Fillmore’s Fabian (Fabi) Del Villar (above) set a new school record in the two-mile record. The previous record of 9:15.5 was set by Ben Aparicio in 1968; converts to a 3200-meter time of 9:12.28. Fabi converted the time by about .18 seconds making the new record 9:12.10 Photo courtesy Michael Torres.

It took almost 53 years for a Fillmore athlete to set a new record in two mile while running a 3200 Meter race. On Friday night at 8:15 PM, Fabi as he is known by friends and Family toed the starting line at the fabled Arcadia Invitational. Along with 25 quality athletes, he raced 8 laps of the 400 meter oval to place second, less than a second behind the eventual winner from Laguna Beach.

After the first lap, and overcoming a poor start that put him in 22nd place, Fabi worked his way around a large bunched up group of runners eight wide. He had to go out to the 4th lane before he took the lead for laps two through four. During the next few laps, he drifted as far back as fifth before moving back into the third position and finally moving into second. During the final 100 meters, Fabi closed on the eventual winner all the way to the finish before running out of real estate and posting a school record time of 9:12.10.

On the conversion calculator, the school two mile record set by Ben Aparicio on May 17, 1968 at CIF Prelims hosted by Cerritos College of 9:15.5, converts to a 3200 meter time of 9:12.28. So Fabi ran a faster converted time by about .18 seconds.

It was an exciting night for this young athlete who has only been able to run the 3200 meters twice over the last two years, as a result of the CIF safety precautions due to COVID-19. We hope that Fabi will be able to race again during his Fillmore High School tenure. His next major race will be at the Ventura County Track and Field Championships on May 21st at Moorpark High School.

After graduation, he will attend UCLA and would like to continue running and pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering.