Running News Daily

High school girls are clocking some very fast miles this season

Never before has a national high school record been broken in back-to-back races. 

Well, until Thursday May 30. 

Just 10 minutes separated two historic efforts at the mile distance between high school girls at the Festival of Miles in St. Louis, Missouri, with Virginia native Allie Zealand getting things started under the lights with a time of 4:30.38. 

However, it wasn't long before Ventura junior Sadie Engelhardt, whose own national record of 4:31.72 was broken by Zealand, got her own crack at it in the women's professional mile that followed. 

Roughly 10 minutes later. 

Engelhardt's patience was played to perfection, as she bided her time in the pack before working her way up over the last 200 meters and hitting for a 63-second final lap to score a new national record in 4:28.46. 

Her finish only paled Jenn Randall's winning time of 4:28.23.

Engelhardt's performance was just 0.21 seconds shy of Mary Cain's longstanding overall national record of 4:28.25, which was set indoors in 2013. 

Engelhardt put together laps of 68.9 over 409 meters, 68 seconds over the second 400 meter frame, 68.3 in the third quarter and 63.2 in the closing lap. 

Zealand, meanwhile, went 69.23, 68.94, 67.38 and 64.81. Cuthbertson's Charlotte Bell was second in 4:35.70 while Allison Ince was third in 4:35.96. 

Five girls finished under 4:40 and six more were under 4:50.