Engesser Is Back in Fine Form : Ocean View Senior Runner Overcomes Injury, Illness

To many, it might seem as if Christie Engesser of Ocean View has always possessed a high degree of confidence.

Watching her shift into another gear in several track races this season, arms pumping as she pulled away from yet another strong field of runners, it is difficult to believe Engesser has ever struggled during her high school career.

Engesser, a senior, is one of the top girls’ 800-meter runners in the state. Last season, she finished second at the State meet to Oakland’s Miesha Marzell, running a lifetime best of 2 minutes 11.23 seconds.

This season, she appears even stronger, consistently running well in several races--including the Orange County Championships, where she was a double winner--and positioning herself as a favorite for the June 4-5 State meet.

Still, Engesser has had her “down” years at Ocean View.

Her troubles began during her sophomore year of cross-country at Ocean View. First, she suffered a leg injury, which she believes was either tendinitis or a sprained ankle. Then, near the end of the season, in October, she was diagnosed with mononucleosis.

Engesser downplays her troubles.

“I’d run races and feel good the first mile and then I’d just slowly die,” she said. “But I think, I really had a mild case . . . I was only sick over the weekend--like in-bed sick.”

Beth Chilcott, girls’ cross-country and track and field coach at Ocean View, remembers the situation differently. She recalls Engesser missing a lot of days of running and expecting her to bounce back quickly from the illness, but she couldn’t.

Still, Engesser placed eighth in the State 800 as a sophomore. But she didn’t improve time-wise, running a season-best 2:13.56.

In cross-country her junior year, Engesser found herself in an unusual place on the Ocean View team--she wasn’t the No. 1 runner, anymore. She wasn’t ill, but she also wasn’t performing up to the level she had in the past.

As a freshman, Engesser ran a best of 2:12.79 in the 800 at the Arcadia Invitational and advanced to the CIF Southern Section prelims in track and field.

Chilcott says Engesser’s confidence had taken a blow after her illness.

“That’s when she started thinking mentally, ‘I’m not OK.’ She really started having doubts about competitiveness and running.

You have a major injury or illness and you haven’t had one before. (Well), your identity is really tied to your running and when that is taken away, it really shakes your identity as a person. You have to work through that.”

The doubts left Engesser wondering if she was suffering from burnout.

“People have always said (that) since I’ve been running for so long you are going to be burned out,” she said. “I’ve just always loved to run. And so I think since it’s always been like that, I don’t burn out.

“But sometimes I did wonder, ‘Wow, should I have started running that early? Is that why I’m not running well?’ ”

Engesser was introduced to running at age 5 while attending a soccer picnic with her family. Engesser and her twin brother, Brian, ran in a cross-country meet that was being held there by the city, and eventually joined an age-group running club.

Engesser won her first Youth TAC (The Athletic Congress) Nationals in the 800 and 1,500 as an 8-year-old in 1984. She entered Ocean View in the fall of 1989 as a nationally known age-group runner, having finished in 2:14 for 800 meters and 4:45 for 1,500.

After talks with her former age-group coach Bob Hickey, Chilcott and her family, Engesser was able to work through her doubts and regain her confidence.

During her junior track season, she placed fourth in the 800, in 2:14.53, at the Arcadia Invitational.

“I felt well for the first time in a race that year and that just gave me a lot of confidence,” she said.

Engesser finished the season placing second in the 800 at the State meet. Last fall, she helped lead Ocean View to the State Division II cross-country title.

This season, Engesser, who will attend the University of Oregon, leads the Southern Section in the 800 at 2:13.14 and has dominated the Orange County running ranks. One of her best performances came April 16 at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, where she placed second in the 1,500 and then came back to win the 800 despite being boxed in for more than 100 meters on the second lap. She ran the first lap in 68 seconds and ran the second in 65, finishing in 2:13.2.

“I didn’t think I could run splits like that,” Engesser said. “Even though I was in a box so long, it was a good experience because you don’t get that very often.

“I think I learned that just because you are in a box and it takes you a while to get out of it, doesn’t mean the race is all over. There is still something left to run.”

Engesser appears to have a bright future at Oregon. Doug Speck of California Track and Running News, said she can excel at Oregon.

“I think she’s a classic 800-meter runner who has proven she can run longer distances,” Speck said. “She has done a lot of running, but I think her approach to the sport is still fresh and she’ll continue to improve.”

And for the near future?

“After what she did at Mt. SAC, running the 800 after how she did in the 1,500, indicates under the right circumstances, she can go under 2:10 at the State meet,” Speck said.

Engesser said she wants to run personal bests in the 800 and 1,600.

“It feels good to be running well and knowing everything is pretty much working right now,” she said. “You kind of always know you are going to go through ups and downs. And the downs just make the ups that much nicer.”