AHS Runners Break Records

Two members of the Albany High School track team broke school records and one brought home a medal at the North Coast Section championships meet held at UC Berkeley on Friday and Saturday.

Senior Clara MacLeod broke three AHS records, and she won a medal Saturday by placing 6th in the girls 1600 meters with a time of 5:08.75. That time broke the school record she set Friday in the same event with a 5:12.05 time. (Her time also set the new record for the Strawberry Canyon Track Club, of which she's a member.)

Also on Saturday, MacLeod set a new school record in the 3200 meters, running it in 11:25.95, 19 seconds faster than the record she had set just last week, said team coach Craig Stern.

On Friday, AHS junior Suzanne Becker set a new school record in the girls 800 meters with a time of 2:18.17.

Special congratulations were offered also to senior Conrad Federspiel for placing  7th in boys discus with a throw of 146-07.

The North Coast Section is one of the 10 regions for high school athletic competition in California.

"Congrats to Clara MacLeod and Suzanne Becker for smashing the 1600 and 800 Albany all-time school records," Stern said in an email after the Friday results. "It has been quite the year for these two."

A few words about Clara MacLeod

In an email Saturday morning, Carl Rose, Coach of the Strawberry Canyon Track Club, described MacLeod's impressive achievements, particularly in light of this being her first semester in track:

"Clara MacLeod, a senior at Albany High School competing in her first semester of track, has already claimed a school record. She wasn't even registering on the high school track radar until a few weeks ago. Yesterday, all that changed as she really opened some eyes with a stellar 5:12.05 performance in the girl's 1600-meter event at the North Coast Section CIF Meet of Champions held at UC-Berkeley on Friday, May 24th. Her mark elevated her and is sufficient to garner consideration as a college walk-on candidate.

"Her father, Ian MacLeod, who runs for the Strawberry Canyon Track Club (which I coach), first brought his daughter to my attention about a year ago. She played soccer for Albany high school and didn't have a great interest in competing for the school's track at the time. Whenever she came to a workout she clearly had a really nice stride and good mechanics, but running in circles wasn't her passion. Somehow, that changed almost overnight and she caught the track bug over winter break. It was then when Clara decided to try out for Albany High's track team. And since then, her rise has been meteoric.

"One other nice element is that Jack Wallace, who also runs for our club, is Albany High's assistant coach, and he's had a role in her development. Clara has improved in almost every race, and has now established her excellent Albany High School-record (and Strawberry Canyon Track Club record) performance. This also qualified her for today's event finals.

"If you follow Albany High School athletics and track in particular, I would recommend that you keep an eye on this one. Clara MacLeod might be a big name in a few years if she sticks with it."

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