Chloe Curtis Wins 1,600 Meters At State Meet

Swirling winds at 20 miles per hour, accompanied by a blazingly-hot 90-plus degrees temperature, presented quite a challenge for Chloe Curtis. But as she has done all season, the Redondo Union High senior refused to succumb to the elements or the competition.

In the final California high school race of her brilliant career, Curtis accomplished her season goal by winning the girls 1,600-meter run Saturday night at Buchanan High in Clovis in the CIF State Track and Field Championships. Curtis crossed the finish line in 4 minutes 46.63 seconds to finish comfortably ahead of runner-up Alli Billmeyer of Torrey Pines, who was timed in 4:47.40. Redondo Union sophomore Lindsey Mull placed third in 4:51.05.

Curtis and Mull had run one-two in both the CIF-Southern Section Divisional Finals and the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet. However, Billmeyer, who is the CIF San Diego Section 1,600 champion, was able to squeeze in between the two standout Sea Hawks.

Curtis ran 4:48.97 to win the Masters Meet a week ago at Cerritos College. Mull in that same race finished second in 4:49.65.

"It was very windy and very hot tonight,'' Redondo Union coach Bob Leetch said, hours after Saturday's state meet final. "So, those were really fast times, considering the conditions.''

Because of the hot, dry and windy conditions, none of the competitors in Saturday's race wanted to set a fast pace. Because it was so windy, Leetch said, lap splits really were not going to be of any consequence. A tight pack formed and remained relatively intact until the third lap, when the University of Washington-bound Curtis made her patented move.

"The plan was for Chloe to take off and for Lindsey to follow,'' Leetch said. "The strategy was to try to run Billmeyer into the ground. Chloe made a decisive move and started sprinting with about 600 meters to go.''

Billmeyer chased after Curtis but Mull momentarily got left far behind before making her move. It proved to be too late to maintain the Redondo Union one-two 1,600-meter magic.

"Lindsey's very disappointed,'' Leetch said. "But I thought that she ran very well.''

Curtis was fresh for the race, which might not have been the case had she not decided to scratch last week from the 800-meter run, an event that she won at the CIF Divisional Championships.

"It would have been a very tough double,'' Leetch said. "She might not have been able to win the 1,600, had she tried (to run both races).''

Curtis and Mull got strong support from the Redondo Union boys 4x400-meter relay team of Christian Bassman, Brandon Boyd, Remington Besnoin and Simon Schermerhorn, who were in the stands. That quartet set a school record by running 3:16.93 at the Masters Meet and became the first 4x400 relay team from Redondo Union to qualify for the state meet. The Sea Hawks' foursome finished third in their heat Friday night but failed to qualify for Saturday's final with their time of 3:18.65.

The California high school season is over but the Curtis and Mull still have another mountain to climb - they are scheduled to compete in two weeks in the New Balance Nationals in North Carolina. Curtis will run the 800 meters, Mull will run the 1,600 and teammate Rachel Bush is entered in the 3,200. That trio, along with Laura O'Neil will try to set a school record and go after the nation's fastest time this year in the 4x1,600-meter relay.