The top story in Lake County sports in 2006 can be summed up in two words or one name: Mike Perez.
The Lower Lake High School senior took Northern California”s track and field community by storm — more like by hurricane — during the months of March, April and May, culminating with a trip to the 1,600-meter finals at the CIF State Championships in early June.
Reaching a state championship in any sport is a big deal but it was the way Mike Perez did it that made the experience that much more special. Competing in special events nearly every weekend during the spring season, one that saw that most of Lower Lake regular meets washed out by rain, Perez made a name for himself well outside the boundaries of Lake County.
After setting the 2006 outdoor record in the 1,600 at the Piedmont Distance Festival in late March only to watch that record fall a few days later, Perez regained the record with a blistering time of 4 minutes, 13.3 seconds at the St. Francis Track & Field Carnival in Mountain View.
On April Fool”s Day at the Oakland Invitational Relays, Perez set the second-fastest time in the nation for 2006 with a mark of 1:55 in the 800 meters. On April 22 in Union City, his winning time of 4:09.91 in the 1,600 at the Top Eight Meet set the Redwood Empire”s all-time record for that distance.
With the major part of his season still ahead of him, Perez signed a letter of intent to attend Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in mid-May, receiving what amounted to a full-ride scholarship from the university.
After breezing to easy wins in the 800 and 1,600 at the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships in Ukiah, Perez won the 1,600 and finished second in the 800 at the North Coast Section Class 2A Championship Meet in Novato, a feat that earned him the right to compete in both events at the following weekend”s Meet of Champions at Berkeley.
Perez concentrated on just the 1,600 following his win at Novato and scored a victory at the Meet of Champions, winning in 4:15.13.
He moved on to the CIF State Championships the following weekend in Norwalk and finished third in his heat during qualifying with a time of 4:15.72, which was good enough to move him into the finals.
On June 3, Perez and eight other runners lined up for the 1,600 finals and Perez, who had been battling some sort of bug for the better part of three weeks, never found his stride or his stamina and finished last in the field, a heart-breaking end to an otherwise solid season.
Editor”s Note: This article appeared as the top story in the “2006: The year in high high school sports,” year end compilation published in the Tuesday, Jan. 2 edition of the Lake County Record-Bee.
