Redondo Union Duo Close As Can Be at CIF Meet

They are so close they finish each other's sentences. Their telepathy is so keen they know each other's thoughts. On the track Redondo Union High runners Chloe Curtis and Lyndsey Mull are wired together with one idea in mind.

"We're on a roll now,'' Curtis said.

"We want to continue to go 1-2. That's the goal,'' Mull said.

"That's right,'' Curtis said, pointing at Mull and adding, "ever since this one had her big breakthrough.''

The 1,600-meter run is the domain of these two Sea Hawks. After running in the ultra-competitive Bay League, the duo took their dominance to the next level Saturday at Cerritos College in the CIF Southern Section Track and Field Divisional Finals.

In front of a near-capacity crowd, on a sunny but windy afternoon, Curtis crossed the finish line first in the four-lap event, coming in at 4:50.43, to win the CIF Division II 1,600 for the second consecutive year. Mull was not far back, taking second place with a time of 4:52.62. The achievement qualified the pair for Friday's CIF Master's Meet. The top five finishers in each event, along with individuals who achieve state-qualifying marks or times advance to the CIF State Track and Field Championships on June 4-5 in Fresno.

Two and a half hours after winning the 1,600, Curtis returned to the track and trounced the competition in the 800-meter run, taking that event in 2:11.20. The Sea Hawks could not sustain the 1-2 magic in that race, as Mull faded in the second lap and finished eighth.

"I had hoped that Lindsey would have run better in the 800,'' Redondo Union coach Bob Leetch said. "But the 1,600 was our top priority. Obviously, they ran very well today. We're blessed to have two girls of this caliber running this fast. Lindsey has definitely benefitted from having Chloe as a role model.''

The breakthrough that Curtis alluded to was the then-personal best of 4:53 that Mull ran back in March in a meet at Azuza Pacfic. Before that, Mull's personal best in the event was a pedestrian 5:38 that she ran last year as a freshman. But a strong cross country season last fall and a prodigious training regimen this spring prepared Mull to obliterate her former personal record.

"I was telling her to try to stay as close to 5:10 as she could,'' Curtis said.

Mull said, "Before that, I thought of myself more as an 800 runner.''

Curtis, who is a senior, is the leader of a deep and talented Redondo Union distance running corps. Curtis is headed to the University of Washington in the fall on a track scholarship. She has personal bests of 2:10.09 in the 800, 4:49.02 in the 1,600 and 10:47.70 in the 3,200.

"I love having her in my races because she really calms me down,'' Mull said. "She's a great training partner and next year it's going to be hard without her.''

Curtis has a tough decision to make in the next several days about whether to attempt what amounts to an extremely difficult 800-1,600 double or to drop one of those events. If she bows in favor of the latter, the race she would scratch would be the 800. Leetch is in favor of her concentrating on the 1,600 but he is leaving it up to Curtis.

"It's manageable at the CIF meet because there are four divisions, and there's more time to recover,'' Leetch explained. "I think she's dominant in both events. But at the state meet, the turnaround is very quick.''

The success that Curtis has enjoyed in both events this year is what makes the decision excruciatingly tough.

"I really want to win the (1,600) at state,'' Curtis said. "It's my favorite race. It's really fun and I feel like I have a lot more [potential] to drop my time. But I want to keep running the 800 too. ''

Besides, there are more running dates on the calendar for the Redondo Union distance crew. Two weeks after the state meet, Curtis, Mull, Rachel Bush and Laura O'Neil will run the 4x1,600-meter relay at the New Balance National Scholastic Meet in Greensboro, N.C.

Curtis also is scheduled to run the 800, Mull will run the 1,600 and Bush is entered in the 3,200. That quartet ran 9:39.76 in the 4x800 relay at the Arcadia Invitational in April. Curtis, Mull, Bush and Brenna Sopp took first at Arcadia in the distance medley.

Curtis and Mull continue to set their personal bars high. Curtis said she wants to run 4:36 in the 1,600 before the season ends and she is shooting for a 2:03 in the 800 at the meet next month in North Carolina. Mull would like to lower her personal best in the 1,600 to 4:45.

"Our distance girls have really made a name for themselves this year,'' Leetch said.