ARCADIA -- Saugus ran by itself for 13 of the 16 laps in the 4 x mile relay.

Amber Murakami, Stephanie Bulder, Kaylin Mahoney and Anne Randall combined to run the fastest outdoor time in the nation this year.

But their bid at another state-record performance ran out of gas Friday night at the 42nd Arcadia Invitational, as the Centurions won the race in 20 minutes, 38.75 seconds, but fell short of their mark of 20:10.76 last year, which ranks as the No. 4 outdoor mark in U.S. prep history.

Even with a 5:07.2 leadoff leg from Murakami and a 5:04.6 anchor from Randall, Saugus couldn't duplicate the magic of last year's performance, which featured a 4:53.9 anchor from Katie Dunn.

"I could've sworn I was on sub-5 pace," said Randall, who clocked 3:46 through the first 1,320 yards of the 1,760 leg. "For me it's hard considering what we did last year, but we had a lot of setbacks earlier this season and they did the best they could and I can't ask for anything more."

Considering that Mahoney ran in only her fifth race of the year after recovering from a stress reaction in her left leg, Randall was slowed at the start of the season by illness, Murakami had been bothered by a sore back and Bulder was running 5:14 for 1,600 meters a month ago, Saugus' ability to repeat as invitational champion was a challenge in itself.

"I felt good. I felt like I was running well. But when you're out front, you don't want to look back," said

Mahoney, who ran 5:16 on the third leg. "I'm used to (400-meter splits of) 74 and 2:30, so when you're looking at the time, it's hard to change your mental clock. You feel like you're running a lot faster than you are."

Bulder, who ran a....