Sports
Sadie Engelhardt breaks another record en route to her third 1,600-meter state title
CLOVIS — Ventura’s Sadie Engelhardt punctuated her record-setting junior year doing what she does best Saturday night in Clovis: breaking another record and adding a couple more titles to her collection.
Even without the red cape, “Super Sadie” set a new standard for the 1,600 meters in the CIF state track and field championships at Buchanan High, finishing in a national-leading time of 4 minutes 32.06 seconds to shatter the state finals record of 4:33.45 she set last spring. She joined Irvine University’s Polly Plumer (1980-82), Vista’s Kira Jorgensen (1987-89) and Woodbridge’s Christine Babcock (2006-08) as the only girls to win three consecutive 1,600 titles. Engelhardt could become the first four-time state winner next year.
Setting the pace from the start, Engelhardt ran the first lap in 66 seconds, the second in 68 seconds, the third in 69 seconds and the last in 66 seconds to defeat runner-up Braelyn Combe from Corona Santiago by more than six seconds.
“I wanted to spread out and keep it an honest race,” Engelhardt said.
Ventura’s Sadie Engelhardt leads the field during the girls’ 1,600 meters on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
It was Engelhart’s sixth first-place medal in an individual state event — she has won two in cross country and three in track (she won the 800 as a sophomore, making her the first female to accomplish that state meet “double” since Pleasant Hill’s Kathy Costello won the mile and 880-yard races 49 years ago).
“The first lap was almost like a time trial mentality,” Engelhardt said of her 1,600 effort Saturday. “I wanted to see how I felt on the first lap and go from there. I really wanted to get 4:26 but didn’t know if today was the day.”
Instead of defending her state title in the 800, she joined teammates Melanie True, Tiffany Sax and Aelo Curtis to win the 4×800 relay in 8:57.21 — a California girls’ record. The Cougars’ foursome entered as the top seed after winning the Southern Section Masters Meet in 9:02.57, but they needed a superhuman effort from Englehardt on the anchor leg to prevail Saturday. A dropped baton on the final exchange left her trailing by 100 meters in third place when she got the baton, but she steadily closed the gap on front-running Santiago and took the lead rounding the final turn to win by almost three seconds.
“Part of my thinking was you only have to do the 4×800 twice, but I also love running with my teammates,” said Engelhardt, who next season could try to go after the state 800 record of 2:02.04 set by Harvard-Westlake’s Amy Weissenbach in 2011.
Oaks Christian celebrates its state title in the girls’ 4X100-meter relay at the CIF state track and field championships on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
In the boys’ 4×800 relay, San Clemente broke its own meet record from last year by 52-hundredths of a second in a winning in 7:38.07.
Defending his 1,600-meter crown was Santa Barbara’s Andreas Dybdahl, who clocked 4:08.23 to edge fellow seniors Anthony Fast Horse (4:09.32) of Ventura and Felix Ibzan (4:10.33) from Beckman.
Niya Clayton won the girls’ 100 meters at the state finals last year and showed her speed during the last leg of the 4×100 on Saturday to hold off Long Beach Poly’s Brooklyn Lee by 11-hundredths of a second and help Oaks Christian win in a state-leading time of 45.67 seconds. Later, Clayton placed sixth in the 100, which Canyon Country Canyon senior Mikaela Warr won by six-thousandths of a second over Gardena Serra’s Mia Flowers in 11.41.
“We watched the tape from yesterday and saw that our handoffs were a little off and I didn’t push all the way through the finish,” Clayton, a senior, said of the Lions’ 46.33 effort to take first place in their qualifying heat Friday. “After winning the 100 last year I was like ‘what’s next?’ But this is my last run out in high school, everyone was working together and I got to run with my sister [Imani] so what could be better?”
Birmingham’s Deshawn Banks competes in the high jump on his way to winning the state title in the event.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
After an exciting qualifying round Friday in which six boys posted personal records in the 100, San Diego Section winner Brandon Arrington Jr., a sophomore from Mt. Miguel, won the sprint in 10.33 to edge Granada Hills senior Jordan Coleman (10.43) and Bakersfield sophomore Jalen Ford (10.48). Coleman, the City Section 100 and 200 champion, also finished second in the 200 in 21.04 behind Arrington, who equaled his 20.55 time from Friday.
Upon clearing a personal record of 7 feet 0½ inches to win the boys’ high jump, Birmingham senior Deshawn Banks celebrated by doing a few celebratory flips for the crowd after a spirited duel with Sherman Oaks Notre Dame sophomore JJ Harel, who took second at 6-10.
“For me, getting a PR was a bigger deal because I’ve been trying to clear 7 feet all year,” said Banks, who was fifth at the state meet last year and took first in the event at Arcadia and Mt. SAC in April. “I was excited to jump against the sophomore. I stayed focused at the end, did my claps and went through my routine.”
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Aja Johnson won the state title in girls’ discus Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Culver City senior Morgan Maddox, who had posted the leading qualifying times in the 200 and 400, finished second to Amirah Shaheed of San Diego Madison in the 200 and was third in the 400. Canyon’s Jordehn Gammage won the boys’ 300 hurdles in 37.35.
Ventura senior Valentina Fakrogha cleared 5-8 to win the girls’ high jump and Vista Murrieta senior Alyssa Alumbres won the triple jump in 40-11. Leaping 20-5¼ to win the long jump was Long Beach Wilson’s Loren Webster.
After winning the shotput with a throw of 44¾ to win state last year, Notre Dame junior Aja Johnson settled for second Saturday with an effort of 46-8¾, much better than the 44-2¼ she threw for second in Friday’s qualifying. Earlier Saturday, Johnson won the discus with a personal record of 158-10 on her fourth throw.
Dana Hills junior Evan Noonan ran the last lap in 57.12 seconds to win the boys’ 3,200 in 8:43.12 in a fast race in which 17 runners broke nine minutes. Defending champion Rylee Blade of Santiago was third in the girls’ race in 10:06.26. Jaelyn Williams of Eastlake won in 9:57.11.
Evan Noonan of Dana Hills wins the state title in the boys’ 3,200 meters at Buchanan High School in Clovis on May 25, 2024.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Long Beach Poly’s Xai Ricks celebrates after winning the state title in the boys’ 400 meters Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Wilson took first in the last event, the 4×400 relay, in 3:41.40 to wrap up the girls’ team title with 36 points. Ventura finished second with 30 points and Vista Murrieta was third with 23.
Poly senior Xai Ricks won the 400 in 46.79 and ran the anchor leg on the 4×400 in 46.6 to secure second and clinch a boys-record 11th team title for the Jackrabbits. Poly scored 33 points in claiming its first title since 2011, with Clovis North (28) finishing second and Wilson (27) third.
Sports
USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun receives controversial red card during Round of 32 match
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U.S. men’s national team star Folarin Balogun received a red card in the second half of their Round of 32 World Cup matchup against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night.
Balogun was making a challenge on a ball when he stepped on an opposing player’s leg.
The U.S. men’s national team is down to 10 players for the rest of the match. If the U.S. holds their 1-0 lead, Balogun will have to miss the Round of 16 game.
Balogun scored for the U.S. in the first half.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Sports
Dodgers’ Will Smith won’t return before the All-Star break
SACRAMENTO — The first half of the season will conclude with Will Smith in the same place he has been for the last month: the injured list.
The Dodgers’ three-time All-Star catcher has been on the IL since June 8 because of what the Dodgers list as neck inflammation. Smith said he had been diagnosed with an inflamed disk.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he “just can’t see any world” in which Smith would return before the All-Star break, which concludes July 16.
“It’s certainly longer, I know, than all of us expected,” Roberts said. “But I don’t think it’s anything real, kind of affecting-the-season type thing.”
Roberts said Smith has not been able to accelerate his rehabilitation to the point of doing baseball activities.
Dalton Rushing, who has taken over as the Dodgers’ primary catcher in Smith’s absence, is batting .213 with one home run and 19 strikeouts in 18 games while Smith has been on the injured list. The Dodgers gave Rushing the day off Wednesday.
The Dodgers were 14-6 with Smith on the IL entering play Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, the team scratched shortstop Mookie Betts from the starting lineup because of a sore right wrist.
Sports
Ex-NFL reporter Dianna Russini interaction with police officer to dodge traffic ticket comes to light
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Police bodycam footage appeared to refute a claim made by former NFL reporter Dianna Russini earlier this year about what she did to get out of a traffic ticket.
Russini, whose relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel led to her resigning from her role with The Athletic in April, said on the “Stugotz and Company” show back in February that she FaceTimed the NFL coach, though she didn’t drop the name, of the officer’s favorite team after being pulled over for being on her phone.
It was a story that came up again during the New York Times’ deep dive into the Russini-Vrabel controversy, and now police bodycam footage has confirmed that wasn’t the case. However, she did name-drop a coach.
ESPN reporter Dianna Russini looks on during the NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Sept. 16, 2018. (Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire)
The footage went just over seven minutes long, as Russini was stopped in Ridgewood, New Jersey, for using her phone while driving. Not only did a FaceTime never happen, but no call at all occurred during the exchange between Russini and the officer.
What did occur, though, was Russini showing the officer texts she had been having with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, and she showed the officer her phone with the texts on it.
DIANNA RUSSINI PULLED PATHETIC MOVE WITH AN OFFICER TO GET OUT OF A TICKET, AND IT SHOULD HAVE THE NFL NERVOUS
“I’m an NFL reporter, and I just broke that Seam McDermott got fired from the Bills,” Russini told the officer almost immediately, understanding why she was being pulled over. “I was gonna pull over because I have to make calls. I know you don’t care, but I’m just letting you know my reason why. It was a work thing and it was an emergency for what I do.”
McDermott was fired the morning of Jan. 19, which was the date shown on the bodycam footage, after the Bills’ AFC Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos.
The officer replied that Russini had been on her phone “for a while” before pulling her over, though he did acknowledge she had a job to do.
Russini continued, telling the officer that former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll “wants the job” with the Bills. He was connected to the team given his history with Buffalo prior to joining the Giants, but they hired in-house with Joe Brady being promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach. Daboll ended up joining Robert Saleh’s staff as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans.
Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)
Russini, then, asked if the officer was a Giants or Jets fan given the New Jersey ties. When he responded by saying he was a Vikings fan, it prompted Russini to seemingly show texts with O’Connell. The conversation, which included Russini saying the Vikings’ quarterback “sucks” and “KOC’s awesome” ultimately led to the officer letting her off with a warning.
“I’m gonna cut you a break on the cellphone,” the officer was heard saying. “I understand your job requires you to be on the phone a lot. Just try to wait until you get home, OK?”
PATRIOTS SAY THEY ‘FULLY SUPPORT’ MIKE VRABEL AMID LATEST IN CONTROVERSY INVOLVING DIANNA RUSSINI
The Center Square first reported Russini’s interaction with the officer.
Fox News Digital reached out to Russini and the Vikings for comment.
Ridgewood Police Chief Forest Lyons issued a statement on the matter.
“On January 19, 2026, at 9:40 a.m., a Ridgewood police officer conducted a motor vehicle stop on Godwin Avenue involving Ms. Dianna Russini for the use of a handheld cell phone while driving,” the statement read. “After following department protocol during the stop, and reviewing Ms. Russini’s driving history, the officer exercised his professional discretion and issued a verbal warning to Ms. Russini.
Dianna Russini attends the 2026 Fanatics Super Bowl Party at Pier 48 in San Francisco, California, on Feb. 7, 2026. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
“The use of officer discretion in determining whether to issue a warning or a citation is consistent with Ridgewood Police Department policy and longstanding practice. Police officers are encouraged to use their judgment and, when appropriate, provide motorists with warnings as part of the Department’s commitment to fair, impartial and community-oriented policing.”
Russini resigned from her post at The Athletic amid mounting criticism over her relationship with Vrabel after photographs of them hugging and holding hands at a private resort in Sedona, Arizona, went viral. After initially trying to downplay it, saying “reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues,” Russini ultimately released her resignation.
After the original photos, others dating back to 2020 showed Vrabel and Russini kissing at a bar in New York City. The pictures exclusively obtained by the New York Post were taken in the early hours of March 11, 2020.
“They were kissing, and they were all over each other,” an eyewitness told the outlet. “He had a ring on.”
Dianna Russini appears on the red carpet prior to the NFL Honors awards presentation at YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2022. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
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While Russini resigned, Vrabel was back with the Patriots after a counseling visit, which fell on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Vrabel said he had difficult conversations with his family, while also speaking with his players about the situation. The Patriots said before the draft they “fully support” Vrabel, allowing him to seek the counseling he desired despite four rounds of the draft still remaining.
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