Runner Takes Long Road Back : Track: Laura Cattivera first ran in the Sunkist Invitational at 15. She’s returning at 22 after five lower-leg fractures.

The last time that Laura Cattivera ran in the Sunkist Invitational track meet she was a sophomore phenomenon at Mira Costa High competing in the seeded girls mile.

She placed second that night, her 15th birthday, with a time of five minutes, one second.

Tonight at 7:35, seven years later and two days before her 22nd birthday, Cattivera will again take to the Sports Arena indoor track in the Sunkist $100,000 women’s mile, competing against Romanian star and Olympic 1,500-meter champion Paula Ivan, among others.

It is a sort of homecoming for Cattivera, who has not been prominent in Los Angeles track and cross-country circles since her early high school days.

“People have forgotten the name,” said Vince O’Boyle, Cattivera’s coach. “They haven’t seen her, they don’t know who she is.”

Cattivera didn’t disappear. After her sophomore year in high school, when Cattivera qualified for the Kinney National Cross-Country meet, she was plagued by a series of five lower-leg fractures in high school that resulted from overtraining. The injuries prevented Cattivera from performing to her ability, and she competed only sporadically in her junior and senior years.

Her history of injuries scared away some colleges, but Princeton cross-country and track Coach Peter Farrell didn’t lose interest. He recruited Cattivera, pitching the fact that running at Princeton would present less pressure than at other schools.

Cattivera liked the idea of placing academics first and running second.

As it turned out, though, academics came first, second and third at the Ivy League school.

“My first year was tough,” Cattivera said. “I was totally unprepared for the academics at Princeton.”

Cattivera, an American history major, adjusted to the academic load and began producing for the Tigers. As a junior, she was the heptagonal cross-country champion. The heptagonal competitors include the Ivy League, Army and Navy.

In her senior year at the outdoor heptagonals last May, Cattivera won the 1,500, 3,000 and anchored the winning 800 relay on the same day, leading Princeton to a team championship.

She said it was the most fun she had experienced at a track meet.

Cattivera then placed fifth in the 3,000 at the NCAA championships.

Farrell said the fun has just begun for Cattivera.

“(Despite) all the academic distractions at Princeton, she became a national-class runner,” he said. “I think, training in California, with just running to worry about, Laura can become an elite runner. I wouldn’t compare her with Lynn Jennings (a Princeton alumna and world-class road racer and cross-country runner), but she is taking steps to be like her.”

O’Boyle said Cattivera has made good progress. Her personal bests are 4:41 for the mile, 4:17 for the 1,500 and 9:31 for the 3,000. Last fall she came in 13th at The Athletics Congress national cross-country meet at San Francisco. She is now training for the world cross-country championships qualifying meet to be held in February in Seattle.

Tonight, Cattivera hopes to make her homecoming successful by getting a speed workout in preparation for the February race. As far as the $100,000 prize offered in the mile to anyone who can break the world record of 4:18.86, Cattivera said it’s out of reach and she “won’t even worry about it.”

Cattivera figures to refresh the memories of track watchers tonight. Thursday morning she ran into an old acquaintance who asked, “Are you still running?” Cattivera modestly answered with a nod, neglecting to mention the Sunkist meet.

But after tonight’s re-introduction to the track world and a possible appearance at the March world cross-country championships in France, everyone should know who Cattivera is.

Again.