Engelhardt clocks 4:47.90 in middle school race in Clovis for No. 3 1,600 time recorded by an eighth-grader since turn of the century, Sundgren sweeps varsity 1,600 and 3,200 for host Bears; McGehee-Adams, Ray, Salas and Zinkin earn wins

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Photos by Ciera Sesock

For all the impressive high school performances Saturday at the Buchanan Distance Classic, including a sweep of the girls varsity 1,600 and 3,200 meters for the host Bears by sophomore Sydney Sundgren, it was the nation’s top eighth-grader who produced the defining moment at the site of her future state championship races at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif.

Sadie Engelhardt, an eighth-grader at Cabrillo Middle School in Ventura, Calif., ran the third-fastest 1,600-meter time recorded by a junior high or middle school athlete since the turn of the century by clocking 4 minutes, 47.90 seconds.

Only Lexy Halladay of Lake Hazel Middle School, who went on be one of the all-time great prep competitors in Idaho before competing as a freshman this year for reigning NCAA Division 1 cross country champion Brigham Young, and Taylor Roe of Olympic View Middle School in Washington have run faster than Engelhardt.

Halladay clocked 4:46.47 in the 1,600 at the 2016 YMCA Middle School Invitational.

Roe, the Division 1 cross country runner-up as a sophomore this year for Oklahoma State following a stellar high school career at Lake Stevens, is credited with a 4:47.6 hand time from the 2015 Mukilteo School District Middle School Championships.

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Even more impressive was that Engelhardt – who clocked 4:50.31 for the full mile April 10 with a 4:48.73 split for 1,600 meters at the NIKE Chandler Rotary Invitational in Arizona – won the middle school race by more than eight seconds.

Engelhardt, representing Valley United Striders, already ranks No. 2 among eighth-graders in the full mile since the turn of the century, trailing only Nicole Blood of Saratoga Springs High in New York, who ran 4:50.15 in 2002.

Elliana Lomeli, an eighth-grader at Alta Sierra Middle School in Clovis, took second in 4:56.51, with Cameron Macias – a seventh-grader at Kastner Intermediate Middle School in Fresno – taking third in 4:59.79.

Sundgren won the varsity 1,600 in 4:58.09, ahead of Clovis North junior Miliana Perez, who took runner-up in 4:59.11.

Sundgren clocked 10:48.28 in the 3,200, with Clovis North sophomore Ashlyn Leath placing second in 10:56.79 and Buchanan sophomore Grace Hutchison finishing third in 10:57.41.

Clovis North junior Tatum Zinkin prevailed in the girls varsity 800 in 2:16.43 and Clovis East sophomore Erica Nyberg placed second in 2:18.82. Nyberg was also third in the 1,600 in 5:08.77.

Sanger junior Emmanuel Salas won the boys varsity 3,200 in 9:13.67, with Clovis sophomore Christopher Caudillo placing second in 9:17.25. Caudillo took third in the varsity 1,600 in 4:17.25, trailing Buchanan senior Sebastian McGehee-Adams (4:16.59) and St. Mary’s of Stockton junior Daniel Winter (4:17.03).

Buchanan sophomore Noah Ray led four Bears under the 2-minute mark in the boys varsity 800, prevailing in 1:55.68.

Senior Austin Gillen was second in 1:57.29, sophomore Zach Weaver took third in 1:59.24 and McGehee-Adams finished fourth in 1:59.26.

Nico Palavincini, who attends Kaster Intermediate, won the boys middle school 1,600 in 4:37.16.