CIF State XC Championships Recap - Girls Division 2

Sadie Engelhardt completed one of the most exceptional chapters of any distance athlete in California prep history with her performance in the Division 2 girls final Saturday at the CIF State Cross Country Championships.

D2 Girls Sadie Engelhardt (Ventura, 11/23/2024)

El Toro’s time in the spotlight might only be beginning following the defining moment in program history at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Engelhardt, a Ventura High senior, became the only Division 2 female athlete to capture three consecutive titles by covering the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 57.6 seconds, her sixth career sub-17 performance at Woodward Park.

Engelhardt, who produced the all-time mark of 16:24.2 at Woodward Park on Oct. 12 at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational, became the 10th girls competitor across all divisions to win three individual state championships, leading Ventura to a fourth-place finish with 188 points after the Cougars won the team title last season.

Engelhardt also earned an opportunity to race Dec. 7 at Nike Cross Nationals at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Ore.

El Toro followed its first CIF-Southern Section Division 2 crown Nov. 23 by placing five scorers in the top 60 to prevail Saturday with 131 points.

Mountain View St. Francis edged Rocklin Whitney by a 155-158 margin to secure second, a reversal of their order of finish last season.

Gweneth Williams, a sophomore, led El Toro by placing 12th in 18:00.5, with freshmen Ava Crocker (18:16.2) and Lilly Schroeder (18:18.9) achieving 23rd and 26th, respectively, along with Lucy Varela taking 49th in 18:38.1 and fellow senior Sara Johnson capturing 58th in 18:51.6 for the Chargers, who elevated from 11th in last year’s state final.

Several of the state’s top tandems were also showcased behind Engelhardt, with the Palo Alto pair of Kinga Czajkowska (17:31.5) and Amaya Bharadwaj (17:34.6) finishing second and fourth, respectively.

Czajkowska returned to the state final after a fifth-place performance in 2022 in 17:54.3, when she also shared the podium with teammates Elizabeth Fetter and Hillary Studdert, after they secured sixth and seventh, respectively.

Bharadwaj produced one of the most remarkable improvements from last year’s state final, elevating from 161st in 21:17.1.

Tesoro, which placed fifth with 226 points, was led by juniors Amber Dazey (17:32.5) and Mackenzie Forrest (17:55.7) taking third and 10th, respectively. Dazey improved from 37th and Forrest elevated from 43rd in last year's state final.

Claremont, which secured sixth at 229 points, had freshman Grace Smith clock 17:45.3 to also place sixth in her state meet debut, with junior Isla Bulmer grabbing 11th in 17:58.5.

Murrieta Valley senior Jordin Lieberman finished fifth in 17:35.0, elevating from 20th last season in 18:23.4.

Khloe DeLaTorre, a junior at Vacaville, achieved seventh in 17:46.7, becoming the program’s first all-state honoree since Robyn Stevens achieved the feat three times in 1998-2000.

Newport Harbor’s Keaton Robar earned eighth in 17:49.1 and fellow senior Grace Baxter of Granite Bay took ninth in 17:51.3.

Robar was fourth in 17:51.9 at last year’s state final, with Baxter ascending from 40th place last season in 18:52.9.

By Erik Boal