Malibu’s Claudia Lane won her second national Foot Locker cross-country race Saturday. The Malibu High School junior not only defended her title from last year, she beat it by one second for a winning time of 17:03.4, beating the runner-up by 19 seconds.
The national high school cross country championship race was held Saturday morning in Balboa Park in San Diego for invited runners who qualified from all over the United States.
Lane’s opening mile in the three-miler hilly race was a fast 5:17. Lane may have had the course record of 16:39.2 set in 1990 by Melody Fairchild on her mind, telling a running news outlet, “I’m so excited, so grateful to have this opportunity again … [The record] was on my mind but I’m fine that I didn’t break it, especially with next year. The uphills were a little tough, but overall [it] was a fun race.”
If Lane wins the race next year as a senior she would become the illustrious race’s first ever three-time champion.
Because of the win, Lane has been asked to represent the United States at the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country championships on Jan. 7.
