Woodside’s LaCasia blazes a sub-47 400 in winning CCS title

Little did LaCasia know, within a few months time, he would conquer that 400 meters.

“I had no idea until I ran my first 400 like two months ago,” LaCasia said. “Coach just threw me in and I found what I’m good at. And I’m glad that I did, cause this is going to take me far.”

At the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships Saturday at Gilroy High School, LaCasia ran one of the greatest boys’ 400 races in CCS history. Taking first place with a CCS championship meet record time of 46.92 seconds, the senior joined a select group, becoming the seventh person ever in CCS to run a sub-47 400, moving into sixth place on the all-time list.

He is also the only runner to post a 46 this century. The last time a CCS runner did so was in 1993, when North Salinas twin brothers Calvin and Alvin Harrison rewrote the record books. Calvin Harrison holds the all-time CCS record in the 400, going 45.25 at the 1993 state championship meet, also a national high school record that stood for nearly 20 years until it was broken by Aldrich Bailey of Mansfield Timberview-Texas in 2012. Alvin Harrison’s best time of 46.25 from the 1993 junior nationals ranks third in CCS all-time.

The Harrison went on to win Olympic gold medals in the 4x400 relay in 1996 and 2000.

What makes LaCasia different is Saturday marked just his eighth competitive race in the 400. He has gone a perfect 8 for 8 with first-place finishes in the event.

“I’ve never been to a CCS final before,” LaCasia said. “So, the nerves are there. I’ve been working hard for like the last three weeks on my main goal to hit 46. Today, I did it. So, it’s a good day.”

In seven previous 400 races, LaCasia’s personal record was 47.22 from the CCS Top 8 Invite, April 8, at Los Gatos High School. This was an improvement by over a second and a half from his varsity debut in the event of 48.88 at a Peninsula Athletic League tri-meet against Jefferson and Terra Nova, March 26, at Woodside.

The start of Saturday’s one-lap immortal didn’t look like anything special for the first half of the race. LaCasia positioned himself back of Bellarmine junior Jack Mendoza and St. Francis junior Sean Walsh through the opening turn and didn’t make his move until the end of the first straightaway.

“My race plan is usually to glide to the first 200, stay with the pack, kick it after that,” LaCasia said.

Whipping through the final turn, LaCasia exploded into the the final straightaway. At the finish line, the senior was over a full second faster than Walsh’s second-place time of 47.94. Walsh, incidentally, tied for the 24th fastest 400 in CCS history earlier this season with a 47.77, May 9, at the West Catholic Athletic League championships at St. Francis.

“After I hit the 250 mark halfway through the second curve, I just felt like nothing could stop me, and I just took it home,” LaCasia said.

All the other podium finishers ran 48s. Serra sophomore Jeovanni Henley took third at 48.21; Mountain View senior Grinell Longstreet fourth at 48.50; Aragon junior Charles Harger fifth at 48.79; and Seaside senior Keon Ealey sixth at 48.94.

LaCasia has now taken first place in 18 of the 21 individual races he’s run in his rookie varsity season. He started the year in the 100 and won every race, including his last one in a March 18 PAL tri-meet against Oceana and South City at Woodside. By then he was doubling in the 100 and 200, and went on to win 6 of 9 times in the 200; he ran the event at the CCS championships as well, medaling with a third-place finish of 21.63.

Saturday in the boys’ 4x100 relay, LaCasia earned a third medal, teaming with Isaiah Jacobo, Brody Gentner and Carmel MendesGrassia for a fourth-place time of 42.22, missing the cut for the state championships by .04 seconds. LaCasia qualified for the state trials in both the 200 and 400.

As of his last competitive race in the 100, he still hadn’t run a 400 race. It took LaCasia two months to emerge as one of the greatest in the event in the history of CCS.

“I’m starting to get the hang of it,” he said.