John Green wrote:
Lane simply was not running close to her hardest in the state meet
You know what, you're absolutely right.
Claudia Lane ran 16:30 at Woodward Park, a course record by 10 seconds.
Her time was significantly faster than notables such as:
16:40 Sarah Baxter 2-time NXN champion
16:43 Julia Stamps Footlocker champion
16:55 Amber Trotter Footlocker champion
16:59 Anita Siraki Footlocker runner-up
17:01 Kristen Gordon Footlocker champion
17:02 Jordan Hasay 2-time Footlocker champion
17:04 Christine Babcock former 1500m record holder
17:12 Kim Mortensen Footlocker champion, former 3200m record holder
17:13 Sara Bei Footlocker champion
17:19 Marie Lawrence 3-time Footlocker runner-up
17:21 Kira Jorgensen Footlocker champion
Claudia Lane ran a time that was 25 seconds faster than Amber Trotter, who is regarded as one of the top HS girls cross country runners of all time.
Yet she was not running close to her hardest? Sure.