The Annual Arnie Robinson Invitational, held at San Diego Mesa College, is a two-day event honoring the legendary Olympic gold medalist who began his collegiate career at Mesa before transferring to San Diego State University.

An icon in the track and field world, Robinson graduated from Morse High School and claimed the 1970 NCAA Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the long jump. He won the Olympic Trials twice in the long jump, a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympic Games, and went on to a gold medal in 1976. Robinson holds seven national long jump titles, six outdoors, and was a leader outside of competition,  Robinson also invested his own time and finances into growing track and field youth participation in San Diego.

On the women’s side, the 4x100m relay team (Mallory Wotursky, Helena Baez, Kassie Lofgran, Abrielle Hagans) opened the meet with a victory in 47.18, ranking #2 in the state and #7 all-time. The 4x400m relay team (Helena Baez, Jazzlyn Islas, Kayden Coker, Bianca Calafato) closed the meet with another win in 3:53.95, also #2 in the state and #6 all-time. Calafato had a strong anchor leg, with a split time of 55.9, pulling away from Cuyamaca by three seconds over the final 150 meters.

Jazzlyn Islas once again delivered, winning the 1500m in 4:36.89, a state-leading mark and #2 all-time, after a close battle with Claire Boneau of USD. She returned to win the 800m in 2:16.36. Abrielle Hagans continued her solid season in the long jump, posting a state-leading mark of 5.95m (19'6.25"). Heptathlete Emily Pesch recorded a breakthrough performance in the 100m hurdles, clocking 14.85 to achieve a State A standard, ranking #4 in the state and #6 all-time. Helena Baez also had a strong meet, winning the 400m in 56.65, earning a State A mark and #7 all-time ranking.