Arcadia Invitational Provides This Week's Performance of the Week Honorees

Track and field fans voiced their choices in this week's DyeStat's Performance of the Week poll, while DyeStat's editors made their own selection.

Readers’ Choice: Claudia Lane

With 31.13 percent of the vote, Claudia Lane won our Readers’ Choice vote, beating Sydney McLaughlin with her second-place tally of 21.79 percent.

The high school sophomore from Malibu CA raced Brie Oakley of Grandview CO for the first time since they met back in September at the Woodbridge Classic. The pair ran side-by-side for almost all of the eight laps of the 3,200 meters at the 50th Arcadia Invitational.

From the gun, Lane and Oakley separated themselves from the pack. They passed 1,600 meters in 4:59, Lane on the inside and Oakley on the outside.

Over the final two laps, the cracks started to show for Oakley. She never gave up, but she would slip back, never more than a stride length, only to fight back beside her California rival. The duel pushed both runners under 10 minutes. Lane narrowly won in 9:57.52. Oakley finished 0.07 seconds back.

Lane and Oakley now stand at 13th and 14th on the 3,200 meters/2 miles all-time list. This was the third time two girls have broken 10-minutes in the same race.

More about Lane and the Arcadia Invitational girls 3,200 meters: Story | Interview | Race

Editors’ Choice: Sydney McLaughlin

This week there were two high school records. The American Fork UT boys broke the 4x1600 relay record by 11 seconds, running 16:41.30. The previous record was set by Great Oak CA at last year's Arcadia Invitational. The quartet of Carson Clinger, McKay Johns, Patrick Parker and Casey Clinger pushed the record potentially out of reach for several years. Parker ran 4:05 and Casey Clinger ran 4:02 for their two 1,600-meter legs.

However, this week's editors' choice goes to Sydney McLaughlin. Before Saturday, McLaughlin, a Union Cathlic NJ senior, had never ran the 300-meter hurdles. The University of Kentucky commit holds the high school and world junior records for the 400-meter hurdles and competed last year at the Rio Olympics. But since she competes in New Jersey, she had never run the 300-meter hurdles before.

The fact the Arcadia Invitational was McLaughlin's debut at the distance did not matter. She easily bested the high school record by over a second, running 38.90. According to Jon Mulkeen, a senior web editor for the IAAF, McLaughlin's performance is a North American record and the second-fastest FAT ever.

The world best is held by Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic. She ran 38.16 three weeks before she won the 2013 IAAF World Championships 400-meter hurdles in 52.83.

More about McLaughlin and the Arcadia Invitational girls 300-meter hurdles: Story | Interview | Race