Bishop Manogue's Amaya Aramini posts fastest time in Nevada history in girls 3200-meter race

When Amaya Aramini posted the best time in the girls 3200-meter race in Nevada history, the day started out like any other day.

Aramini had a light breakfast, did some shopping with her family in Arcadia, California, had lunch, then went out and put up the fastest time of her life: 10 minutes, 16.53 seconds in the race, at one of the most prestigious events on the West Coast — the Arcadia Invitational.

"I was having a good time, very calm, not nervous," she said.

How Amaya Aramini set the Nevada record for girls 3200-meter race

One of the quirks of high school track in Nevada is that there are both official and unofficial high school track and field records, due to the hours required to compile and verify them, so the NIAA only recognizes records set at the state meets.

Aramini’s friend Chloe Huyler set the state record last year (10:26.12) while running for Class 1A Sage Ridge as a sophomore. Huyler has since moved to Oregon, but on April 6 she was in Arcadia and they were hanging out together before the race.

Galena's Eleanor Raker set the Class 5A state record last year at 10:29.14.

But in 2006, Reno High’s Mel Lawrence posted a time of 10:20.95 in the 3200, and her time has long been recognized as the state record by state track aficionados. She ran that time at the adidas Golden West Invitational in Folsom, California.

The of day the 2024 Arcadia Invitational

Aramini felt relaxed and confident before the race. There were 30 girls in her heat, but she simply focused on completing the eight laps in the race.

Eight is her lucky number, and she kept that in the back of her mind.

“I had no idea what my splits were, but when I crossed the finish line, I was, ‘Oh my God,’ I just went 10:16. I just PR’d (personal record) by 14 seconds,” Aramini said. "My jaw just dropped. It was very unexpected."

Her time is the 18th fastest in the country.

Aramini has had an outstanding career at Bishop Manogue. She won the state cross country title last fall and was second as a junior. She will run for Notre Dame in the fall.

Aramini faced medical issues during her Bishop Manogue career

Her freshman season was shortened by the pandemic, and the Regional championship that year (2020) utilized a staggered start that year — runners started at one-minute intervals, which caused her to not run her best.

In her sophomore year, Aramini won the cross country Regional and was leading the state championship by 30 seconds when she stumbled and fell just short of the finish line due to a medical issue. Two runners passed her as she crawled across the finish line in third place.

At a Southwest Regional race that year, she began to lose her sight about 800 meters from the end and slowly jogged to the finish, then required extensive medical attention for several hours afterward.

The medical community did not yet know what was causing her issues.

Her junior year, she was second at both the Regional and state cross country championships and was ranked first for Junior Girls in Nevada.

But after the state meet, she was running at the Garmin Running Lanes National Championship and was in the top 20 of the elite field when she collapsed at three-mile mark.

So, in early 2023, she went with her parents to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and underwent extensive testing, which led to a diagnosis of autonomic disorder. Her body is not able to metabolize iron. She has learned to manage it and has not had any more episodes.

After the Arcadia race, Aramini celebrated with a giant hamburger that night, something she does not usually eat.

Aramini to run for Notre Dame in fall

She said on her visit to South Bend, Indiana, the campus felt like home.

“I felt comfortable. I could see myself waking up in the morning in the dorm room, going to breakfast, going to practice, going to class,” she said. “And you can’t really go wrong academically. I was looking at higher academic schools. You don’t know how far running is going to take you.”

She has taken all honors and AP classes and has 4.09 weighted GPA.

She said the coaches and athletes at Notre Dame made her feel like family.

How Aramini started running

Aramini was a competitive swimmer throughout grade school and her freshman year at Manogue. Her older sister, Elena Aramini, is on the swim team at Boston College.

Her freshman cross country season went well. She won all five races leading up to the Regional where she finished in second, but Amaya admits she had no idea what she was doing back then.

“I was very naïve through the whole thing. I’m just running around, like, 'OK, it is what it is,'” she said. “I never realized how big of a deal it is. But after my last race at Arcadia, the community within Reno is so special.”

In her sophomore year, she initially posted a qualifying time for the Arcadia meet, but the time needed to run there was lowered soon afterward.

That fueled her drive.

“Something just switched and I was like, 'I want to get that cut time. I’m going to do things to get that cut,’ Aramini said.

She quit swimming competitively and focused on her running.

Ed Heywood, one of her coaches at Manogue, said there are three reasons behind her success.

"You've got to have talent and you've got to work. And fall in love with the sport, and she has," Heywood said. "I've had kids who were good runners and never liked it."

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Bishop Manogue's Amaya Aramini posts fastest time in Nevada history in girls 3200-meter race