La Mirada High School

Melissa Byrd and Stephanie Felix, the strongest 1-2 tandem in Lady Mat history, raised the standard to new levels with their performances in the CIF-SS preliminary race. For the first time in La Mirada history, two athletes qualified to compete in the CIF-SS Division II championship race.

While both Felix and Byrd ran their strongest races of the season on the hilly 2.91 mile course, it was Byrd who made the biggest jump as she lowered her overall PR to 18:23 with a 6th place finish. Melissa began the race in 14th place and was content to let the front pack set the pace during the flat opening mile. Just before the leaders reached the first mile, Melissa moved into 12th place. She was able to use the difficult switchback hills to her advantage and entered the runway leading to "poop-out" in 7th place. By the time she reached the final 600 meters of the race she was racing stride-for-stride with the 6th place runner who she was able to out-kick to secure her spot in the CIF championship race.

Stephanie, too, let the front runner do all the work over the first mile. Still, it was blazing fast as the top 3 girls passed the first mile in just over 5:05. A quick surge propelled Stephanie into first place just after mile one. She opened up her lead as the race progressed and secured first place with a course PR and school record time of 17:19. Her effort earned her the fastest time of the day for all divisions.

Come on out and watch as Stephanie and Melissa attempt to qualify for the CIF State Championship meet in Fresno.