Darkness doesn't slow down Lane

Despite stadium lights going out during race, Malibu sophomore runs national-leading 3,200; Saugus’ Castillo and Paso Robles’ Berti win invitational miles, with El Camino Real’s Hazell, Glendora’s Lamb and Carlsbad’s McCarthy also securing big victories

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Claudia Lane thought it was just part of the festival atmosphere.

There was music playing and people lining the track in the infield, so when the Malibu CA sophomore was racing on the fifth lap of the girls invitational 3,200 meters Saturday night at the New Balance Azusa Meet of Champions Distance Classic and the stadium lights went out at Azusa Pacific University, she took it all in stride.

“I really enjoyed it,” Lane said. “I actually thought it was intentional. I thought they were doing it for fun.”

Fortunately for Lane, she had already built a commanding lead and had more than enough energy to light up the track for the final 1,000 meters on her way to another convincing victory.

With several cell phone lights illuminating the oval, combined with the scoreboard glow and support lighting from a nearby parking lot, Lane ran an outdoor national-leading 10 minutes, 12.21 seconds to move into the top 20 all-time among California female prep runners.

Lane, whose previous best was 10:37.62 from March 18 at the Marie Smith/Malibu Invitational, elevated to the third-fastest sophomore in state history, trailing only Mission Prep graduate Jordan Hasay and former Simi Valley standout Sarah Baxter.

“I loved it. I wasn’t expecting it. But the people on the sidelines were so nice and cheering me on. It was awesome,” Lane said. “I didn’t have any difficulty because people were kind of shining light on the track with their phones, so it was easy to see where the rim of the track was so I wouldn’t get off course. It was easy enough to see, so it was super fun.”

Lane was able to negative split the race after coming through the 1,600 mark at 5:07 in her last significant 3,200 before an April 8 showdown at the 50th Arcadia Invitational with Grandview CO senior Brie Oakley, who won the New Balance Nationals Indoor 2-mile race March 12 in 9:56.06 at The Armory in New York City.

Oakley prevailed Sept. 17 against Lane in the invitational 3-mile race at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic by a 15:53.6 to 16:16.7 margin in their only high school showdown at any distance. Oakley went on to win Nike Cross Nationals and Lane captured the Foot Locker national title.

“I knew I wanted to get out quick because I knew the girls were going to want to stay with me the whole time. In the first 400, I didn’t want to tire myself out, but I definitely wanted to get out fast so I wouldn’t get boxed in,” said Lane, who will also run the mile April 1 at the Stanford Invitational.

“For the first mile I felt good, but I really just felt it in that last 400 because I knew I really had to kick at the end.”

Perhaps overshadowed by Lane turning the lights out on the competition was the runner-up effort of Saugus junior Mariah Castillo, who clocked a personal-best 10:36.79 after winning the Running Warehouse Legends Invitational mile an hour earlier in another PR of 4:52.88.

“At first, I didn’t know what I got and then when they told me, it kind of sunk in and it was like ‘Oh shoot, I really actually got that.’ I didn’t really expect to run that fast,” Castillo said. “I think it’s just the next step for me and it’s going to push me to get better and to improve. It’s helping me push through everything and not holding back.”

Castillo trailed Claremont senior Annie Boos (4:54.61) and Walnut sophomore Chloe Arriaga (4:55.60) with 200 meters remaining, before surging on the curve and pulling ahead on the straightaway to run the third-fastest mile time in the country this year.

“I was just thinking that I can’t give up, they’re right there and I could get them because I was close to them already, so I just thought that I can get them, no matter what,” Castillo said. “I had to push through the pain and go for it.”

The boys Running Warehouse Legends Invitational mile turned into a showdown of PAC 8 League rivals Trad Berti of Paso Robles and Callum Bolger of San Luis Obispo and resulted in the top two times in the nation this season.

Berti moved from third to first with 300 meters remaining and held off a strong challenge from Bolger down the home stretch to prevail by a 4:10.55 to 4:11.13 margin. Bolger entered the meet as the national leader in the 3,200 following his 9:00.90 from March 18 at the Dublin Distance Fiesta.

El Camino Real junior Justin Hazell rallied past Arroyo Grande senior Christian Ricketts in the final 200 meters of the invitational 3,200 to secure the victory in a personal-best 9:10.03. West Torrance senior Carson Bix was second in 9:13.41 and Ricketts placed third in 9:13.60.

“It was great competition here. It was a really hard race,” Hazell said. “My mentality was just ‘Who wants it more?’ It was just me and him and it’s about how much pain someone can handle. It’s not about giving 100 percent, it’s about giving 110 percent or 120 percent and just think to yourself, ‘there’s only 30 seconds left, just give it everything you have and don’t think about the pain.’”

Glendora senior Jake Lamb won the boys invitational 800 in a personal-best 1:54.71.

Carlsbad senior Kiley McCarthy prevailed in the girls invitational 800 in 2:11.24.