Once Brie Oakley made her break, even Claudia Lane couldn't bring her back.
All told, there wasn't much in the way of records that Brie Oakley left untouched in her brief, two-year high school career.
But, there was one troubling matter of her match-up record against Claudia Lane. After defeating Lane at Woodbridge in the 2016 cross country season, Oakley lost a narrow decision to Lane in the 3200 at Arcadia in the spring.
There aren't many people in this world who can claim a 1-1 record against Brie Oakley.
But, it wasn't going to stay that way. Both Lane and Oakley earned golden tickets to Brooks PR in June and they would be pitted against each other for one last high school showdown (college showdowns pending, of course).
On an overcast day (is there any other kind?) north of Seattle, Lane and Oakley shared the starting line with ten others. All eyes across the nation, however, were focused on Lane and Oakley. Who would prevail in the rubber match?
Lane took the lead for the first two laps and looked comfortable there, but by lap three, either Oakley had enough of running in second or decided the pace was not quite fast enough. Either way, Oakley took the lead and started off on her own pace.
For the next two laps, the lead switched back and forth with plenty of surges but no clear breaks.
On lap five, however, Oakley began to assert control. Never again would Lane come up on her shoulder. From that point forward, the story moved from Lane struggling to stay on pace to it becoming a merely question of how much space Oakley could put on the rest of the field, Lane in particular.
With a blistering final lap, Oakley checked into the record books in a massive sort of way. Her 9:51.35 was the fastest outdoor two mile ever logged by a high school girl in the United States. Whether or not she began the race with that intention, Oakley ended her high school career with a huge exclamation point.
RACE VIDEO
Once Brie Oakley made her break, even Claudia Lane couldn't bring her back.
All told, there wasn't much in the way of records that Brie Oakley left untouched in her brief, two-year high school career.
But, there was one troubling matter of her match-up record against Claudia Lane. After defeating Lane at Woodbridge in the 2016 cross country season, Oakley lost a narrow decision to Lane in the 3200 at Arcadia in the spring.
