With one lap to go in the most important mile race of his career, Liam Papavasilou wasn’t sure if fate was in the cards.
“We came through at 3:07 or so, and I was like we got this, so at that point it was just trying to hold on as long as I could and then coming through, I see the time is 4:09 something,” he said. “But when you see that it’s usually a little bit off, so I wasn’t quite sure.”
Thousand Oaks High has been around since 1962, and some of the Lancers’ most prestigious records date back for more than four decades, perhaps none more important than the prestigious mile time in track and field.
Arguably the sport’s most coveted record, Steve Fairman established a new best in 1980 with a time of 4 minutes, 12.55 seconds.
So any fade down the final stretch may have cost Papavasilou not only an important first-place finish in mid-April’s Ventura County Championships, but a chance at the record.
“Then I’m laying on the ground after and everyone’s congratulating me, ‘So I was like, ‘Oh, I broke it.’ So there was a lot of emotion because that’s the premier record for distance running, it’s been a long for a while and a lot of good runners have tried to break it.”
Forty-four years after Fairman set the Lancers’ long-standing record, Papavasiliou eclipsed his mark with his 4:09.94 run.
And for his honor, he got quite the prize.
“I think that Liam’s mile was outstanding at the Ventura County Championships,.” track and field head coach Marlene Wilcox told The Lancers. “That record goes way back to Steve Fairman, (and) he came out and met with Liam after he broke the record and wrote a donation check for $409.94.”
Before setting records as a senior, Papavasiliou had a rise to glory that was far from anticipated.
As his freshman year began, there were hardly any cross country meets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but amidst those struggles, Papavasiliou was able to run a 4:31 mile. However during his sophomore year, as the pandemic was settling down, Papavasiliou took a step back and had worse nutrition and worse times.
“I ran 4:31 my freshman year and I didn’t break that my sophomore year,” he said.
The grind that Papavisliou has endured just shows how nothing was given to him and everything was earned, as heading into his prestigious senior season, he upped his weekly mileage by twenty miles.
Track and Field is different from most sports as it is more revolved around individual hopes and responsibilities that carry through a rigorous regular season, as well as an even more taxing postseason. But that’s exactly where stars shine the brightest, and that is exactly what Papavasiliou did in his last race before CIF.
This sensational senior season that marked his last hoorah as a Lancer for Papavasiliou closes this chapter and prepares him for the next, as he will be taking his talents to Santa Clara University, where also plans to major in Computer Science.
Almost four decades after her Lancer teammate Fairman set the record in 1980, his fellow star Wilcox was named as the head coach for her own alma mater, and in the five years since her arrival she’s not only been able to coach five straight undefeated Marmonte League Championship teams with the boys, but she also watched as her old teammate’s record was finally broken 44-years later.
And she was the coach of the now record holder.
“This wasn’t handed to Liam,” she said. “He went through hell and back in his previous years struggling to perfect that race. It came together and it was sensational, and obviously it stood for 44-years, that tells you how significant that was.”