Lane Already Standing Among Cross Country Giants

Malibu star possesses unlimited potential after winning Foot Locker national title as a sophomore

By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

The future of high school girls cross country in California, and perhaps the nation, was on center stage Saturday at the Foot Locker Championships, where no athlete stood taller in San Diego than 5-foot-2, 94-pound giant Claudia Lane.

The Malibu High sophomore standout enjoyed the finest performance of her young career in America’s Finest City by becoming the ninth girls champion from the Golden State in the meet’s 38-year history to win the girls individual title.

It was a journey that began with summer workouts by Zuma Beach and ended at a ceremony on Coronado Island.

It was a pursuit that started near Pacific Coast Highway and reached its final destination at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.

And it was a transformation from being one of the most promising freshmen in her state to the most dominant sophomore in the country.

“It’s been crazy. I didn’t think I would be here this year. Just the progression throughout the season and with the help of my coaches, I’ve been able to make it this far,” Lane said. “It’s been super fun and I’m just so grateful for all this.”

A year after winning just one competition, Lane won all but one of her 14 races, the lone setback a second-place finish behind Nike Cross Nationals winner Brie Oakley of Grandview CO in the Bob Day girls sweepstakes race Sept. 17 at the Woodbridge Classic in Norco.

In her 13 victories, Lane boasted an average margin of victory of 70 seconds, three times winning by more than two minutes.

During the postseason, Lane prevailed by an average of 47 seconds, with the closest margin a 17:04.8 to 17:08.3 victory over senior Nevada Mareno of Leesville Road NC in the Foot Locker national final to become the first sophomore since 2012 to win the championship.

“It means so much to me because like I said, I never expected to be here this year, so the fact that I was given the opportunity to go to one of these national meets is really special for me,” Lane said. “My parents and coaches and teammates and friends have all been so supportive of me and that’s helped me so much and I’m so grateful for this sport and what it’s done for me.”

Lane became only the third California sophomore to win a national title, following Santa Rosa’s Julia Stamps capturing the Foot Locker crown in 1994 and Simi Valley’s Sarah Baxter securing the NXN championship in 2011.

She also became the first sophomore to win the Division 4 state title since 2009 and broke 10th-grade course records during the season previously held by All-Americans Jessica Tonn of Xavier College Prep AZ, Mission Prep’s Jordan Hasay, Ukiah’s Amber Trotter and Stamps.

“It’s so incredible to see that improvement and how far she’s come,” Malibu senior Abby Blackwood said. “Knowing what she’s capable of and having confidence in herself have had a huge impact on what she’s done this season. They have been huge factors.”

Blackwood and the rest of the nation quickly learned how capable Lane was in her season opener Sept. 9 at the Seaside Invitational in Ventura after she clocked 16:25, a sophomore record on the 3-mile course and the No. 3 time in meet history.

It was an improvement of more than three minutes from the first high school race of Lane’s career, a testament to not only her progress as a runner, but her understanding of the sport and overall development as an athlete.

“That was insane. That was probably the craziest race I’ve ever seen in my life. I was in so much shock seeing that because I thought she would have run in the low 17s,” Blackwood said. “Last year, she was so timid during races and she didn’t know who to run with. She’s such a smarter runner now in terms of knowing her pacing and how much she can push herself.”

Lane joined the Malibu program because of her passion for running, but with little knowledge of cross country and minimal summer training, resulting in a modest start to her career.

By the time the postseason arrived, Lane began to show glimpses of what the future could hold, finishing second in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 final and 13th at the state meet.

“I think that’s why she blossomed a lot at the end of the year in cross country is because she became a lot more experienced,” Blackwood said. “She knew she could start off faster and still be fine at the end of the race.”

With a desire to continue her improvement, Lane trained consistently in the offseason, before a knee injury during the spring track schedule resulted in her being sidelined for a month before she returned in April after strengthening her hips.

“Last year I was just introduced to the sport, so I didn't know you had to take days off,” Lane said. “I thought you could just go hard every day and obviously that wasn't the case, so I really had to learn how to give myself a recovery day and take a break. Actually taking a break some days really builds your strength and I needed to learn that and I'm glad I did.”

When her track season ended in May at the section championships, Lane demonstrated her maturity by taking three weeks off before resuming training for cross country.

She also increased her longest runs from six miles to nine and incorporated more track workouts in an effort to accelerate the learning curve in comparison to her more experienced teammates and opponents.

“I built up my strength by taking a break,” Lane said. “I realized that I was really going to have to challenge myself to not only get back into the shape I was in, but to get into even better shape. I think that really motivated me because in the back of my mind this is someone I wanted to be.”

After her performances at Seaside and Woodbridge, Malibu coach Mark Larsen realized Lane’s potential extended far beyond the state championships and the goals quickly changed to aspirations of not only racing in December, but contending for a national title.

“That's when I really got an indication that we could really do something amazing this year. It was off to the races from there – literally,” Larsen said. “Even though Brie Oakley pulled away from her after the first mile (at Woodbridge), the exciting part that I noticed is that Claudia continued to push on her own. Even though she ran that super-fast first mile, she still continued to dig deep and not shut down, which a lot of kids do. She continued to run well the whole time.”

Lane never slowed down the rest of the season, setting the sophomore record with her 16:32.6 on the 2.93-mile course Oct. 22 at the Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut and again at the state meet Nov. 26 with a 16:44.94 on the 5-kilometer layout at Woodward Park in Fresno.

She produced the third-fastest time in meet history Dec. 3 by clocking 17:20.1 at the Foot Locker West Regionals to set another sophomore record, this time on the 5-kilometer Mt. SAC course.

“A big factor has been not getting tired of running, so every Sunday I’d take a day off to rebuild my muscles and give myself a break, so when I came back Monday I was ready to run during the week and push myself during track workouts and I think that definitely helped me maintain the pace during races,” Lane said. “My coaches pushed me and my teammates really challenged me to go faster during practices and those are really big factors that helped me persevere this year.”

Despite having no experience competing in a national championship and racing against seven returning finalists – including the Stanford-bound Mareno, who earned All-American honors after placing third last year – Lane showcased her poise and power to become the first California runner since Hasay in 2008 to win a Foot Locker title.

“This is where so many of the great ones from California have run, so it's exciting that she can be part of all this history,” Larsen said. “She really is something special. She’s beyond anything I’ve ever coached before.”

With two years remaining, the potential for Lane is unlimited, both at the state and national levels. She has the opportunity to join two-time Foot Locker champion Hasay (2005 and 2008) and back-to-back NXN winner Baxter (2011-12) as the only California runners to win multiple national titles. 

There could be possible challenges from NXN runner-up and fellow sophomore Ember Stratton of Sunset OR, as well as promising freshmen London Culbreath of McKinney North TX, Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland NY and Lexy Halladay of Mountain View ID, in addition to a potential showdown down the line with rising eighth-grader Grace Ping of Utah.

But perhaps the biggest endorsement for the future prospects of a healthy Lane came from Mareno following their memorable Foot Locker matchup.

“What she did, it's remarkable. Sophomore year, my PR was somewhere in the mid-18s and I couldn't imagine being in her spot,” Mareno said. “Looking at how much I've improved and how much having the season before can help you, I think she'll be unstoppable next year.”