Saugus grad Mariah Castillo was voted California’s top girls distance runner of the decade in a poll by MileSplit CA, a website covering high school track and field.
The website conducted their poll tournament style, with 32 runners progressively matching up resumes over three weeks.
Each athlete was required to have competed at California high schools sometime from 2010-2019.
Castillo managed to advance through each of the five rounds and come out on top as a result of her highly accomplished resume during her time at Saugus.
In the final round, she defeated Bethany Knights, a 2014 graduate of Northwood High School in Irvine, with nearly 75 percent of the vote and a margin of more than 700 votes.
In Castillo’s senior year she was the 2018 CIF Southern Section Division 2 champion in the 1600 meter and 3200 meter and went on to be a state finalist in both races the same year.
Her 1600 meter personal record (PR) of 4:39.77 was good for the third best mark in California in the decade and the seventh best in state history.
Castillo ran her 3200 meter PR of 10:06.47 to win one of her Division 2 titles.
That time currently stands as the eighth best time in California for the decade and the 15th best in state history.
Castillo has continued her career at the college level, she is now a sophomore competing at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth.
For more details on the criteria for the poll, see MileSplit CA’s announcement of Castillo’s win here.
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Yeah, Go Mariah! Cheering you on 🙂