In this episode of Beyond the Stride, host Lauren Cawley chats with Sadie Engelhardt, a standout freshman at NC State and one of the most promising young runners in the NCAA. A former Gatorade National Player of the Year, five-time California state champion, and USA Olympic Trials qualifier, Sadie talks about her transition to college life, finding her place in NC State’s strong team culture, and what it’s like training under Coach Laurie Henes alongside some of the top distance runners in the country. Sadie also reflects on lessons from her high school career, navigating injuries, handling pressure, and how she’s keeping her passion for the sport at the center of it all! 🎙️  Topics: Sadie's transition to college life Finding her place in NC State’s strong team culture Training under Coach Laurie Henes alongside the nation’s top distance runners Lessons from Sadie's high school career Navigating injuries and handling pressure Keeping her passion for the sport at the center of it all 🗣️ Hosted by Lauren Cawley Be sure to like/follow/subscribe/comment on all of podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube! You can find our other episodes there as well.

On Friday night and into Saturday morning, The Stride Report received numerous messages regarding rumors surrounding Iowa State's men's cross country team. Since then, TSR has confirmed with Jeremy Sudbury, the Director of Cross Country & Track and Field at Iowa State, that multiple men's athletes have been, "suspended from the team for the season for breaking team rules." The names of the suspended athletes were not given by Sudbury or by Iowa State's Athletic Department. There is no evidenced reason for why these athletes have been suspended. It is still unclear what the status of those athletes will be beyond the 2025 cross country season. When asked if he believed that the suspensions would impact the Cyclones' postseason expectations in 2025, Sudbury stated, "The team you saw at Missouri is a team that is obviously going to do really, really well. No, I don’t foresee this impacting team performance this postseason." TSR does not have any further details at this time.

The postseason is fast approaching and a handful of major regular season meets have wrapped up in recent weeks. That, in turn, is expected to make this weekend's distance running action a bit quieter (but certainly not silent) by comparison, at least for Division One. So...what do we do now? Well, as we prepare a couple of D2 conference meet previews, I thought now would be a good time to poll you, our readers, on where your feelings are regarding a variety of different topics. NOTE: All votes are anonymous. Only one vote allowed per polling question. Be sure to click the "See All Options" button at the bottom of each poll to see a full list of voting options for each question. It may take a minute or two for votes to be reflected in the aggregate total of each poll.