Lane gains seasoning in Oregon

The more relevant number, though, was 55.40, the time of Lane's 400-meter split. And, given that the 18-year-old relies more on strength than pure speed, that was too slow to propel him to a time fast enough to qualify for today's final.

"That needed to be 53,'' said Doug Herron of Anchorage, Lane's coach and a former junior national champion at 800 meters. "He closed nice. But when you don't run fast enough (on the first lap), that's the bottom line.

"He's still young. This is his first real season of running fast. He'll have many more. One good thing -- he competed. He was in it.''

Lane finished fourth in his six-man heat at USA Track and Field's Junior National Championships at the University of Oregon's legendary Hayward Field in Eugene, where the senior national championships are being held simultaneously. He clocked 1:53.10, more than a second slower than his qualifying time of 1:51.82, which he ran as a Service High senior to win the Alaska state Class 4A title last month in Fairbanks.

That 1:51.82 is the second- fastest 800 run in Alaska, bowing only to the state-record 1:49.2 Herron blasted for Bartlett in 1985.

When Lane blew away the field in Fairbanks, he covered the opening 400 meters in 54-plus seconds. Friday, Herron wanted at least a 53-second opener out of Lane. But Lane, who had never run in such a fast field, didn't meet that goal, largely because of his inexperience.

"I've only run basically one race at the kind of pace you need to be running down here,'' Lane said by cellphone. "I couldn't tell I was running 55 -- not 52 or 53 -- because I'm not experienced.

"I saw '55' (on a scoreboard), but I didn't think '55.' If it would have registered, I would have tried to get up on the front guys right away. What I learned is I shouldn't be afraid to push the pace.''

Immanuel Hutchinson won Lane's heat in 1:50.85, with Joseph Woiwode second in 1:51.84 and Myles Andrews third in 1:52.11. Lane placed 11th overall among 19 runners competing in three preliminary heats that whittled the field for today's final to eight runners.

Herron said a faster early pace by Lane might have sapped some of the closing speed from his competitors.

"He needed to push the pace,'' Herron said. "They controlled it, so they controlled him. Basically, he let them control the race. (Preventing that) comes with experience.''

After one lap, Lane sat in third place, just behind the leaders.

"I was a little worried about position because I haven't really run a race with anyone for a while,'' he said. "I was on the outside of Lane 1, right behind the leaders.

"I thought I was in perfect position, but I didn't go out as aggressively as I would have liked.''

Lane, who will study engineering and compete in running and nordic skiing at Michigan Tech beginning this fall, said he felt slightly nervous in the staging area before his heat, but not so much when he actually got onto the track.

"I got out there, and I'm on the big screen, and I thought, 'Cool,' " he said.

He chuckled about how his first name -- pronounced Yawn-ee -- was pronounced incorrectly over the public address system as Jane-ee.

"I've had my name pronounced wrong so many times but this is the first famous place I've had my name pronounced wrong,'' he said with a laugh. "Probably the highlight of my day.''

In a race at senior nationals involving an Alaskan, former West Valley runner Maggie Callahan, 22, of Fairbanks, on Friday didn't make it out of her preliminary heat in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Callahan, who just finished her senior season at the University of Arizona and won the Pac-10 steeplechase title this season, clocked 10:17.52 -- her qualifying time was 1:11.77 -- to finish 12th among 17 runners in her heat. Callahan finished 25th overall out of 33 runners.

UAA long jumper David Registe will compete in senior nationals today. Former Bartlett High shot putter Jordan Clarke, the NCAA Division I champion for Arizona State, and long jumper Janay DeLoach, who owns the longest leap by an American this year, are scheduled to compete at senior nationals Sunday.

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.