Menomonie's Lauren McCalla breaks a 24-year-old state-meet record in the 1,600
LA CROSSE — Some records are built to last. Brooke Novak's had lasted since 2001.
It doesn't anymore. Lauren McCalla of Menomonie ran 4:38.54 to win the Division 1 girls' 1,600 meters at the WIAA State Championships on Friday, erasing a meet record that had stood for 24 years — Novak's 4:43.20, set for Kaukauna in 2001. McCalla took it down by nearly five seconds.
The winning time capped a season-long climb. McCalla had run in the 4:45 range for most of the spring — 4:45.79 on May 29, 4:45.97 in mid-May — and had clocked 4:45.66 a year earlier as well. At the state meet, with the championship on the line, she dropped roughly seven seconds all at once.
Range has defined her season. The 1,600 is one piece of it: McCalla also ran 2:08.68 in the 800 meters and has gone as far as 10:23 in the 3,200 — a span from two laps to eight that few runners in the state can cover.
The mark she broke had outlived two decades of challengers. Now the Division 1 1,600 record belongs to Lauren McCalla.
Read next
De Pere's Grady Lenn lowers his own 3,200 state-meet record
Grady Lenn won the Division 1 boys' 3,200 in 8:49.15 — beating the meet record he himself set a year earlier.
Wisconsin Lutheran's Niyer Clayborn sweeps the hurdles and resets his own 110 record
Niyer Clayborn won the Division 1 110 hurdles in 13.80 — breaking his own meet record — then took the 300 hurdles too, completing a sweep.
Ready to get your team on WI Athlete?
Free team site with auto-imported results, PR tracking, and shareable athlete profiles.
Set Up Your Team →