PREP NOTES

Chris Lynch of Laguna Hills started the boys’ track and field season in fine shape, running 3,200 meters in 9 minutes 25.5 seconds March 14 at the Irvine Invitational.

But Lynch hit the wall three days later, coming down with the flu, which he said took a toll on his body.

“I tried to run through it,” he said. “It just taxed my whole body.”

Lynch, a senior, trained sporadically until the Trabuco Hills Invitational last weekend.

At Trabuco Hills, Lynch placed fifth in the invitational 1,600-meter run in 4:22.6--a personal best by more than two seconds. Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Goss Lindsey won the race in 4:15.74, a Southern Section-leading time. Midway through the third lap, Lynch was in second.

“(The pack) came back and I didn’t respond,” Lynch said. “I’m not mentally tough. I don’t want to make excuses, but I was feeling great a month ago.”

Lynch, whose time in the 3,200 at the Irvine Invitational ranks as seventh-best in the section, said he expected to be more fit by Saturday’s Arcadia Invitational.

“You watch at Arcadia,” he said. “I’m about a month behind in my training now, but I’ll be back.”