Sports
Cami Chapus: Running Down a Dream
She wins the adidas Dream Mile in New York in a personal-best 4:42.71.
Having proven she is the best high school 1,600 meter runner in California by winning the state championship June 4 in Clovis, Palisadian Cami Chapus was eager to test herself against the best in the nation Saturday at the adidas Grand Prix High School Girls' Dream Mile in Randall's Island, New York.
Chapus showed once more that the bigger the race, the bigger she runs. Matched against 13 of the top runners from across the country, the junior from Harvard-Westlake High won in a personal-record time of 4:42.71--the fastest prep mile clocking outdoors this year.
It was a wet, overcast day but the rain had stopped falling by the time the Girls Dream Mile was set to start. However, it was still windy, making it a tactical race from the beginning. Chapus was content to run amidst the pack for the first two-and-a-half laps.
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Torrey Pines senior Alli Billmeyer, who finished runner-up to Chapus at the state meet, took the lead on the third lap. With 300 meters to go she and Chapus were in front by five meters and it looked like California's best would finish 1-2 again.
Half a lap remained when Eleanor Fulton of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, made a move and passed Billmeyer on the outside, but she could not catch Chapus, who had preserved enough energy for a strong closing kick. Fulton was second in 4:42.90 and Billmeyer came in third in 4:43.18.
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"I was more excited than nervous," a smiling Chapus told ESPN Rise after the race. "I told myself if I win, great, and it’d be great to win."
Never one to rest on her laurels, Chapus will be right back on the track later this week (Thursday-Saturday) at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals on the campus of North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, N.C.
Click here to watch a video of Cami's latest triumph.
ADIDAS GRAND PRIX HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' DREAM MILE
June 11, 2011 at Icahn Stadium, Randall's Island, NY
1. Camille Chapus, Pacific Palisades, CA -- 4:42.71
2. Eleanor Fulton of Highlands Ranch, CO -- 4:42.90
3. Alli Billmeyer, San Diego, CA -- 4:43.18.
4. Shelby Houlian, Sioux City, IA -- 4:43.64
5. Amy-Eloise Neale, Snohomish, WA -- 4:43.67
6. Kayla Beattie, Woodstock, IL -- 4:45.27
7. Madeleine Meyers, Seattle, WA -- 4:45.46
8. Haley Pierce, Wilmington, DE -- 4:45.72
9. Lindsay Crevoiserat, Glastonbury, CT -- 4:46.33
10. Molly McNamara, Red Bank, NJ -- 4:50.09
11. Katherine Delaney, San Juan Capistrano, CA -- 4:51.69
12. Wesley Frazier, Ravenscroft, NC -- 4:53.62
13. Angel Piccirillo, Homer City, PA -- 4:56.12
14. Reagan Anderson, Wilmington, DE -- Did not finish
