* * *
FRESNO -- A top sophomore running talent took over the field on her way to victory Saturday morning in the Girls Championship race at the 43rd ASICS Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park, just as many would have expected. One big difference, however, was the sophomore recording the winning time of 17:05 was North Coast Section runner Hanne Thomsen from Montgomery High School and not Ventura and national standout Sadie Engelhardt.
Thomsen, the Santa Rosa-based school's top runner, won the Clovis Invitational race with a solid time and finished ahead of runner-up Gioana Lopizzo of La Costa Canyon (SD) by nearly 24 seconds. But what was missing was what had drawn Thomsen's main interest in coming to the Central California meet and to be in this particular race -- she was excited for a head-to-head opportunity with Engelhardt. It didn't happen. Early Saturday morning came word that Engelhardt pulled out of the race due to a bad cold.
Engelhardt was in Fresno and did appear to support her fellow Ventura teammates, but she was unable to run. Montgomery head coach Melody Karpinski confirmed later in the day that Engelhardt had visited with and congratulated Thomsen on her victory and was appreciative of the gesture of sportsmanship.
Nonetheless, it was the closest Thomsen came to being near one of her chief competitors. And that's the problem right now. This was the second prime opportunity and quite possibly last chance this fall high school season for Thomsen to test her progress against other elite runners, at least until potential national events take place in early December.
Late last month, Thomsen traveled to Oregon in hopes of running a Nike Portland XC 5000-meter race that was to include Lake Oswego, Ore., senior national standout Kate Peters. Thomsen showed up and she ran a personal-best 5K time of 16:49.20 -- also the best time by a California female runner this season -- to win the race. But Peters, who has committed to attend the University of Oregon, was unable to compete due to a foot injury.
"You want to run in these meets. These girls are elite, Sadie, her and several others in the nation," Karpinski says. "They just don't have the competition they need, not in their league or section, necessarily.
Last year, Hanne wasn't in the fastest race in the North Coast or even the State Championship because the other girls who were faster were in other divisions."
Thomsen did win the CIF State title in Division III last November in 17:38, also at Woodward Park, as a freshman. She even bested a field that saw three seniors finish behind her. Thomsen also won the 3200-meter CIF State Track and Field championship, running in a time of 10:06.89.
Thomsen, who finished seventh in the 2021 Clovis Invitational girls championship flight won by Newbury Park's Samantha McDonnell (17:02.10), did get to race against Engelhardt in that race. Engelhardt was second to Mcdonnell in 17:02.30. Thomsen ran in 17:39.90.
But entering her sophomore year and just as any runner seeking to improve would do, Thomsen, and Karpinski, have both sought races to gauge her progress.
On Saturday, Thomsen's celebration of winning was noticeably different.
"I was really happy with how I did, considering how I was able to run a lot of it alone," Thomsen says. "Even though I knew Sadie wasn't going to be running, even though she's a lot faster than me, just seeing someone helps you go faster."
Says Karpinski: "The Nike race was the first time Hanne's broken 17, but she's been so near that. Even last year, it's just been a lack of having someone able to pull her. Having that would make a big difference. I'm really confident that Hanne would have been quite a bit faster if Sadie had been in the race."
Nonetheless, Thomsen's performance does add a Clovis Invitational title to her growing resume and that should count for something.
"It does feel really good," she says. "One of my big goals is to go to nationals, so winning at Clovis, which is a huge meet, definitely shows I can compete with the fastest girls in the state."
In addition to Lopizzo, those finishing behind Thomsen were Buchanan sophomore Elliana Lomeli (third, 17:28.1). Cameron Macias, a Clovis West freshman (fourth, 17:28.5) and Sophie Polay, a sophomore at Santa Margarita (fifth, 17:35.1).
In the other key result to emerge from the Girls Championship race, Los Altos from the Central Coast Section emerged as the team title winner. The Eagles scored 93 points to best runner-up JSerra Catholic (SS) who had 122 points. Newbury Park was third with 123, St. Francis Mountain View had 197 for fourth and rounding out the top five was Oak Ridge with 213.
Los Altos' top runner was Lauren Soobrian, a senior and recent Duke commit, who finished 10th overall in 17:47.8. Sophomore Emily Soobrian was 17th overall in 17:59.2. Junior Jasleen Sidhu was the third Eagle to cross the finish line, doing so in 32nd place in 18:38.5.
One team surprise was not seeing Buchanan have a full team of five scoring runners finish the big race. Only four Bears completed the race due to illness running through the team. Top runner, senior Sydney Sundgren did not compete because of illness. Lomeli's third-place finish was followed by freshman Kynzlee Buckley's sixth-place finish in 17:36.1 and another freshman, Tayler Torosian, finished 33rd overall in 18:41.8. Senior Caroline Mendyk was 73rd in 19:33.5. Senior Grace Hutchison, was injured and had to pull out with about 1200 meters to go.
Ryan Blystone is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplit.
Photos by DeAnna Turner
* * *