Ellie Barada trailed in the 800 meters before she took command of the lead with about a lap to go at the Nike Indoor Nationals.
With New Jersey’s Natalie Dumas tailing her in the final straightaway, the Bloomington South product kept her pace and pulled away in the closing meters.
She charged through the tape at 2:04.32 for her second national title. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth once victory set in on March 14.
The win was the product of the grind — the same kind that has helped her to breach the clouds of excellence in Indiana high school track and field. The competitive edge that the senior hopes will produce more state and national gold in the outdoor season before she heads off to North Carolina for college.
Confidence is a mighty ingredient for the two-time high school state champion, while her humility has been just as potent.
“My dad likes to say, ‘Stay humble and hungry’, so I think about that a lot. I think he took it from (Indiana football coach) Curt Cignetti,” Barada said. “Yeah, it’s fun to have the titles, the recognition and all of that but most importantly it’s just keeping your head down and keep working.
“It’s obviously okay to be feeling confident in yourself, and that’s important, but I think it’s important to not be up in the clouds about everything. I think enjoying the moment is what I try to do.”
Those moments have come in bunches for Barada.
She started running in middle school, but her freshman year is when she truly broke out.
As a high school rookie, she broke Bloomington South’s school record in the 800 meters — and kept lowering it with every personal best throughout her career. She broke school records in the 400 and 1600 meters as a junior, the same outdoor season in which she became a state champion in the 800 and 4×800.
This season, she holds the best girls time in the 800 meters (2:11.68) and is ranked second in the 1600 meters (4:47.63). She is also a part of the Bloomington South 4×800 relay team that paces the state with a time of 9:26.23.
Not bad for a soccer player that flashed her stamina on the oval. A fútbol fanatic that stopped playing club soccer during her junior year to double down on track. A member of the Nike Elite Program, an honor reserved for 20 male and 20 female track and field athletes across the country.
“She’s had so much success and I feel like it’s a product of her talent, her training and her mental attitude,” said Bloomington South junior Mary Asplund. “Being her teammate has been so helpful. We’re great friends, we talk about our days at school, but also she’s so competitive. She’s a great role model to look up to, she knows how to compete and she pushes me to be a better runner.”
Barada is a formidable opponent for anyone on the preps circuit. A track unicorn that can shine in multiple events, powered by an aerobatic engine that has helped her surge in the 800 and the 1600.
Her success can be attributed to her winning spirit, an approach that distanced her from being average to great.
“We realized freshman year when we first started to see where her talents lie, she does not like to lose,” said Bloomington South coach Jill Rensink. “She has these multiple extra gears in her that we keep discovering because she just is unwilling to lose, so it’s fun to watch.
“It’s a quality that not a lot of athletes out there have … so they will find whatever they have in them to get in front of people, to get to that finish line first.”
Barada is on the verge of crystalizing her ascent in high school track and field. Her goal is to break the state meet record in the 800 meters. Nationally, she wants to represent the United States at the World Athletics U20 Championships in August.
Before that, she will have to qualify at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships which will be held in Eugene, Oregon in June — which is the same week as the Nike Outdoor Nationals and about two weeks after the high school girls state track meet.
Once Barada’s high school career is over, the grind will only intensify. She plans to welcome that challenge.
“I love competing with the best in the nation,” Barada said. “It only pushes me. It makes me better … that’s when I run my best times. I’m really looking forward to that and being able to be on the scene again after high school season. Just taking those two weeks very seriously after high school is important.”
Arriving at the pinnacle of high school track and field has not been a solo act for Barada. She credits her teammates for helping strengthen her mental game in competition. Her coaches have also provided a guiding light through the madness of her sport.
In a world where personal records rule track and field, Barada wants to stray away from the numbers. Instead, she prefers to bask in the moment, help her teammates succeed and be a positive influence.
Think of it as a love letter for a sport that has allowed her to thrive as an athlete and person.
“Being a part of the Nike Elite Program, one of our coaches, Paul Limmer, every time we ever have any meeting … He says,’ Be a better person than you are a runner’,” Barada said. “So, I think that the way that I want to be remembered is as who I am as a person over the running … I hope I can inspire people to work really hard and hard work and discipline. I think that’s something that’s really important to me.”
“The way that I want to be remembered is as who I am as a person over the running,” Barada said. “I hope I can inspire people to work really hard and … (have) discipline. I think that’s something that’s really important to me.”
Marc Ray is a high school sports reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Bloomington South track star Ellie Barada wants to be an inspiration
Reporting by Marc Ray, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
