Emily LaValley edges Sarah Fakler of Xavier Prep at the finish of the Chandler Rotary Invitational Mile. Photo courtesy of Margot Kelly, Arizona Track XC.
Fairy tales don't get much better than this.
When Emily LaValley started out in track as a high school freshman, running anything longer than 200 meters was the furthest thing from her mind.
She made a few critical errors along the way, the first of which was trying the 300 hurdles (an event for which she qualified for state as a freshman). Her second mistake was listening to the suggestion of the distance coach that she come out for cross country as a sophomore.
Fast forward through many, many meets to her senior year of high school where, two invitationals into the season, she had still never stepped onto the track for any race longer than 800 meters.
A month or so prior to the time, the Chandler Rotary Invitational had come knocking--looking for qualified entrants to fill the fields of their invitational mile. Normally, someone who has never raced a 1600 doesn't get accepted into invitational miles, but a 2:14.57 800 and a 31st-place finish at Nike Cross Nationals gave LaValley the requisite credentials to get into the race.
Getting in is one thing. Showing well is quite another. The conditions, though, were favorable. The evening sun in Phoenix cast long shadows, long past the time of day where solar intensity can sap the energy reserves of distance runners. Racetime temperatures hovered in the mid 60s.
Through 3.75 laps, LaValley maintained her position in the field, staying close enough to remain in contention but never threatening for the lead. When she finally made her move, it appeared that the move came too late. Xavier Prep freshman phenom Sarah Fakler, nearly 20 meters ahead, seemed comfortably in control starting down the finish straight.
But there is no comfortable in an invitational mile field.
LaValley charged down the straight, catching Fakler at 1600 meters (the official time shows LaValley ahead at the 1600 mark by .01 second), and establishing a gap of a quarter of a second by the mile. Her time of 4:57.58 tops all mile times in the nation for the current season, and her 1600 mark sits at #4 in the nation for the current outdoor season.
LaValley ventured further into personally uncharted territory by running the 3200 a little over two hours later, finishing second in 11:08.72.
LaValley was not alone representing the state of Colorado at the Chandler Rotary Invitational. Nederland, Montbello, and Thunder Ridge each brought a contingent down to get a taste of the competition.
Kayla Fisher-Taylor took third in the 100 meters with a sizzling wind-legal time of 12.24. Kat Robinson finished fifth in the invitational mile with a time of 5:13.16, and Hannah Krumreich finished ninth in the same event at 5:15.81. Krumreich would also take fifth in the 3200 at 11:22.37.
David Day topped the Colorado boys' performances with a 6-6 mark in the high jump.