Sadie Engelhardt's Historic Season Earns Her COROS MS50 AOY

Look up 'dominance' in the dictionary. Sadie Engelhardt's name just might appear.

The Ventura High School (CA) junior came off a winning indoor season and spring-boarded to the top of the national leaderboard in four events while she recording the fastest outdoor mile time in high school history. She also ended her outdoor season at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the women's 1,500m.

For her efforts, we are naming her our COROS MileSplit50 2024 Athlete of the Year. 

To kick off the outdoor season, Engelhardt toed the line at The TEN in San Juan Capistrano, California, to compete against a professional field in the 1,500m. At the time, she ran the No. 6 all-time performance at this distance with a 4:09.70 and was able to take the whole entire field of women. Later in June, she ran at the Portland Track Festival, where she lowered her U.S. No. 1 mark to 4:08.86 and moved up to No. 4 on the all-time list. 

After she defended her CIF State Track and Field Championship 1,600m title in 4:32.06, she broke the national high school record in the mile at HOKA Festival of Miles. Two weeks later, she successfully defended the New Balance Nationals Outdoor mile against a competitive high school field.  

* Sadie Engelhardt wins The TEN in the 1,500m with a 4:09.70

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The early NC State pledge had a nearly perfect spring. She was undefeated against her high school competitors and came up short just three times against professional fields this outdoor season. 

The highlight of the year was when Engelhardt broke the national high school record in the mile. 

A mere 10 or so minutes before Engelhardt stepped to the line in the women's professional field at the HOKA Festival of Miles, Allie Zealand clocked a time of 4:30.38 to claim the high school section.

Englehardt had a time to chase, and that's what she did.

Engelhardt finished second and was able to dip under 4:30 as she crossed the finish line in 4:28.46, recording the first effort under 4:30 for a high school girl in history.

Her time finished 0.21 seconds off Mary Cain's overall national high school record of 4:28.25, which Cain ran during the indoor 2013 season. Along with individually setting records, Engelhardt contributed to her team's success at the CIF State Championships. 

* Ventura won the CIF State Championship title in the 4x800m title despite the deficit 

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Engelhardt faced a runner's worst nightmare: dropping the baton.

In the 4x800m, during her exchange, the baton was bobbled and it hit the track. Engelhardt picked up the baton and had a nearly impossible gap to close. Meter-by-meter Engelhardt closed the gap and helped Ventura grab the victory in 8:57.21.

In April, Ventura shockingly broke the national record in the DMR with a time 11:20.44 at the Mt. SAC Relays -- though that time was later broken in June. 

Just when the season couldn't get any sweeter, Engelhardt capped off the year by competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials and was the only higher schooler to compete in the 1,500m field. After a long season, Engelhardt went 4:19.66. 

The California standout leads the nation in the 800m with a 2:03.48, 1,500m, 1,600m, and the mile.