After beginning her junior outdoor track season in March, Summit High School rising senior Ella Hagen took to the track for her final meet of the season on Saturday, June 22, in Vienna, Austria.
As a dual-citizen of the United States and Austria, Hagen made the trip to Vienna for the second year in a row in order to compete at the On Track Nights: Vienna outdoor track meet.At last year’s event, Hagen ran in the the U20 5,000-meter race and took first overall while also setting a new personal best in the distance by running 16 minutes, 38.15 seconds.
Serving as this year’s Austrian National Championship meet, Hagen once again lined up at the starting line in hopes of another standout performance.
Wearing a bright Hoka top and spikes that she acquired through her name, image and likeness deal with the performance-wear brand, Hagen quickly put herself near the front of the 29-athlete field.
Through the first lap of elite women’s 5,000-meter run, Hagen split close to 74 seconds while sitting within the top four competitors. With the race set to be paced at 16:15, Hagen wisely eased back on the hot pace while Kenya’s Naomi Kemboi and Caren Jebet Kiplagat continued to push the pace at the front.
“I knew I wanted to go out hard for the first few 100 meters knowing it was a big field and there was a lot of people that have a lot more experience than me at the longer distances,” Hagen said. “I wanted to get out hard and then back off to a comfortable pace. It definitely went out fast.”
Letting the race leaders do their thing up front, Hagen drifted back to the chase pack where she began steadily clicking off laps alongside a solid core of European runners.
At the 1600-meter mark of the race, Hagen remained focused, striding confidently next to much older athletes. In the second half of the race, Hagen showed off both her aerobic fitness and racing IQ by latching onto the athletes in front of her.
With France’s Lea Navarro helping to pursue the leaders up front and Hagen in tow, they fought through the hot and humid conditions in order to keep the pace honest through the second third of the 12.5-lap race.
With under a mile to go, Hagen began to feel the fast pace from earlier, but she did not become complacent. Hagen dug deeper, lengthening her gait.
Hagen crossed the finish line in 16:51.96 to place 11th overall in the race and fifth in the 5,000-meter run for the Austrian National Championships portion of the competition.
Hagen was the youngest finisher in her race. The majority of the field was born around or before 2002.
Kemboi won the race in 15:58.03 with Kiplagat quickly following in second in 15:59.77.
“I was just really proud and happy,” Hagen said. “… I had to dig deep and grit it out, but I was just super happy to race for Austria and race out there.”
Over the last three years at Summit High School, Hagen has captured state titles and school records.
With one last season as a Tiger, Hagen is eagerly looking forward to what will hopefully be another monumental year.
“These three years have kind of been more than I could have imagined,” Hagen said. “Junior year was a roller coaster. It was amazing, and it was challenging. I can’t believe that I have already gone through three and only have one left, but I am so excited to make this last year the best one yet and to just enjoy it and the process.”
Before turning her focus fully to the upcoming fall cross-country season, Hagen will travel to California to help crew professional endurance athlete Heather Jackson at the Western States 100 ultramarathon trail race. Hagen will help pace Jackson from Saturday, June 29, through Sunday, June 30, before returning back to Summit County.
“It is incredible opportunity, and I am excited to see another side of running,” Hagen said. “I haven’t been all that exposed to extreme trail running. I am super excited to get out there and learn from the experience. It is definitely something that I would have never believed would happen.”
Before beginning the fall cross-country season, Hagen will travel back to Europe at the end of August to compete in Hoka’s Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) Youth Chamonix Courmayeur event where Jackson will serve as a mentor to Hagen.
