Sadie Engelhardt was on a plane somewhere in the sky on Wednesday, looking out from her usual window seat. 

The Ventura High School junior doesn't like flying, but she does it often. That's the burden of being the country's top middle-distance recruit, a teenager whose potential and resume has been growing ever since her eighth grade year. 

This spring was good to Engelhardt, who owns the country's top times across four distances. 

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She broke the high school national record in the mile at 4:28.46, becoming the first female prep athlete in history to go under 4:30. And she qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1,500m, becoming just the third young woman at the distance to accomplish that feat -- following the likes of Jordan Hasay and Kate Murphy. 

That's why Engelhardt, 17, was in the sky on Wednesday, facing the world below her. She'll enter the first round of the women's 1,500m on Thursday against professional women looking to make her way through three rounds of action. 

She'll do so with one more accomplishment to her name. 

On Thursday, Engelhardt was named Gatorade's Female National Track and Field Player of the Year, following former winners such as Juliette Whittaker (2022), Roisin Willis (2021) and Katelyn Tuohy (2018).

"It's been a long journey for me in high school," said Engelhardt, who committed to NC State over her junior season. "My freshman year, I feel like I exceeded my expectations of how that season would go. I think I worked really hard last year, but I didn't see the results. This year, it all came together." 

There has never been any doubt that Engelhardt is a five-star athlete and a coveted prospect at the collegiate and professional level. But even the best young talents go through periods of disruption -- new coaches, training changes -- and find improvement hard to come by. 

Engelhardt pushed past that barrier in 2024, hitting personal record marks in nearly ever distance she attempted, including a U.S. No. 1 mark of 2:03.48 in the 800m, a time of 4:08.86 in the 1,500m and a national record of 4:28.46 in the mile. 

She even clocked an open 400 meter time of 56.45 seconds.

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Engelhardt won a Brooks PR 800m title, notched her third straight national championship in the mile and won two California state championships, including an incredible come-from-behind finish in the girls 4x800 relay. 

She credits that success to a change in direction to begin her summer. It started with the hiring of Josh Spiker, who became Ventura's head coach to begin the 2023-2024 season. The former University of Wisconsin runner -- who competed under Jerry Schumacher -- immediately distilled significant training adjustments and put Engelhardt on the path toward her ambitions. 

"I told him that I wanted to make the trials," Engelhardt said. "Ever since then, every workout he's run beside me, he's told me what to visualize at the track, what it will take to the get to the trials," she said. "He's awesome and it's great that he has that experience." 

Engelhardt pushed herself and raced various times across 2024, hitting times of 4:09.70 in the 1,500m at March at The Ten. With her time up against the qualifying window, she followed by bettering the mark at the Portland Track Festival in June. 

That ultimately locked her up a position in the U.S. women's field. The high schooler had the 33rd best time entering the qualifying window. 

"I'm going to take it race by race," she said of her first round on Thursday. "Getting into the next round from the first round would be great. I would be happy with that. Dream goal? It would be getting into the final. That's the dream, the dream goal. Even if I'm last, I want to be in that." 

She says the 1,500m is a distance that feels right in the place where she needs to be. "I think I'm just the best at that," she said. "It's right in the middle of that VO2 max and that 800m speed. I think it fits my strengths the best." 

Regardless of how Engelhardt fares at the U.S. Olympic Trials, she'll get more chances in the years to come. The 17-year-old has one more year left of high school and a whole future in the sport ahead of her.

"It's usually when I'm trying to fall asleep when I'm thinking about it (my future). I'm not anxious," she said. "I think 'This is what I have to do.' It will be good. I try to hype myself up."

Gatorade Girls National Track And Field Player Of The Year Winners Since 2007

• 2023: Angelinan Napoleon
• 2022: Juliette Whittaker
• 2021: Roisin Willis
• 2020: Taylor Ewert
• 2019: Jasmine Moore
• 2018: Katelyn Tuohy
• 2017: Sydney McLaughlin
• 2016: Sydney McLaughlin
• 2015: Candace Hill
• 2014: Raven Saunders
• 2013: Kendall Williams
• 2012: Shelbi Vaughan
• 2011: Amy Weissenbach
• 2010: Ashton Purvis
• 2009: Anna Jelmini
• 2008: Chanelle Price
• 2007: Emily Pendleton
• 2006: Bianca Knight
• 2005: Brittany Daniels
• 2004: Shalonda Solomon
• 2003: Allyson Felix
• 2002: Sanya Richards-Ross
• 2001: Ychlindria Spears
• 2000: Monique Henderson

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