Hughson community celebrates first state track champion with ‘Victory Lap’ surprise party

Hughson is a small town that on Tuesday evening celebrated a massive accomplishment.

At the 103rd CIF State Track & Field Championships May 26-27 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, each of the state’s 10 sections sent their best runners, vaulters, hurdlers and throwers with the hopes of bringing home a state title.

None were faster at 800 meters than Hughson High senior Joseph “Joe” Lighthall, who competed against runners from every division in the state. He left the Fresno area a state champion.

“It’s pretty amazing to think that we have a state champion,” said Hughson track head coach Mark Perry. “It’s not like a state championship in a team sport where you have multiple divisions, this is a state champion in an individual event, across all divisions. It just doesn’t happen.”

While Hughson has sent athletes to the CIF State Track & Field Championships in years prior, Lighthall is the first to return victorious.

To celebrate Lighthall’s historic performance, members of the community organized a surprise at the high school Tuesday, May 30, for the 6-foot-3 runner, who will compete at BYU next year.

The Victory Lap celebration was organized by the Hughson High football team and head coach Shaun King. The Huskies went 13-2 in the fall and won a state championship of their own. They had celebrations and were recognized by the town. King felt Lighthall deserved the same treatment.

“I felt it was only right,” King said. “We had three parades ourselves and Joe’s deserving of the same. He did something that’s never been done at Hughson High … so I thought what a great way to send him out. To have his track teammates and all of his buddies send him out the right way.”

The surprise wouldn’t be complete without Lighthall’s attendance, of course, and his older brother Lance had the perfect set-up.

The two high jump at the school in their free time, so Lance proposed they go practice. The thing is, he knew the high jump pit was stored away after the season ended.

“He said, ‘Lets go practice some high jump,’” Joe Lighthall said. “We’ve done it before, so it’s not the most absurd thing he’s ever said. … I suspected nothing until we pulled up and I was like, ‘What the heck is going on? …’ I had no idea there would be people here.”

Lighthall won the state championship Saturday night, so there wasn’t much time to put together an event, and it had to be kept a secret. There was just one rule when passing the information around the community: Keep it off Instagram.

“We made a flyer, sent it to his dad and found out (Joe is) not on Facebook, but he’s on Instagram,” King said. “We posted on Facebook and told everybody, don’t put this on Instagram, and we got a pretty good turnout. We’re just happy.”

Lighthall was greeted by nearly 200 of his friends, family members and classmates as he entered Husky Memorial Stadium. Those gathered cheered, waved homemade signs and sounded noisemakers as he began to jog around the track.

He ran his “victory lap,” one final 400 meters, in 1 minute, 20 seconds. Surely his slowest 400 time in years, but this wasn’t a competition. It was a celebration.

Wearing a Hughson High Husky flag like a cape, and a navy blue BYU Track & Field hat, he jogged past supporters lined on the football field grass inside the track, high-fiving many of them. Post-lap festivities included pictures and conversations with everyone who asked, admiration of signs that read ‘Congrats on State’ and ‘1st in STATE 800m JOE’ and even a yearbook signing.

He admitted afterward that he was tired — not because of the lap itself, but because he put himself through a strenuous workout that morning. Lighthall did not even give himself a week off before jumping back into training. He is preparing for the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Ore., June 15-18.

Hughson is a Division V school, but Lighthall did not compete against runners in just his division. He competed against 800-meter participants from every division in the CIF. Most years, runners in the state’s top divisions with larger enrollments (I, II and III) take state titles. It is rare for a Division V runner to win.

“That’s what’s really cool about track,” said Joel Bernard, a coach on the track and field staff. “You can be from the smallest school around, and if you’re fast, you still get a chance to compete against some of the best guys.”

Lighthall became the first 800-meter state champion from the Sac-Joaquin Section in more than 25 years, running the two-lap race in 1 minute, 52.06 seconds. He finished his career as the county record holder at 800 meters, a divisional champion at 800 meters, a county champion at 400 and 800 meters and a two-time Trans-Valley League champion at 800 meters, among other awards. He did not finish outside the top two in any major event at 800 meters in his senior season. He recorded the ninth-best time at 400 meters and the 10th-best time at 800 meters in the state this season.

“That was such a great feeling,” Lighthall said of standing on the podium’s top spot. “I just looked off into the crowd … and it was just the coolest thing to see all those people. … It was a cool experience to run at the state meet, compete and win.”

The state meet was the same week as graduation, which meant Lighthall could not walk the stage with the rest of his class. The state title was worth it, he said.

“I still got to walk — just up a podium.”