Dallastown's Sophia Rodriguez breaks another world record for her age group

Even a jam-packed weekend schedule can't slow down Sophia Rodriguez.

The Dallastown rising freshman set her second Under-14 world record of the year on the track Friday night, posting a blistering time of 16:22.30 in the 5,000 meters at the John Hay Distance Festival in West Chester. The achievement sits alongside her age-group record in the two-mile race from Nike Indoor Nationals in March.

This feat was especially impressive, though, as Rodriguez had competed the night before in St. Louis, Missouri. She ran a 4:50.20 in the mile at Thursday's HOKA Festival of Miles — a personal best and one of the fastest times ever by a middle schooler — then flew back to Pennsylvania the next day and broke a world record within hours of landing.

Gabriel Rodriguez, Sophia's father, said it took "a couple months of planning" to pull it all off. The track at West Chester Henderson High School is a personal favorite of Sophia's, Gabriel said, so she was eager to go for the record at that track. So after an 8 p.m. mile race Thursday, Sophia slept in, took a 2 p.m. flight to Philadelphia and went straight to the track to warm up for her 8:30 p.m. Friday race. When the gun went off, she rose to the moment and then some.

"We had this big mile race in St. Louis that we committed to, and she crushed it," Gabriel Rodriguez said. "And we figured as long as there's no soreness or injuries after that race, it wasn't going to take too much out of her to run a 5K the next day. So we just planned for a non-stop flight — it's only a two-hour flight — and planned it out where she could sleep in (to) set her up for the best chance possible."

"She did say it's the hardest thing she's ever done in her life. I told her, 'It's a world record for a reason.'"

The previous U-14 world record in the 5K was 16:24.28, set by Emily Pidgeon of Great Britain in 2004. The previous fastest girls' 5K time in the country this year was a 16:23.67 from Ciara O'Shea, a senior, at the Raleigh Relays in March. Rodriguez split 5:16, 5:14 and 5:13 across the first three miles of the race, then added a closing kick to best both times.

MORE:PIAA spring tournament preview: Seven York-Adams League teams look to make a run

MORE:York Revolution vault into first place with 8-game winning streak

While Sophia had burst onto the scene within the last year as one of the top middle school runners in the country, age-group records weren't even on the family's radar until they learned she had broken the two-mile mark in March. The 5K record was the one the family thought was most within reach — Sophia had run a 16:39 indoors in the winter, but outdoor times are often faster and she'd have months to train — and she ultimately tracked it down.

"She's so focused, she's so driven, and we're calling out her splits and she knew she was on pace and she knew she had to really hammer home the last two laps to get the record," Gabriel Rodriguez said of Sophia. "And she did exactly that, and she was pretty happy about it."

Sophia starred for Dallastown's middle school track and field team this spring while also competing in high-profile regional events such as the Penn Relays in April. She took the 3,200-meter crown at the Altoona Middle School Championships with a stadium-record 10:17.43. Then she prepared for her national summer slate, which in addition to last weekend's races includes the Brooks PR Invitational on June 14 in Seattle and Nike Outdoor Nationals in Portland, Oregon, that weekend.

FEATURED:Dallastown sisters Sophia, Victoria Rodriguez running down records on track

Victoria Rodriguez, Sophia's older sister, also competed at the John Hay Distance Festival on Friday, posting an impressive 5:03.44 in the mile. Victoria just finished a sophomore year at Dallastown that saw her win the York-Adams League cross country title and qualify for the state track meet this spring in multiple distance events. She will run at Nike Nationals in the steeplechase on Friday, June 17.

After a family vacation and a lighter schedule of events the rest of the summer, the Rodriguez sisters will be teammates on Dallastown's cross country team in the fall.