* Sadie Engelhardt is competing in the Women's Professional 1500m on Saturday at The TEN
Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit
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In the three years since its inception, The TEN, an event engineered by the team at Sound Running, has quickly transformed into one of the best events of the outdoor season, featuring elite 10,000 meter races under the lights.
Since 2021, JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California has played host to over a dozen national records, including both the men's and women's American records run by Grant Fisher and Alicia Monson.
As the meet has continued to gain traction over the last few years, it's expanded from just two races to 15, varying from the high school to the professional level.
Tomorrow night, there are a lot of different storylines to watch. From national records to collegiate records to the Olympic Standard, there is a lot at stake,
Take a look at the three biggest storylines on deck at The TEN.
Sadie Engelhardt Chasing Sub-4:10 1500m
Engelhardt already sits No. 7 all-time with a 4:11.79 PB to her name, but she would love to become the sixth high schooler to ever run under 4:10.
Over the last few years, Engelhardt has more than proved she's one of the best distance talents in high school history, flexing her range from 800m to 5K, but it's clear that her specialty lies in the mile.
Since coming onto the scene in 2021, the phenom has broken 4:40 in the mile and 1,600m a combined 19 different times, ranked within the top five in both events, both indoors and outdoors.
On Saturday, Engelhardt will get her first glimpse of the professional scene and run her first outdoor 1,500m in nine months.
Grant Fisher Leads Charge For Olympic Standard
Heading into the 2023 season, Fisher was in the midst of the best span of racing in his career. He'd just finished fourth and sixth in the 10K and 5K at the World Championships in Eugene and he had shattered the American record in the 10K and broke the longstanding 5K record as well.
At the U.S. Championships last summer, after narrowly missing out on a spot on the American 10K team, Fisher announced that he was withdrawing from the 5K due to a femur injury, ultimately missing the 2023 World Championships in Budapest altogether.
In the nine months since, Fisher rehabbed himself back into running shape, ran an American record in the 3K at the Prefontaine Classic, dropped his professional track club, Bowerman, and moved to Park City, Utah.
In his first three races under his former high school coach, Mike Scannell, Fisher broke the two mile American record (No. 3 All-Time) and came within a quarter of a second of the American 5K indoor record.
It's obvious that Fisher's new training is meshing very well and very quickly and paired with the caliber of the field around him, it'll be a very fast race as the goal is sub-27:00.
A contingent of some of the best distance runners in the world will toe the line alongside Fisher, with familiar faces including Joe Klecker, Nico Young, Woody Kincaid, Luis Grijalva and Moh Ahmed all after the same goal, the 2024 Paris Olympic standard of 27:00.
Alicia Monson Aims To Be First American Woman Under 30:00
Ever since the On Athletics Club was formed in 2020, Alicia Monson has been one of the faces of the group, which has since cemented itself as one of the top professional running groups in the world.
Monson has also established herself as one of the best runners in the world and she has the times and accolades to back it up.
On the outdoor oval, Monson lowered the American 10K and 5K records down to 30:03.82 and 14:19.45, respectively, and those times represent the No. 18 and No. 14 times in world history.
The Wisconsin alum has also donned the red, white and blue at the last three international championships in the 10K, and doubled up with the 5K last summer in Budapest.
On Saturday, Monson has a different goal in mind; she aims to become the first American woman to ever break 30:00 in the 10K. A year ago, Monson was runner-up in The TEN in 30:03, coming oh-so close to history.
This year, Monson should have no issue getting under the Olympic Standard of 30:40 and she will have a competitive field, including Ethiopia's Tsige Gebreselama, whose PB of 30:04.16 puts her in contention as a pace-pusher with Monson.
Fellow Americans Karissa Schweizer (30:18), Elly Henes (30:48) and Emily Infeld (31:08) are entered as well, adding more star-power up front.
According to Sound Running, the pace lights are going to be set for 30:00 pace through 3000m, and will gradually increase as the race goes on.
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The TEN will be broadcasted exclusively on FloTrack tomorrow evening, with the races starting at 5:45 PM PST. You can find the both the schedule and live results on Finished Results.
The gun will go off for the Women's 10,000m. PARIS race at 8:58 PM PST, with the men following at 9:35 PM PST.