Following California state titles in cross country and track during senior year, Stanford signee cherishes opportunity to race in loaded girls mile field in Washington

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

There were times during the past four years when Kristin Fahy didn’t know if she would get to this point. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to reflect on a career and have the satisfaction of hitting her goals.

But now she can. Fahy, the longtime La Costa Canyon CA cross country and track standout – and now a graduate – can glance back and smile, knowing she won state titles in both cross country and track this season to put just the right finish to her high school career.

“I think it really encapsulates my whole high school experience,” she said. “Being able to finish off on that note is incredible. Just knowing how much work I’ve put in, not just last year, but all of my high school career. It’s been really special to get recognized for the work I’ve put in those four years.”

It’s not quite done yet. Fahy competes Saturday in the final girls race of the day, the Brooks PR Invitational mile, in a switch from her usual two mile, or 3,200 meters.

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“I only got to run the mile once this year and focused more on the 3,200,” Fahy said. “I thought it would be fun to end it in my high school career on a different note.”

Just three weeks ago, Fahy culminated her California season by outrunning the Clovis Buchanan duo of junior Corie Smith and senior Meagen Lowe to win the 3,200 in a personal-best time of 10 minutes, 11.38 seconds.

That followed her finish to the California cross country season in November, when she routed the field in Division 2 to win the state title on Woodward Park’s 5-kilometer course in 17:22.6.

It was a triumphant ending after a difficult junior season, when she fell in the Division 3 race at the California state meet leading with about 300 meters to go. A week later, injury forced her from the Foot Locker West Regional.
The whole experience, as agonizing as it was, gave her fresh perspective.

“Having a disappointing junior year in cross country and at state, it kind of made me really not take my racing for granted,” Fahy said. “And being able to compete and knowing that not every day is going to be the best day and appreciate when I do have great races.”

That junior year setback, veteran La Costa Canyon coach Bill Vice said, was something Kristin didn’t discuss much with him.

He said she showed more of a quiet determination.

“There was a certain bit of redemption when she won in the fall, and she said that was her favorite moment,” he said. “But on a daily basis, we never talked about it.”

This year marks the end of the great Fahy run at La Costa Canyon. Older brother Darren accomplished a similar feat to Kristin during the 2011-12 school year, when he won the Division 2 individual boys cross country title at Woodward Park, before winning both the 1,600 and 3,200 championships at the state track meet the following spring.

Her other older brother, Steven, was a two-time San Diego Section cross country champion.

Kristin’s victories made her and Darren the only siblings in state history to both win 3,200 titles. La Costa Canyon also became just the fourth school to produce 3,200 champions in both genders, along with Agoura, Canyon Country Canyon and Santa Monica.

That fact was appropriate, as Vice said Kristin drew on Darren’s experiences in the 3,200.

It was no coincidence she ran aggressively and led early in her May 25 state-meet victory. Vice said she hit every split in the race, as planned.

“When Darren won the 1,600 and 3,200 when he was a senior, the 3,200 went out slow,” said Vice, adding that a slow start would present just the right opportunity.

“That was the plan,” he added. “That’s what we said. We’re not going to sit back.”

That victory also made Fahy just the fifth San Diego Section runner to win state titles in cross country and track, following Rancho Buena Vista’s Kira Jorgensen (1,600 meters in 1987, 1988 and 1989; Division 2 in cross country in 1987 and 1988); Fallbrook’s Milena Glusac (1,600 in 1992 and 3,200 in 1992 and 1993; Division 1 in cross country in 1991 and 1992); Our Lady of Peace’s Sammy Silva (1,600 in 2009 and Division 3 in cross country in 2008); and Rancho Bernardo’s Molly Grabill (3,200 in 2010; Division 1 in cross country in 2009).

But for Saturday, she approaches the Brooks PR meet like a treat, though serious enough to skip her high school graduation Friday.

And she knows the quality of the competition lined up in the mile – including California state 1,600 champion Jacqueline Duarte of Chino Hills, Lake Stevens WA standout Taylor Roe, who, as a sophomore, tripled as a state champ in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200; West Virginia’s Victoria Starcher, who has the top mile time in the nation at 4:38.19; and Pennsylvania’s Taryn Parks, the national indoor mile champ this year at the New Balance Indoor meet, along with the country’s prep leader in the 1,600 at 4:37.07.

“I’m really going to appreciate it and have fun with it,” Fahy said. “I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be in that super-competitive mile.”

After that, Fahy will begin to make her transition to the college ranks at Stanford. She won’t run at the USATF U-20 Championships next week in Miramar, Fla., as she did last year in Bloomington, Ind., when she finished sixth competing unattached in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

“That was just to try it out,” she said. “It was definitely a tough race. The thing I like about it is it’s less about just running fast and more about grit and raw determination.”

She cautioned, though, that doesn’t necessarily mean a slam dunk in following Darren and Steven, the newly crowned NCAA champion June 7, to compete in college in the steeplechase.

“I’m not going to hop into it just because my siblings were into it,” she said.

And as the Fahy family moves on from La Costa Canyon, Kristin is proud of the legacy left behind.

“I think we definitely made our mark,” she said. “And I’m always proud to represent my San Diego communities.”