Sadiki White is not one to draw attention to himself. He does not seek the headlines. But when you are one of the best high school runners in the country, it is hard to keep your accomplishments quiet.
FRANK GALIPO Elite distance runner Sadiki White, of Millstone Township, recently graduated from Allentown High School and will be attending Louisiana State University in the fall. He specializes in the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run. The 2009 Allentown High School graduate recently won the 800- and 1,500-meter races at the USA Youth Outdoor Track and Field Championships. During the winter indoor season he was an All-American at 800 meters, and he is headed for Louisiana State University to continue his athletic career.
White, who lives in Millstone Township, began running when he was 9 years old for the Supersonic Track Club in Middlesex County (his family lived in East Brunswick at the time). To him, it was a lot of fun. The club coaches did not look at it that way and told him that “he should quit,” that he wouldn’t be good.
But he would go on to medal in the 400 meters at the AAU Nationals that year.
“I was 9 years old playing around,” he said. “When I medaled at the AAU Nationals, I got a lot more serious.”
White ran track at Allentown High School as a freshman and as a sophomore and reached the NJSIAA Meet of Champions in the 800 as a sophomore.
But when he took Derrick Thompson as his personal coach, he said it did not sit well with the Redbirds’ coaches, and White decided to run for Thompson’s club, Juventes, which competes out of Philadelphia.
“I was still invited to big meets,” said White. “It [training under Thompson] elevated my training and allowed me to pursue goals and train the best I could.”
The 2009 indoor season was White’s major breakthrough. He put down a national leading 1:52.40 800 meters early in the season. Then he hooked up with Manalapan High School’s speedy Robby Andrews in a pair of memorable clashes.
The most thrilling was the 1,000 meters at the New Balance Games at the New York Armory. In that race Andrews set the national record (2:22.68) with White running the eighth fastest time ever (2:25.99) in second.
“I knew what he [Andrews] could do and I knew what I could do,” said White. “I wanted to go out and have fun and not worry. There was a lot of hype about the race.”
The race lived up to the hype and left White with mixed emotions.
“I was disappointed,” he noted. “Tactically I could have run a better race.”
At the same time, he added, he had run the eighth fastest time ever recorded and could not be displeased with that.
“I was part of a national recordbreaking race,” he concluded.
He would again be part of a national record when he hooked up with Andrews once more at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships (NSIC) back at the New York Amory. Andrews won in a record 1:49.21, but this time there was consolation for White. By finishing third (1:52.70), he earned an All-American certificate.
The fast times White ran during the 2009 indoor season naturally had college coaches calling, and in April, after a visit to Baton Rouge, La., with his parents, Newell and Eleith, White decided on Louisiana State University.
“I looked at other schools,” he said. “I felt more comfortable there [LSU]. It felt like a home setting.”
White lost a month of training in the early spring to an injury, and it delayed his outdoor season. One positive to come out of it was that he was in peak form for the USA Youth Championships held at Eastern Michigan University’s Rynearson Stadium. He set an outdoor personal best and meet record 1:52.92 in the 800 and captured the 1,500 in 4:02.63.
“I changed the way I ran in both races,” said White. “Normally I’m a front-runner. I stayed [in the pack] for the first lap in the 800 and kicked with 150 [meters] to go and ran a 1:52, which is a good time.”
It worked once, so White tried it again with success in the 1,500.
“My coach told me, ‘Just be patient, sit and wait. Run to win the race,’ ” White said. “Sit back and then kick.”
Which is just what he did to secure a victory for the second time at the meet.
“That was real good for me,” he said of wining the 1,500 the way he did.
Part of White’s front-running skill can be attributed to his size. He is 6-4 with a long stride that makes him more comfortable up front and out of traffic.
But after sitting in the pack and using his 52-second 400-meter speed, White said he was “pretty comfortable” sitting back and then kicking. He is excited about taking those new tactics with him to LSU.
He left for Baton Rouge, La., last weekend and the start of a new career where, if he continues on the path he set this year, could make it harder for him to avoid the limelight.