Local News in Brief : All-America Runner at CSUN Dies in Head-On Car Crash
An All-America long-distance runner at California State University, Northridge, was killed Sunday in a head-on collision with a driver suspected of being drunk. The accident occurred outside Chino as she was driving home to visit her parents in Fallbrook after a track meet, officials said Monday.
Mara E. Lazdans, 20, was killed when the compact car she was driving south on California 71 just north of California 83 was hit by a four-wheel-drive vehicle that crossed the dividing line into her path, California Highway Patrol officer Wes Taylor said.
The driver, Blaine A. Hammond, 26, of Chino, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving, manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance after he was treated for minor injuries at Montclair Doctor’s Hospital, Taylor said.
Lazdans, CSUN’s No. 1 cross-country recruit, was the state community college cross-country champion last year and earned her All-America rating in November, finishing 21st at the national finals in Mississippi.
She is survived by her parents, Peter and Vizma Lazdans, and two brothers, John, 23, and Edwin, 14, a school spokesman said.
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