The Case for Claudia Lane as the G.O.A.T.
Although she is only a junior, the Malibu superstar has amassed an impressive resume. Start with the obvious: she has won back-to-back Foot Locker National titles, the first girl to accomplish that feat since Erin Sullivan (1997 & 1998) and the fourth overall to claim consecutive wins there. She has also won two in a row at the CIF State Championship, posting the top time of the meet in both cases. Lane has been the undisputed best runner in the Golden State for the last two years, and has not lost a single cross country race since Woodbridge last fall (a span of 21 straight wins).
You want records? Claudia has them. She broke Amber Trotter's record on the 5K Mt. SAC course at Foot Locker West, and took down Sarah Baxter's Mt. SAC 3 Mile record (although this comes with an asterisk due to the different layout of the course this year). She also posted the top time ever at Woodward Park, eclipsing Baxter's mark there as well.
Are there any factors weighing against Lane? Well, yes, starting with the fact that her career isn't even close to over yet, which means her final place in history has yet to be determined. Claudia is a bit of a late bloomer, too, having hit her full stride as a sophomore (so she will not be a 4-time state champion, which a few other historically-great runners can boast). In addition, her track & field resume is not yet as strong or deep as some of the other contenders; she has broken 10 minutes once, winning at Arcadia, but has not won anything on the national level yet (she finished 2nd at Brooks PR this past June). Lane's PR's of 4:47 and 9:57 are very impressive, but they are matched or exceeded by some of the contenders on the next page. Finally, it's pretty clear that the last two Foot Locker Nationals haven't had the strongest fields, as many of the top individuals in the nation have ended up competing at NXN (Katelyn Tuohy this year is a perfect example).
So, where does all of that leave Claudia? What is her status among the all-time bests right now, without speculating on what her final career will look like? Before we can answer that, we need to look at some of the other historically great high school female runners from California.