Santa Barbara High Runner Andreas Dybdahl Is Going the Distance

Andreas Dybdahl’s stellar career as a distance runner at Santa Barbara High is nearing the home stretch, but the senior UCLA commit still has lofty goals ahead of him and must peak at the right time to reach them.

“He’s willing to run races where he is not going to get the win or he’s not going to do exactly what he wants to do, but he is putting pieces in place for later,” said Santa Barbara track and field coach Olivia Perdices. “He’s just very smart and very patient. He is a confident and trusting kid that the process is going to play out when that time comes.”

Last season, Dybdahl capped off his junior season with the “race of his life” as he captured the state championship over a stacked field with a lifetime best time of 4:08.64. The victory made Dybdahl the first state champion in track and field at Santa Barbara High since Sam Cunningham won the shot put in 1969.

Despite his individual achievements, Dybdahl is also very much committed to the often-overlooked team component of track and field. According to Perdices, Dybdahl is willing to do anything to put the Dons in the best position possible as a group.

“He wants to go sub four minutes in the 1,600-meter. He wants to go sub one minute, 50 seconds in the 800-meter, but he’s also a kid that is willing to take the baton in the 4×400 relay,” Perdices said. “He’s got huge individual aspirations, and so do a lot of our athletes, but they’re all willing to do the team part of it too. We talk through it with them where we try to make sure both of those things can happen.”

This past fall, Dybdahl led the Santa Barbara High cross-country team on a season for the ages. The Dons captured the CIF-SS Division 2 Championship and subsequently the Division 2 State Championship.

Dybdahl’s long-distance teammates, such as his training partner Blaise Snow as well as Cainan Birchim, who finished 12th individually in the state championship race, have developed together over the years and pushed each other to incredible heights.

“Really that whole group of boys, that whole cross-country group, they all push each other. They all have been really tight, really close, and gone through all of those steps together,” Perdices said. “It’s really fun to have a super-motivated group of guys like that who will do whatever you ask them to do.”

In addition to his incredible athletic exploits in cross-country and track and field, Dybdahl has been equally impressive in the classroom. He was named the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Santa Barbara High.

Dybdahl boasts a 4.4 GPA while taking AP Calculus, Business Economics, AP Economics/Government, and AP Literature.

“He’s just a wonderful kid to coach, and that 100 percent translates to the rest of his life,” said Dybdahl’s long-distance coach Rusty Snow at the press luncheon when Dybdahl received the award. “I’m absolutely honored and proud to coach Andreas, and I look forward to the spring.”

Dybdahl began this spring season with the individual 1,600-meter state championship in track and field, a team state championship in cross-country, and his future plans solidified with his commitment to UCLA, which has allowed him to pursue his goals with minimal distractions.

“It’s really cool because you still get to run fun races, but you know you are already locked into a school,” Dybdahl said. “It’s just more enjoyable, to be honest.”

Dybdahl clocked the top 1,600-meter time in the state this season with a time of 4:07.80 at the Azusa Meet of Champions and is top five nationally.

“We’ve tried to keep things interesting by running different events and doing a lot of different things,” Perdices said. “He’s one of the best runners in the state and the nation, so he’s going to do some special things.”

At the prestigious Arcadia Invitational, which attracts some of the top runners in the country, Dybdahl broke his own school record in the 800-meter with a time of 1:50.97, which was good for the top time by a California runner. He finished fifth overall. The ramp up to the state meet is underway as Channel League Finals are just around the corner on April 25 building up to CIF Finals, the Master’s meet, and the State Championships on Saturday, May 25.