September Showdown Set Stage For Title Runs

National championship aspirations for Brie Oakley, Claudia Lane began after memorable Woodbridge matchup

By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

Predicting the winner of a national championship race in high school cross country in September is often a long shot, unless there is a defending champion returning like this season at Nike Cross Nationals with American Fork UT senior Casey Clinger or seemingly every year with the girls team from New York dynasty Fayetteville-Manlius.

Following the graduation of NXN girls winner Katie Rainsberger of Air Academy CO and with Foot Locker champion Weini Kelati of Heritage VA unable to defend the title after exhausting her prep eligibility in the spring, new female champions in both events were set to be crowned for the fourth consecutive year.

Although there were many miles still to cover on the road to state, regional and national titles for both Brie Oakley of Grandview CO and Claudia Lane of Malibu CA after they squared off for the first time Sept. 17 in the Bob Day girls sweepstakes race at the Woodbridge Classic, those in attendance at SilverLakes Sports Complex in Norco knew the outcome had the potential to go a long way toward determining a champion in December.

Turns out Woodbridge doubled its pleasure with one memorable showdown, as Lane became the ninth California girls winner at the Foot Locker Championships on Dec. 10, one week after Oakley captured the second straight NXN title by a Colorado star.

Oakley ran the fastest 3-mile time in the country at Woodbridge by clocking 15 minutes, 53.6, followed by Lane in 16:16.7. For Oakley, it was the best girls time in the meet's 36-year history and it was the only loss in 14 races this season for Lane.

WATCH BRIE OAKLEY INTERVIEW  |  WATCH CLAUDIA LANE INTERVIEW

"My favorite memory of Woodbridge was running under 16. I really didn't think that was possible and going into the race I did not really have any goals like that in mind," Oakley said. "Running at night under the lights on a fast course with perfect conditions was an amazing experience, especially having my team there to support and cheer me on."

The race also included two-time Foot Locker national finalist Julia Heymach of Houston Lamar TX – 16th this season in San Diego – and 26th-place finisher Kiera Marshall of St. Joseph Notre Dame CA, along with NXN team qualifiers Great Oak CA, Desert Vista AZ, Southlake Carroll TX and Mountain Vista CO, along with Lauren Peurifoy of Martin Luther King CA, who took 25th in her debut in Oregon.

But the sweepstakes became noteworthy for another reason. For the first time since Foot Locker title-holder Ashley Brasovan of Wellington FL defeated NXN winner Madeline Morgan of Mountain Brook AL at the 2007 Great American Cross Country Festival in Alabama, a regular-season race produced both girls national champions.

"Since I didn’t race there last year, that was really special for me. Just getting that time I was really grateful because I had never seen that before," Lane said. "Being behind Brie really helped push me. I just tried to remain within eyesight of her. She’s obviously an amazing runner and she’s number one in the nation for a reason, but that really sparked something in me that I really wanted to do well this year."

The last time both national girls champions met in the postseason was 2010, when Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall Central NY captured the Foot Locker title and NXN winner Rachel Johnson of Plano TX finished second in San Diego one week after prevailing in Oregon.

The same scenario unfolded in 2009 when Megan Goethals of Rochester MI won Foot Locker, defeating NXN winner Katie Flood of Dowling Catholic IA, as well as in 2008 when Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep CA secured her second career Foot Locker title ahead of NXN champ Chelsey Sveinsson of Greenhill TX.

A head-to-head battle involving both girls national champions never materialized during the past five seasons, making the matchup involving Oakley and Lane even more significant.

"I didn't know anything about Claudia until the week of the race and saw that she had a great race the week before Woodbridge," Oakley said. "I feel I've gotten to know Claudia through reading about her great season. I wish we could have raced once more this cross country season, but I know we will probably see each other in track."

Oakley entered the Woodbridge race after setting a course-record 16:44 in her Sept. 9 opener at the Liberty Bell Invitational in Littleton, Colo. Lane ran 16:25 on the same day to set the sophomore record at the Seaside Invitational in Ventura, Calif.

"We thought Seaside was incredible when she really blew it out running 16:25 and then she follows it up at Woodbridge," Malibu coach Mark Larsen said. "Here she is a young sophomore runner and she doesn't know anybody out there. We had no idea who Brie Oakley was at that point. She got out there and ran with her the first mile, I think they were 5:07 or 5:08, and then from there you could tell the strength of Brie as she pulled away."

Both Oakley and Lane continued to produce more record-setting performances throughout October and November, often running away from the competition from the opening gun. No individual was within 30 seconds of either athlete during the remainder of the regular season.

"The Liberty Bell and Woodbridge races gave me confidence that anything was possible," Oakley said. "Liberty Bell was such a battle with (NXN third-place finisher Lauren Gregory of Fort Collins CO), and it was so cool to see both of us run under 17 and break the course record. Then the 15:53 at Woodbridge was such a huge boost. It made me realize that my hard work was paying off and I knew I had that goal of nationals in mind and I wanted to do whatever possible to reach it."

Oakley set the Colorado state finals record Oct. 29 by clocking 17:07.8 in the Class 5A final, eclipsing Rainsberger's standard of 17:39 in last year's Class 4A championship.

At the NXR Southwest Regionals, Oakley ran 16:56 to post a 21-second victory Nov. 19 over Arizona Division 3 state champion Allie Schadler of Rio Rico. Two weeks later at NXN, she clocked 17:10.1 to prevail by 28 seconds over Ember Stratton of Sunset OR, with Gregory trailing by 29 seconds in third and Schadler placing seventh by a 38-second margin.

"Those were two great races with a lot of great runners. I'm really happy I had the opportunity to race in both of them," Oakley said. "One of my big goals this season was to race top competition at races like Woodbridge, NXR Southwest and NXN."

Lane established a new sophomore record with her 16:44.94 at the California state final Nov. 26 to win the Division 4 title, the No. 3 performance in meet history at Woodward Park in Fresno.

At the Foot Locker West Regionals, Lane secured a 35-second win Dec. 3 over Kearan Nelson of Central Valley WA to run 17:20.1, the No. 3 time on the 5-kilometer Mt. SAC course. She then clocked 17:04.8 to edge Nevada Mareno of Leesville Road NC to become the first sophomore to win the girls national title in San Diego since Anna Rohrer of Mishawaka IN in 2012.

"During the season, I didn't really have practice with that, except for Woodbridge because obviously Brie was ahead of me," Lane said. "Having Nevada push me, I know she was right there behind me the whole time, so I didn't want to give up. It was kind of the same mentality (as Woodbridge)."

Oakley and Lane had four common opponents at NXN and Foot Locker, including All-Americans India Johnson of Hilliard Davidson OH and Anne Forsyth of Ann Arbor Pioneer MI, along with Lauren Peterson of Farmington MN and Christina Geisler of Carmel IN.

Although they both placed in the top five at Foot Locker after finishing ninth and 14th at NXN, Lane still had a 40-second advantage over Johnson and a 41-second cushion over Forsyth. Lane was 62 seconds ahead of Peterson and had a 93-second margin over Geisler.

Oakley defeated Johnson by 43 seconds, prevailed by 48 over Forsyth, posted a 74-second edge over Peterson and was 89 seconds ahead of Geisler, holding a narrow advantage over Lane in three of the four head-to-head matchups.

Despite there not being an opportunity for a postseason rematch, Oakley still appreciated Lane's achievement at the Foot Locker finals. And they both remained proud of their roles in the most significant showdown in Woodbridge Classic history.

"It was really cool to see Claudia win Foot Locker because she is a tough competitor and definitely deserved it," Oakley said.