Inside The Mind Of HS National Record Holder Sadie Engelhardt: Insights From Her 4:28 Mile, Making The US Olympic Trials As Just A Junior In HS, Her Plans To Break The 1500m Record, & More

THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Dominic Schlueter

Running, Sports

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sadie Engelhardt returns to the podcast today.

Back on the podcast is the 18-year-old American track and field mega-star from Ventura, California. Sadie is a senior at Ventura High School, where she has had a storied career and is considered one of the best high school runners ever.

The NC State commit (and only the third girls competitor from California to be named Gatorade Best Player of the Year) has excelled in both cross country and track and field. Most recently, she came in 11th at the Girls XC Nationals on December 7. She has also maintained a 4.59 GPA in the classroom.

Sadie has even found time to volunteer locally on behalf of Runners For Public Lands, helping to clean trails and other places to run around Ventura County. With all that said, it's the oval where she truly separates herself from the rest.

Her PRs include times of 2:03.46 in the 800m, 4:08.86 in the 1500m, 4:28.46 in the mile, and 9:50.69 in the 3200m. The aforementioned mile time was a national high school record in the outdoor mile. Sadie has had three consecutive 1,600m state titles, and she helped her school win a state championship in the 4x800 relay.

In 2024, Sadie ran in her first professional outdoor meet at The TEN, where she stunned the world by running a 4:09.7 in the 1500m. She then zeroed in on three professional meets to try and make the Olympic qualifying standard, and at the Portland Track Festival on June 9 she pulled off a 4:08.86 in the 1500m, earning her spot at the qualifier–becoming the third high school athlete to ever qualify for the 1500m in the Olympics.

While Sadie only competed in the preliminary round, it was a valuable experience for this rising phenom to keep in her arsenal.

In today's conversation, Sadie shares reflections from her XC season, her hopes and dreams for the 2025 track season, insights from her training, how she plans to go out with a bang in HS, and so much more.

Sadie is truly doing unprecedented things in the sport, and it's always a privilege to sit down with her and have a meaningful conversation with her.

Tap into the Sadie Engelhardt special.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	People just kind of looked at Mary Kane, like, oh, that's like, she's a freaking nature, you know, like, no one can catch that.
0:06.3	No one can better that.
0:07.6	But, yeah, I think it's possible.
0:09.3	I think it's possible for people after me as well.
0:11.5	So, you know, like the sport's always improving.
0:14.1	So, yeah, just to set that bar high, I guess, would be my goal and show people that they can reach goals that they think are not obtainable.
0:21.8	Yeah, that would be great.
0:25.4	That was Sadie Englehart today on the Running Effect podcast, and I'm your host, Dominic Schleider.
0:30.2	Very excited.
0:30.9	You've clicked on today's conversation because I have the privilege of speaking with
0:35.3	record-breaking machine, Sadie Englehart. If you're not familiar
0:39.2	with Sadie, she's run 203 in the 800, 408 in the 1500, 428 in the mile and 950 in the 3200.
0:47.3	That 428 in the mile I actually was present for in St. Louis this past June. That was a national
0:52.6	record. She broke the national record in the mile.
0:55.2	It was a remarkable race.
0:56.4	We actually dive deep into that performance and the craziness of that day in today's
1:00.5	conversation.
1:01.6	Another big key storyline for her this year was making the U.S. Olympic trials in the
1:06.5	1500 meter run, where she was far and away, the youngest competitor in the woman's
1:10.7	1500. She also won the Gatorade best player of the year across all. 1,500 meter run, where she was far and away, the youngest competitor in the woman's 1,500.
1:11.5	She also won the Gatorade best player of the year across all sports, and she was only the third
1:17.0	girl's competitor from California to ever do so.
	...

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