Culver City Observer -

The stars were out at the 64th annual Mt. Sac Track & Field Relays this past weekend, beginning Wednesday April 17 and ending Saturday, April 20th. The events were held at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mt. Sac College in Walnut. The high school girls were the highlight of the meet, with some of the best female athletes in the nation competing head-to-head to run personal best times and set meet and national records.

Sadie Englehardt of Ventura set the national high school federation record in the 1,600-meter invitational outdoor run for girls with a time of 4:29.86, beating Chiarra Dailey of La Jolla, the second-place finisher, by nearly 17 seconds. The junior also set the national high school federation record for the girls in the outdoor mile with a time of 4:31.72 on Friday evening, once again beating Dailey of La Jolla by just under 17 seconds.

The time for the 1,600 bettered her own national record of 4:32.48 set on April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational. The one-mile-high school record she eclipsed was set in 2008 by Christine Babcock of Woodbridge, California, who ran a 4:33.82 mile. Englehardt broke her own Mt. Sac Relay one mile record set in 2023 of 4:38.53. She has committed to continue her running career at North Carolina State in the fall of 2025.

On Saturday, Braelyn Baker won the girls 400-meter hurdles invitational race in 57.98 seconds, the second-best time in the nation this season. The senior from Bear Creek high school in Redmond, Washington beat the second-place runner Anise Becker from Long Beach Poly by nearly six seconds.

Just 90 minutes after she won the 400-meter hurdles, Baker also won the girls 200-meter dash invitational in 23.31 seconds, beating second place finisher Avery Lewis of Friends Central high school in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, who ran a 23.55. Baker has the 10th best time in the nation among high school girls in the 200-meter dash.

Baker lost to Lewis in the 100-meter invitational dash, finishing fifth in a personal best of 11.59 seconds. Lewis won the race in 11.21 seconds. Less than an hour after the 100-meter race, Baker won the 400-meter hurdles race. Baker indicated after the race that the Southern California weather helped her to personal bests in all three events. Quite a day for the star from the state of Washington, who will continue her track & field career at Duke University in the fall.

Lewis also won the girls long jump in 20 feet, 1.5 inches. Lewis has the 3rd best time in the nation in the 100 meters after her win at Mt. Sac and 14th best in the long jump. The senior has committed to continue her track & field career at USC this fall.

Aja Johnson of Notre Dame Sherman Oaks was also a double winner at the Mt. Sac Relays, winning the shot put in 46 feet, 1 inch and also taking the discus title in 152 feet, 10 inches. Johnson is ranked second in the state of California in both the shot put and the discus events.