After finishing their cross country season in Alabama at the New Balance Cross Country National Championships, the distance runners of Fullerton Union High School realized they were worthy of making history during the track and field season. They traded their cross country shoes for track spikes, and got to work with school records on their minds. Since then, two school records have been broken and many more grade level records as well.

The boys 800m senior school record, which was previously 1:59.1 from 2012, was the first record to be broken this season. Senior Dylan Cobbs bested the record by 0.5 seconds when he ran 1:59.05 at the Meet of Champions on March 21. Cobbs competed in the men’s varsity invitational race which features only the top 15 800m runners entered in the competition. Cobbs finished in tenth place, fighting all the way to the line for that school record.

Earlier that day, sophomore Ethan Lueck also ran an impressive 800m, setting a new sophomore school record at the Meet of Champions after running a 1:59.49. Lueck said he felt motivated to run fast after seeing his teammate, senior Brody McMackin, run 2:00.77 in the 800m only a few minutes before his own race.

“[I was] just trying to break two because Brody almost broke two the race before, which made me feel motivated to do good,” Lueck said. 

The 800m distance in track and field is often described as a two lap extended sprint, despite the distance being half a mile. After running the first 400m in 58.40 seconds, Lueck said running the final lap was one of the hardest things he has ever done. With 100m left and the clock ticking closer to the 2 minute mark, Lueck sprinted down the home stretch with everything he had.

“I was counting down the seconds until I crossed and it was barely 1:59.” Lueck said. 

Lueck said he owed thanks to head cross country and track and field coach, J.D Krawczyk, for working with him to improve his speed. 

“Doing speed work helped me get better, and I thank Coach K for that,” Lueck said. 

“[The coaches] make good workouts.”

Alongside the guidance of his coaches, Lueck also attributes his successes to fellow sophomore teammate Tyler Der, whom he claims has helped motivate him.

“The fear of Tyler beating me is what motivates me,” Lueck said.

Sophomore Tyler Der has become the 3200m frontrunner for the Fullerton distance team, improving his time in the 3200m distance each of the last three times he has raced it. Recently, at the Irvine ASICS Distance Carnival on April 11, Der ran 9:24.65 in the 3200m to lower the sophomore 3200m record, which he had already broken weeks before. This time is the third fastest 3200m time in all of Fullerton High School history.

On the girls side, the 3200m School Record of 11:27.4 set by Jisela Lopez in 1988 is hanging on by tenths of a second. Junior Sofia Botimer ran 11:27.82 on April 11 at the Irvine Asics Distance Carnival to take fourth place in the competition, only 0.4 seconds off of the school record. Still, this mark is the fastest time run by a junior in school history. On the same day, freshman Reagan Duncan and sophomore Arizona Fuentes lowered their respective grade level 3200m records, with Duncan running 11:42.76 and Fuentes running 11:36.99.

Breaking 12 minutes for the 3200m distance has been a goal of Fuentes’ since her freshman year. Still, the sophomore said this only motivates her to keep pushing herself at practice and stay dedicated. 

“Breaking 12 was a big goal of mine, so to break 11:40, I’m definitely proud of myself and it’s a great indicator that hard work pays off,” Fuentes said. “But I also learn so much with each race so I know I still have more to work on and show everyone.”

Freshman Reagan Duncan had the best freshman cross country season in school history this past fall, running an 18:15 personal best for 3 miles at CIF Finals. Her talent and endurance was guaranteed to make her a valuable asset to the track team this spring. Duncan proved this by running her first 3200m race under 12 minutes. Still, the freshman said the transition from cross country to track and field has been harder than expected.

“It’s been a little different since the longest distance for track is a full mile less than the only distance for cross country,” Duncan said “So it’s been difficult.”

Duncan’s goal was to run under 5:35 for the 1600m distance this year. She has been building her speed at practice and running every workout with intention to make this goal happen.

“I think about how this one last rep could really impact my next race.” Duncan said. “[My goal is to] break 5:35 for the mile.”

Well, the hard workouts paid off when, on April 18, Duncan ran a huge lifetime best of 5:23 for the 1600m at the Orange County Track and Field Championships. This time is the fastest 1600m ever run by a freshman in Fullerton history. 

The 1600m distance has seen other new names enter the record books as well. Sophomores Tyler Der and Ethan Lueck enter the top 10 all time boys 1600m times in Fullerton history, running 4:26 and 4:29. 

Junior Keely Gallagher’s recent performances in the 1600m and 800m cannot go unnoticed either. Gallagher ran a 13 second personal best to break Jisela Lopez’ 1600m school record of 5:19.8 from 1988, running a time of 5:19.36 on April 11 at the Irvine Asics Distance Carnival. Only hours before, Gallagher broke Morgan McAndrews 800m school record of 2:23.37 from 2024, by running a six second personal best of 2:20.56.

When the Tribe Tribune interviewed Gallagher after she ran 2:26.39 to take the victory over Valencia High School’s top 800m runner, junior Makayla Gil, who has run a personal best of 2:18.94, Gallagher was happy with the result and said the 800m is her favorite event.

“I was very happy that I executed my racing plan,” Gallagher said. “I wanted to earn as many points as possible while also reaching a new personal best in my favorite event.” Still, the junior had her eyes set on even better times. Gallagher said her goal was to run under 2:25 this season.

“My goal this year is to go under 2:25, so at practice I will be doing more speed endurance workouts so that I can reach my goals before the season ends.” Gallagher said.

Well since then, Gallagher has run much faster than her previous goal and is now training to go under 2:20. The only female athlete to run faster than Gallagher in the 800m in the Empire League is Laguna Hills High School’s senior Skyler Yoast who ran a personal best of 2:17 at the Oregon Relays on April 4. With Gallagher and Yoast entered in the 800m at the Empire League finals, the race for league champion is predicted to be a close one.

The distance runners of FUHS hope to keep their record breaking momentum going for the Empire League Finals on April 30. Both the boys and girls team eye a league team title, and many individuals aim for a CIF prelims qualifying spot.

The winner of each track and field event at League Finals automatically qualifies for CIF prelims, while the second and third place finishers must meet a time standard set by CIF. 

The Empire League Finals will be held at Valencia High School with field events beginning at 3 p.m. and running events starting at 4 p.m..