Sophomore Mia Lattanzi ended her season this weekend at the California State meet in which she placed second overall in the 800-meter race.

Winning her preliminary heat was crucial, since only the winners were guaranteed to advance to the finals. Lattanzi ran the preliminary race cautiously, and stayed in the middle of the pack. In the last 300 meters, Lattanzi took the lead, and it then became a race between Lattanzi and senior Lea Wallace of Vintage. In the final 100 meters, Lattanzi broke away, finishing with a personal best time of 2:09.61, beating Wallace’s time of 2:11.85.

In the finals, Lattanzi was the favorite as the only runner in the race who had previously broken 2:10. The race, however, did not turn out in Lattanzi’s favor. In one of the biggest upsets of the meet, eighth seeded junior Haley Lawrence of Aliso Niguel, caught Lattanzi at the finish line and won by a body length. A dream season, full of victories, personal records, and hopes of a state title, was dashed in an instant. Lattanzi finished second in 2:10.87, and Lawrence finished in 2:10.57 to claim the state title.

"It was a very interesting race," coach Paul Jones said . "Everyone was within a second of each other, so they were running in a bunch for most of the race. It wasn’t spread out at all."

Having never ran the 800-meter competitively prior to this year, Lattanzi had a magnificent season, one highlight being that she recorded the second fastest time in the nation at the Central Coast Section Finals. Since she is only a sophomore, Lattanzi still has a bright future. Everyone will be waiting to see what she can do next.