Lane, Scales leave no doubt on last lap

Despite late challenges, mile victories provide momentum entering Arcadia Invitational; El Cerrito’s Robinson, Kimball’s Lightfoot-Shelton and Abraham Lincoln’s Amaechi all double at Stanford Invitational

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Claudia Lane demonstrated Saturday she’s not too far behind the nation’s leading milers Brie Oakley of Grandview CO and Allie Schadler of Rio Rico AZ following her performance at the 42nd Stanford Invitational.

Now, the Malibu CA sophomore hopes to be that competitive in the invitational 3,200 meters April 8 at the 50th Arcadia Invitational.

Lane ran the third-fastest time in the country, clocking 4 minutes, 47.73 seconds to hold off late surges from Oak Ridge sisters Maddy Denner (4:50.32) and Elena Denner (4:51.42) at Cobb Track and Angell Field. Oakley (4:46.97) and Schadler (4:46.98) posted their times March 25 at the 77th NIKE Chandler Rotary Invitational.

“It was good to have good practice for that (Saturday) because I know at Arcadia that I’ll really be pushed by Brie,” Lane said. “I’ll really be taking that with me when I race next Saturday.”

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for Lane was cleared before the gun went off when she removed two spikes from her left shoe, which she forgot to remove before she did her pre-race strides on the track.

“I thought it was just wood in my shoe, so good thing I checked,” Lane said. “I was already nervous before this race because I’ve never done a mile before and I wanted to break 4:50. Definitely looking into my shoe and finding two spikes was a little nerve-racking. Also, I had only done one stride before, so that was a little scary, too.”

Alex Scales of Bellarmine College Prep CA, who led off the Belles’ national-leading distance medley relay with the 1,200-meter leg Friday, came back Saturday with a strong mile, responding to the challenge from senior Michael Vernau of Davis Senior on the last lap to prevail by a 4:14.78 to 4:15.47 margin. Vernau ran the second-fastest 3,000 in the country Friday by clocking 8:32.75 to win by 12 seconds.

In the span of two weeks, Scales has run 1:53.27 in the 800 and 3:02 in the 1,200 – setting up Bellarmine Prep’s meet-record 10:03.67 DMR – along with the junior’s PR in the mile, making him one of the most versatile distance runners in the country.

“It’s just the beginning. There’s a lot left and I think I can just keep improving,” Scales said. “I knew it was going to be a great race because I hadn’t done anything before it. I had like 20 hours of recovery time after that DMR, so I knew I’d be fresh and ready to go.”

El Cerrito CA senior Kaylah Robinson continued to demonstrate her prowess as one of the top sprinter-hurdlers in the country, winning the 100-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash less than 30 minutes apart. Robinson clocked 13.75 in the hurdles and 11.86 in the 100, both wind-legal marks.

Kimball CA senior Deion Lightfoot-Shelton, who ran a national-leading 54.35 in the 400 hurdles Friday, added a victory in the 110 hurdles Saturday in 13.76 running into a strong headwind.

Silver Creek CA junior Arianna Fisher won the girls triple jump, improving on her No. 2 mark in the country with a wind-legal leap of 41-7.25 (12.68m).

Kali Hatcher of St. Mary’s Berkeley CA was second at 40-6 (12.34m), in addition to running on the Panthers’ victorious 4x400 relay, joining Noelle Shaw, Avi Wilson-Perteete and Sophia Alexander to run 3:56.26 to repeat as champions.

Abraham Lincoln CA senior Pamela Amaechi swept the shot put and discus. Amaechi’s personal-best discus mark of 169-10 (51.76m) is No. 2 in the country, with her 46-8.25 (14.23m) shot put just off her nation’s third-best mark of 47-0.25 (14.33m).

San Lorenzo Valley CA senior Cassie Ackemann cleared her first four bars successfully and won the high jump, producing her second 5-8 (1.72m) effort in three days.

Del Oro CA junior Cathilyn McIntosh won the girls 800 in 2:11.49, with Oaks Christian CA senior Carolyn Wilson prevailing in the 400 in 54.06.

Dawson LaRance of Billings Senior MT, a former teammate of Stanford freshman Christina Aragon, won the boys 800 in 1:53.10.