Crescenta Valley standout and Virginia signee Barnett runs 4:39.41 for No. 3 in California history, with Newbury Park’s Young rallying for victory; Engelhardt posts fastest time by an eighth-grader, Sahlman and Lester strong against pros 

By Landon Negri for DyeStat/Photos by Chuck Utash

For a moment Saturday evening, the past, present and future of girls distance running met in one race at the Sound Running Track Meet in Irvine, Calif.

The meet featured boys and girls high school mile events, with Crescenta Valley senior Mia Barnett winning the girls race in a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 39.41 seconds, with Newbury Park sophomore Leo Young prevailing in the boys race in 4:10.95.

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What made the girls race unique was the 1-2 finish of the accomplished Barnett, a Virginia signee, and eighth-grader Sadie Engelhardt of Cabrillo Middle School in Ventura, whose time of 4:46.25 is the fastest performance in the mile by an eighth grader since the turn of the century, eclipsing the mark of 4:50.15 set in 2002 by Nicole Blood of Saratoga Springs High in New York.

“It’s just amazing,” said Engelhardt, who also beat her previous personal best of 4:50.31 from April at the NIKE Chandler Rotary meet in Arizona.

“I can see where I’m at. And since I’m in the eighth grade, it’s pretty nice to just see the standards and where everyone is. It makes me super excited for high school training.”

And what she saw in front of her was a college-bound senior at the top of her game.

Barnett continued a stellar senior season by taking control of the mile and strangling the life out of it. She raced to a big lead and held it, outrunning Engelhardt by seven seconds to elevate to the No. 3 prep performer in California history and the No. 18 all-time high school competitor.

Mira Costa’s Dalia Frias was third in 4:47.71, giving the junior program records in the 800, 1,600, mile and 3,200. Newbury Park’s Samantha McDonnell was fourth at 4:48.41 and Mayfield’s Audrey Suarez, a Stanford signee, finished fifth in 4:48.48.

Barnett was running against time as much as the rest of a talented field. 

“I didn’t want to take the lead early,” Barnett explained, “but I just felt the girls all just not go out fast, so I decided to take the lead early again.

“What I was proud of myself for was coming back with a 68 on the second lap,” she added. “Because I know my coach and I were talking, ‘Hey, I don’t have to lead the first lap.’ From that point on, try to go sub-70 and try to hit 68s, and I think I hit 68 for the rest of the race.”

The mile is a bit longer than the usual 1,600 meters, so she figured a goal was met with a bonus.

“That’s one of my high school goals is to break 4:40 (in the 1,600),” she said. “I never process the full mile and 1,600 dynamic, so I always said, ‘break 4:40 for the 1,600.’

“But I broke 4:40 for the full mile, which is awesome.”

Young didn’t lead the boys mile until the final lap, when he overtook Pasadena's Isaiah Givens, who placed second in 4:11.68.

Sage Creek’s Bryce Gilmore was just behind, in third at 4:11.91. Lex Young, Leo’s twin brother, finished fourth in 4:12.15, and hometown runner Josh Schuld, of Beckman High in Irvine, placed fifth in 4:12.18.

“The biggest thing for this race was just trying to stay as relaxed as possible,” Leo Young said. “I’ve run one other mile, earlier this season, and if there’s one thing I took away from it, it was that I felt really, really good at the end.”

Givens led for much of the race before Leo Young passed him with about 200 meters to go.

Across the board, runners Saturday were grateful to have the chance to compete in California again with COVID-19 restrictions easing. Newbury Park’s boys, for example, competed in the Sundown Track Series in Arizona, but they’re feeling meets like Saturday are a blessing.

“We didn’t know how everything was going to look with COVID,” Leo Young said. “We were finishing (the Arizona meets) up thinking, ‘Wow, this could be the end of our season. So we’re just grateful and lucky to have all these races.’”

Although Newbury Park junior Colin Sahlman didn’t compete against his prep peers in the mile, he produced another strong performance racing against professional athletes in the men’s 1,500 meters, clocking 3:46.39 to ascend to the No. 6 all-time prep performer in California.

John Lester, a senior at Amador Valley and Stanford signee, elevated to No. 2 in the country this season in the 800, benefiting from also racing against professional athletes to finish fourth in 1:49.77.

Lester, who ran 1:48.26 in June at the Desert Dream Last Hurrah in Arizona, trails only Hobbs Kessler of Ann Arbor Skyline in Michigan (1:49.67) among high school competitors this season.