Having hit mile marker, Sadie Engelhardt looks towards qualifying for Olympic trials

Triumph? Exhilaration? Joy?

What was Sadie Engelhardt feeling when the Ventura High junior finally caught the record she had been chasing for the better part of three years?

“A little bit of relief,” Engelhardt said. “I was happy that all my teammates and my family were there and all my coaches, as well.”

After the Ventura High junior set national records in both the girls mile and 1,600 meters with one go-for-broke effort last Friday at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, Engelhardt told The Star that the moment was worth the pain.

“Physically, I’m sore,” Engelhardt said. “But emotionally, this was a great way to cap off the regular season.”

Engelhardt ran a 4:31.72 in the mile, breaking the previous mark of 4:33.87 set by Katelyn Tuohy in 2018.

More: Sadie Engelhardt, Ventura set national track records at Mt. SAC Relays

Engelhardt has committed to run at North Carolina State, where Tuohy recently completed her stellar collegiate career.

The mile time also ranks No. 4 on the year's Under-20 world list.

Engelhardt’s 1,600 time of 4:29.86 improved her own national record of 4:32.48 set April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational.

“She had this goal for three years and it just happened,” Ventura coach Josh Spiker said. “I think she always felt like she was really close. She was right there and then it all came together.”

Engelhardt also contributed to a third national-record run last Saturday, when Ventura won the invitational girls 4,000 distance medley relay in 11:21.85, winning the race by 33 seconds.

Melanie True led off the relay by running the 1,200 meters. Valentina Fakogha and Aelo Curtis followed with personal-best times during the 400 and 800 legs. Engelhardt's anchor split in the 1,600 was 4:33.95.

“We knew if everyone ran a good race, it was possible,” Spiker said. “Usually, not everyone has a really good race on one day. That’s the nature of the relay.”

They needed every effort to break the national record by less than fourth-tenths of a second. The previous national record was 11:22.23 set by Harvard-Westlake in 2011.

“The team’s reaction was crazy,” Spiker said. “They were jumping up and down. They were so excited. Sadie seemed more excited for that than the individual record, which was cool.”

Engelhardt said the record speaks to the flourishing running culture at Ventura.

“I’m feeling good about it,” Engelhardt said. “I know the girls were super happy about it. I was thrilled to be part of that team on Saturday.”

After coming within a half-second of Tuohy’s high school mile mark on April 6 at Arcadia, Engelhardt elected to skip the Ventura County Championships on April 13 to make one more run at the record at Mt. SAC.

“I felt like I was not tapping into my full potential,” Engelhardt said.

Reaching for the record would take a shift in mentality from Arcadia, where Engelhardt didn’t feel she could push early in the race without jeopardizing winning the race.

“There was a more competitive field (at Arcadia),” Spiker said. “The main goal of every race is usually to maximize place. She wanted to make sure she had enough at the end to kick if she needed to, so she was a little more conservative in the middle section.”

Conversely, Engelhardt upped the pace on the second and third laps at Mt. SAC, then hung on at the end.

“Commit to the race early, especially on (laps) two and three,” Spiker said. “Put yourself out there. If you blow up a little bit, that’s OK. Stick to it and give yourself an opportunity to get a record.

“We knew the fitness was there. It was just the question of putting it together on a specific day.”

Engelhardt now turns toward the high school postseason, starting with the Channel League finals at Rio Mesa High on Thursday.

With an eye on another big goal, the reigning state champion in both the 800 and 1,600 meters will only run the 1,600 this postseason.

“Her primary goal this year was to get the national record,” Spiker said. “The secondary goal is to qualify for the Olympic Trials.”

Engelhardt is only a few seconds off the automatic U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying standard in the women’s 1,500 meters of 4:06.

She will attempt to ramp up to that pace through the high school postseason, with the goal of meeting it while running unattached after the state meet.

“I’m really trying to get in quality training during the CIF season,” Engelhardt said. “It’s hardly an ideal situation training-wise to get there, but we can make it work. Doing one event helps.”

Joe Curley is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Having hit mile marker, Engelhardt looks to qualify for Olympic trials