FRESNO, Calif. – Sadie Engelhardt took an opportunity to reflect following the Bill Buettner girls championship race at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational on the moments when she was in elementary school and had the opportunities to sit with her father Max and watch videos of Claudia Lane racing during her record-setting prep career at Malibu High in California.
For all the records that Engelhardt has produced in both cross country and track during her exceptional tenure at Ventura High, the North Carolina State-bound senior always carried the highest amount of respect for Lane’s all-time 5-kilometer standard at Woodward Park in Fresno, identifying during her freshman year that she thought the mark was unattainable.
And that made the achievement Saturday of eclipsing Lane’s record one of the most significant moments in Engelhardt’s running career.
Engelhardt pulled away from Corona Santiago senior and Florida State commit Rylee Blade in the final mile to not only repeat as winner of the Bill Buettner girls championship race, but doing so by clocking 16 minutes, 24.2 seconds to take down the 2017 standard of 16:30.3 established by Lane at the Division 4 state final.
Ventura’s Sadie Engelhardt, left, and Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade | Photo by Ken Martinez
Blade, who ran the fastest 3-mile cross country race in U.S. prep history Sept. 21 with her 15:20.3 effort in the Bob Day girls sweepstakes at the 43rd Woodbridge Cross Country Classic Presented by ASICS America at Great Park in Irvine, elevated to the No. 3 all-time performer at Woodward Park with a 16:31.3 performance Saturday to finish runner-up to Engelhardt for the second year in a row.
Engelhardt prevailed in last season’s matchup by a 16:39.3 to 16:45.8 margin and became the first female athlete Saturday since Great Oak’s Destiny Collins in 2014-15 to win back-to-back Bill Buettner girls championship races.
It was also a profound rebound Saturday for Engelhardt after finishing fifth in 15:40.2 at Woodbridge to win for the fourth consecutive time at Woodward Park, including a pair of Division 2 state championships.
Engelhardt also added to her career legacy competing in Fresno with a sub-17 effort for the fourth straight year, including a 16:58.7 performance as a freshman and a 16:57.9 mark during her sophomore season at Woodward Park.
Josiah Tostenson of Crater High in Oregon became the first athlete from outside California to win the Rob Brenner boys championship race since Elijah Armstrong from Pocatello High in Idaho prevailed in 2014, emerging victorious in 14:41.3.
Tostenson, a University of Washington commit, also led a record eight competitors under the 15-minute mark, the most in one high school race ever showcased at Woodward Park following five athletes achieving the feat at the ASICS Clovis Invitational last season.
Tayvon Kitchen of Crater was also part of that elite group, taking third in 14:44.5, just behind Griffin Kushen of Tesoro in 14:43.8, as the trio of seniors all elevated into the top 20 all-time at Woodward Park.
Tostenson responded well to the challenge of racing for the first time on the 5-kilometer layout in Fresno after being edged by Owen Powell of Mercer Island High in Washington by a 13:30.3 to 13:30.5 margin in the Doug Speck boys sweepstakes race at Woodbridge.
Engelhardt and Tostenson weren’t the only notable rebound performances from Woodbridge, with the Buchanan High girls program regrouping after placing fourth in the Bob Day sweepstakes race to produce five scorers in the top 35 of Saturday’s competition, good for a 65-point effort and the second team title at the ASICS Clovis Invitational in four years.
JSerra was second at 104 points, Corona Santiago took third with 119 points and Ventura – which competed without senior Melanie True – finished fourth at 153 points.
Even more remarkable was the turnaround for the Beckman boys team, which reset after finishing 25th in the Doug Speck sweepstakes race to have five athletes in the top 40 and capture the first Rob Brenner championship plaque in program history with an 83-97 victory against fellow California program Jesuit, with Crater taking third at 116 points Martin Luther King achieving fourth with 148 points and Glendora capturing fifth at 177 points.
Broen Holman of Sonora placed fourth in 14:46.4, the identical mark that he ran to take third in the Division 4 state final last season.
Landon Pretre from Menlo School took another step toward becoming the fastest all-time Division 5 competitor at Woodward Park, running 14:51.5 to place fifth, just off the 14:51.0 effort achieved by Francis Parker’s Kenan Pala at the 2021 state final.
Menlo School’s Landon Pretre | Photo by Ken Martinez
Aydon Stefanopoulos of Los Gatos, the reigning Division 2 state champion, produced a personal-best 14:52.4 to secure sixth, with Glendora’s Dylan Flores (14:59.5) and Martin Luther King’s Maximo Zavaleta (14:59.7) also eclipsing the 15-minute barrier, and Miles Cook from Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep just missing joining the group after achieving ninth in 15:00.8, right in front of Hueneme’s J.R. Lesher taking 10th in 15:01.1.
Mason Nguyen led Beckman by achieving 11th in 15:05.0, with Ryan Barris grabbing 20th in 15:21.5 and Nathan Horrocks capturing 22nd in 15:23.7, Anthony Barrera producing a 29th-place performance and Christian Weber taking 38th in 15:38.6 for the Patriots.
Beckman boys | Photo by Ken Martinez
Engelhardt and Blade were the only female athletes to eclipse the 17-minute barrier Saturday, but there were 22 competitors to produce sub-18 efforts in the Bill Buettner championship race.
Summer Wilson of Irvine High took third in 17:08.8, with 2022 race winner Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery finishing fourth in 17:10.4 and Maya de Brouwer of La Canada achieved fifth in 17:20.3.
Corona Santiago’s Braelyn Combe was sixth in 17:23.5, South Pasadena’s Abigail Errington grabbed seventh in 17:24.9, Fresno Bullard’s Isabella Ramirez earned eighth in 17:25.2, with Tesoro teammates Mackenzie Forrest (17:31.3) and Amber Dazey (17:38.5) rounding out the top 10.
Molly Sundgren led Buchanan with an 11th-place effort in 17:44.1, as four Bears produced sub-18 performances to clock 89:35 as a team and just miss their Central Section record from the 2022 Division 1 state final by three seconds.
Kynzlee Buckley finished 15th in 17:50.5, with freshmen Gaby Gutierrez (17:51.9) and Brooklyn Buckley (17:52.3) achieving 18th and 20th, respectively, and Avery Hutchison capturing 32nd in 18:15.5 for Buchanan, which produced its sixth sub-90 performance at Woodward Park, more than any girls program in history.
Buchanan girls | Photo by Ken Martinez
Despite Crater taking third in the Rob Brenner boys championship race, the Comets achieved the fastest performance at Woodward Park by a program outside California with a team time of 76:37.
Crater elevated to the No. 6 all-time school on the 5-kilometer course and produced the 12th-fastest performance, well ahead of the 1993 mark of 77:22 established in 1993 by Mead High from Washington at the Foot Locker West Regionals.
Beckman ran 77:00 and Jesuit clocked 77:22, both program records and among the 25 fastest all-time team times at Woodward Park.
Although JSerra finished 10th with 228 points, the Lions eclipsed the Division 4 all-time mark by clocking 79:08, lowering the record of 79:19 achieved last season by St. Francis.
Tyler Daillak, a senior at Paso Robles, ascended among the top 40 athletes in Woodward Park history by running a lifetime-best 14:53.7 to win the boys varsity large school blue division race. Daillak elevated to the No. 5 all-time competitor in the Central Section.
Tyler Daillak of Paso Robles | Photo by Ken Martinez
Ayala held off Saugus by a 137-152 margin to secure the team victory.
Alijah Murillo, a junior at Branham High who finished fifth at the Division 2 state final last year, won the boys varsity extra large school blue division race in a personal-best 15:12.6, with the Bruins placing three competitors in the top 10 to triumph with 181 points.
Issaiah McCorvey of Lancaster High won the boys varsity extra large school yellow division competition in 15:35.9, as Fresno Bullard held off Oak Ridge with a 94-111 victory.
Simi Valley’s Elijah Rojas was victorious in the boys varsity large school yellow division race in 15:39.2 and Pleasant Valley prevailed with 116 points.
Palo Alto teammates Kinga Czajkowska and Amaya Bharadwaj added to the list of sub-18 performances by taking first and third in the girls varsity large school blue division competition in 17:49.4 and 17:51.4, respectively.
Newport Harbor’s Marley McCullough was second in 17:50.4 and Santa Rosa Montgomery’s Amrie Lacefield placed fourth in 17:57.4, both eclipsing the 18-minute barrier at Woodward Park for the first time.
The team battle was also decided by a narrow margin, with Los Gatos edging Davis Senior 211-217 and San Clemente taking third at 221 points.
Santa Fe’s Serenity Fausto won the girls varsity large school yellow division race in 18:04.0, with the team battle being decided on a sixth-runner tiebreaker, as Douglas of Nevada prevailed against Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep after both lineups accumulated 130 points.
Arcadia’s Charlotte Hopkins clocked 18:04.4 to triumph in the girls varsity extra large school blue division competition, with Kambri Felsted from Spanish Springs High in Nevada clocking 18:13.2 for second.
Madera South was the top team in the field with 167 points.
Santa Ana’s Adamara Esparza won the girls varsity extra large school yellow division race in 18:33.2 and Corona Centennial held off La Quinta by a 73-84 margin for the team title.