Newbury Park High star Colin Sahlman ready to run in prestigious Prefontaine Classic

Colin Sahlman didn’t actually miss the CIF-Southern Section divisional finals and Masters Meet.

Newbury Park High’s elite distance runner was there at Moorpark High the past two weekends

He was in the stands, but out of uniform, supporting his Panthers teammates on two of the biggest weekends of the high school season.

“It's weird, because normally like we would do this,” Sahlman said last Saturday, after congratulating fellow Newbury Park senior Sam McDonnell on winning the girls 1,600 meters at the Masters. “We just had really big opportunities.”

The reigning Gatorade national boys cross country Runner of the Year, Sahlman is currently the No. 1-ranked high school runner in the country in the 1,500 meters (3:39.59), 3,000 (8:06.99), 3,200 (8:33.2), according to DyeStat.com.

Had he opted to qualify for and compete at the CIF State track and field championships this weekend, he would be an overwhelming favorite in whichever distance race he elected to run.

More: County athletes ready for the spotlight at CIF State track and field championships

More: McDonnell makes history, paces local distance dominance at Masters track meet

More: Colin Sahlman earns Gatorade's national award for cross country

But the Northern Arizona University-bound senior is running his own unique path this postseason.

While teammates like McDonnell and Daniel Appleford are in Clovis this weekend, Sahlman is in Eugene, Oregon, preparing to run in one of the annual biggest events in the professional track and field calendar — the Nike Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field.

“It’s huge,” Sahlman said. “That’s the biggest pro mile of the year.”

Newbury Park runners will actually be competing in elite races in three different states this weekend. Junior Lex Young was a late entry in the Saturday’s Running Lane Championship Mile in Huntsville, Alabama.

With the events taking place on the same day, Sahlman and Newbury Park coach Sean Brosnan were faced with a choice.

“That's why we had to pick and choose,” Sahlman said, “because it was like state meet or Prefontaine, and then we chose Prefontaine.”

On Saturday, Sahlman will be running alongside Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, as well as top American runners Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare, in the Bowerman Mile.

Sahlman called it his “biggest race“ of his high school career.

High school runners have run the event before. The Bowerman Mile was where Alan Webb ran 3:53.43 in 2001, breaking Jim Ryun’s 36-year-old high school record.

Essentially, Sahlman has given up his chance to win a state championship as a senior to take a run at that historic figure.

“That’s the goal,” Sahlman said. “It’s a big goal.”

A goal worth sacrificing his section and state aspirations.

“I think the elite runners understand,” Sahlman said. “You can either choose to go through five weeks in a row, five rounds of just nonstop racing or just selective races that you can feel good and prepare for. So that's the route that we chose. And I think a lot of people would understand that.”

Brosnan said "it made more sense" for Sahlman to run Prefontaine, rather than at state, because of "the opportunity to run against the best of the world."

High school runners ran in the event in 2016, 2017 and 2018, according to MileSplit.com.

It’s also where Ingebrigtsen, at 16, became the youngest runner to break the fourth-minute mile.

Brosnan downplayed Sahlman's potential record run.

"We don’t talk records a lot," Brosnan said. "We don’t put the emphasis on it. He has a plan in the race. If it all works out and the stars align, there’s a chance he could get the record

.He is capable of that record... We just want him to run the best time he can."

Sahlman has been preparing for the event in the final days in high school.

“I have two more races left,” Sahlman said, “so we've just been focusing on really fast, sharp workouts and just taking runs really easy. I’m just really feeling good and sharp.”

Joe Curley is a staff reporter for The Star. He can be reached at  joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Newbury Park star Colin Sahlman ready to run in Prefontaine Classic