Aftershock travels to Golden State:

Fenn, Arellano sisters lead the way

Aftershock Distance Club ventured to Los Angeles during the holiday weekend to take part in the 29th L.A. Jets Invitational, returning home with a second place team trophy, and a 12th place finish as well.

Three girls powered Aftershock to claim second in the women 15-16 division. Penny Fenn, Karen Arellano and Brianna Epperson all scored top-5 finishes in their respective events, giving Aftershock 48 points.

Penny won third in the 800 (2:30.95), second in the 1500 (5:01.63) and won the 3000 in 11:08.74, a new personal best. Teammate Karen was always just behind Penny, competing in the same races and two fifth-place finishes and a third.

Karen finished the 800 in 2:38.01, almost a 10 second drop from her seed time (2:29.51). In the 1500, she did not have such a drop off from her seed time to her final time, which was 5:17.07, and her last race, the 3000, was completed in 11:44.63, which is a new PR for her.

The other athlete to help the 15-16-year-old girls finish second was Brianna. Brianna is the resident hurdler for Aftershock and ran in the 100 and 400-meter hurdles, finishing fifth and third, respectively.

Brianna ended her first race in 20.01, well enough for fifth place, and claimed the bronze in the 400-meter hurdles, where she finished the race in 1:16.67.

The girls' 13-14 team did not have as high of a team finish as their older counterparts, but they also participated in a much deeper field. Of the three races the girls participated in, the 800 had 60 runners and the 1500 had 44.

Allyson Arellano, Karen's younger sister, Rachel Valentine and Swayze Smith all ran for Aftershock in the 800, 1500 and 300. Allyson finished the highest overall with a third place finish (1500) and a gold medal performance in the 300 (10:30.26). The only other top-10 performances were by Allyson in the 800 (ninth) and Rachel in the 3000 (seventh). Allyson and Rachel both PRed by 15 seconds at the meet.