :49.3 |
| :49.5 | 1937 | John Fawcett | Coronado | :49.2 |
| :49.3 | 1946 | Norman Stocks | San Diego | :49.0 |
| :49.2 | 1961 | Scott Knox | Coronado | :48.9 |
| :48.5 | 1963 | Tom Agsten | Hoover | :48.2 |
| 47.6 | 1965 | Mike Singletary | San Diego | :47.3 |
| :47.3 | 1970 | Milton Mitchell | Lincoln | :47.0 |
| 1971 | Donald Tyler | Lincoln | :47.0 | |
| :47.28 | 1979 | Tony Banks | Morse | :46.98 |
EVOLUTION OF 400 METERS RECORDS
| OFFICIAL TIME | YEAR | NAME | SCHOOL | CONVERTED TO YARDS |
| :47.22 | 1988 | Michael Stevenson | Morse | :47.52 |
| :47.07 | 1995 | Clinton Lane | Patrick Henry | :47.37 |
| :46.85 | 1996 | Lydell Burston | Morse | :47.15 |
| :46.48 | 2023 | Adren Parker | Helix | :46.78 |
2025 ATHLETIC.NET TOP 25 MARKS IN CALIFORNIA
BOYS
| EVENT | MARK | NAME, SCHOOL | STATE | OTHER STATE | NAME | SCHOOL, SECTION |
| 100 | :10.21 | Arrington, Jr., Mount Miguel, | 1st | :10.30w; :10.62 | Clayton, Jr. | Oak Hills , Southern |
| 200 | :20.35 | Arrington, Jr. | 1st | :21.10 | Stadlman | Temecula Valley, Southern |
| 400 | :46.51 | Arrington, Jr. | 2nd | :45.69 | Stadlman | |
| 800 | 1:50.39 | Bowman, Sage Creek | 1st | 1:50.45 | Obando | L.B. Wilson, Southern |
| 1:53.25 | Arnaudy, St. Augustine | 17th | ||||
| 1600 | 4:08.75 | Bowman | 9th | 4:04.88 | Noonan | Dana Point Dana Hills, Southern |
| MILE | 4:10.16 | Bowman | 4th | 4:07.71 | Pretre | Atherton Menlo, Central Coast |
| 3200 | 9:08.87 | Wilbur, Cathedral | — | 8:49.30 | Pretre | |
| Two Miles | 10:01.06 | Delicino, San Diego | 10th | 9:44.28 | Mendonca | Hilmar, Sac-Joaquin |
| 110 Hurdles | :13.47w; :13.62 | Fontenot, San Diego | 1st | :13.85 | Bright | Murrieta Mesa, Southern |
| :13.86 | Bryant, Ramona | 3rd | ||||
| :13.99 | Reese, San Marcos | 5th | ||||
| :14.22 | Bailey, Mission Bay | 12th | ||||
| :14.45 | Wong, Rancho Bernardo | 23rd | ||||
| 330 Hurdles | :37.75 | Fontenot | 6T | :36.57 | Andrade | Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda, Southern |
| :38.27 | Bailey | 15th | ||||
| :38.29 | Reese | 16T | ||||
| :38.74 | Kim, University City | 24th | ||||
| :38.76 | De Hoyos, Helix | 25th | ||||
| 4×100 Relay | :42.00 | Helix | — | :40.00 | Anaheim Servite, Southern | |
| 4×400 Relay | 3:19.89 | Del Norte | 21st | 3:09.94 | L.B. Poly, Southern | |
| 3:19.93 | Helix | 22nd | ||||
| 3:21.03 | Mt. Carmel | 24th | ||||
| 3:21.51 | Point Loma | 25th | ||||
| 4×800 Relay | 7:52.61 | Scripps Ranch | 17th | 7:35.01 | Temecula Great Oak, Southern | |
| 7:54.71 | Del Norte | 20th | ||||
| High Jump | 6-7 | Cheeks, Mission Bay | 12T | 6-11 | Mitchell | Antelope, Sac-Joaquin |
| Long Jump | 23-8 | Evans-Glynn, Cathedral | 8T | 24-7 | Washington | Perris Orange Vista, Southern |
| 23-6 | Oluwa, Mater Dei | 10T | ||||
| Triple Jump | 47-8 | Daley, El Camino | 9th | 49-11 ¼ | Smith | Quartz Hill, Southern |
| Shot Put | 52-9 ½ | Gibbs, Oceanside | — | 68-4 | Madsen | Clovis North, Central |
| Discus | 168-2 | Polak, Granite Hills | 19th | 211-6 | Madsen | |
| Pole Vault | 17-1 | Anderson, University City | 1T | Muhammad | Pittsburg North Coast | |
| 16-2 | Yarbrough, San Dieguito | 6T | ||||
| Sbuttoni IV, St. Augustine | 6T | |||||
| 15-9 | Suhar, Torrey Pines | 13th | ||||
| 15-6 | Doomey, Ramona | 19T | ||||
| Sotelo, Grossmont | 19T | |||||
| 15-3 | Stroschine, Scripps Ranch | 25T | ||||
| van Guenther, Otay Ranch | 25T |
GIRLS
| EVENT | MARK | NAME,
SCHOOL |
STATE | OTHER STATE | NAME | SCHOOOL, SECTION |
| 100 | :11.70 | Gilhooly, Coronado | 10th | :11:36 | Cole | Redondo Beach Redondo, Southern |
| 200 | :24.13w; 24.73 | Gilhooly | 13T | :23.41w; 23.68 | Wright | Trabuco Hills, Southern |
| 400 | :53.92 | Makenna Herbst, Carlsbad | 2nd | :53.77 | Whitehead | Fontana Summit, Southern |
| :55.66 | Morgan Herbst, Carlsbad | 19T | ||||
| :56.10 | Daniels, Steele Canyon | 24th | ||||
| 800 | 2:04.72 | Makenna Herbst | 1st | 2:07.72 | Packard | San Juan Capistrano J Serra, Southern |
| 2:07.99 | Dailey, La Jolla | 3rd | ||||
| 2:10.82 | Arciaga, Westview | 13th | ||||
| 2:12.25 | Miracco, Sage Creek | 22nd | ||||
| 1600 | 4:40.28 | Dailey | 1st | 4:43.08 | Lieberman | Murrieta Valley, Southern |
| 4:46.70 | Williams, Eastlake | 4th | ||||
| 4:53.20 | Aguirre, Patrick Henry | 20th | ||||
| MILE | 4:41.92 | Dailey | 1st | 4:44.87 | ||
| 4:54.69 | Aguirre | 9th | ||||
| 4:58.78 | Ramos, Point Loma | 24th | ||||
| 3200 | 9:58.2 | Dailey | 1st | 9:58.17 | Thomsen | Santa Rosa Montgomery, North Coast |
| 10:17.63 | Williams | 8th | ||||
| 10:30.26 | Aguirre | 11th | ||||
| Two Miles | 12:08.18 | Vasquez, Calexico | 12th | 10:01.72 | Thomsen | |
| 12:22.11 | Stechschulte, Escondido Charter | 14th | ||||
| 100 Hurdles | :12.99w; :13.16 | Bowen-Fontenot, San Diego | 1st | :13.96 | Lopes | Fresno Central, Central |
| :14.07 | Thomas, Grossmont | 8th | ||||
| :14.29 | Mack, Otay Ranch | 10th | ||||
| :14.44w :14.8 | Allison, Steele Canyon | 11th | ||||
| :14.57 | Nardi, Carlsbad | 16th | ||||
| :14.67w :14.89 | Czyszczon, Del Norte | 19th | ||||
| 300 Hurdles | :40.26 | Morgan Herbst, Carlsbad | :1st | :40.56 | Edwards | L.B. Wilson, Southern |
| :41.25 | Bowen-Fontenot | 3rd | ||||
| :42.19 | Mack | 6th | ||||
| :43.43 | Echsner, Del Norte | 15th | ||||
| :43.95 | Miracco, Sage Creek | 22nd | ||||
| 4×100 Relay | :46.80 | Carlsbad | 8th | :45.21 | Fullerton Rosary, Southern | |
| :47.20 | Steele Canyon | 12th | ||||
| :48.13 | Coronado | 24th | ||||
| 4×400 Relay | 3:46.95 | Carlsbad | 2nd | 3:39.60 | L.B. Wilson, Southern | |
| 3:55.20 | Westview | 15th | ||||
| 3:56.59 | Steele Canyon | 20th | ||||
| 3:57.61 | Eastlake | 23rd | ||||
| 4×800 Relay | 9:13.06 | Scripps Ranch | 5th | 8:53.85 | San Juan Capistrano J Serra, Southern | |
| 9:13.22 | Cathedral | 6th | ||||
| 9:16.10 | Del Norte | 10th | ||||
| High Jump | 5-4 | Schroeder, Otay Ranch | 24T | 5-10 | Cottrill | Newhall Hart, Southern |
| Ortiz, El Centro Central | 24T | |||||
| Long Jump | 18-7 ¾ | Estes, Canyon Crest | 17th | 19-10 | Webster | L.B. Wilson, Southern |
| 18-6 | Jones, Oceanside | 23rd | ||||
| Triple Jump | 39-10 ¾w; 39-4 | Jones | 2nd | 40-10 | Varner | Rancho Cucamonga, Southern |
| Shot Put | 39-9 1/2 | Ford, Helix | 17th | 50-7 | Massey | Aliso Niguel, Southern |
| Discus | 148-3 | Frankel, Sage Creek | 8th | 173-3 | Williams | Redlands, Southern |
| Pole Vault | 13-9 | Echsner | 1st | 12-11 | Bettinger | Los Alamitos, Southern |
| 12-8 | Condiff, Canyon Crest | 4th | ||||
| 12-5 | Khieu, Del Norte | 8th | ||||
| 12-3 | Humer, Rancho Bernardo | 12th | ||||
| 12-0 | Bugayong, Rancho Bernardo | 15T | ||||
| 11-9 | Roznovsky, Canyon Crest | 20T |
Currently listed State leader in both “girls” horizontal jumps is a biological male.
Bizarre stat, Matt. Will be interesting to observe moving forward.