He competed for the United States at the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, where he won the men's 1500 meters.

Engels attended Ronald W. Reagan High School in Pfafftown, North Carolina, until he graduated in 2012.

He considered stopping competitive running altogether, but was urged by his high school coach, Chris Catton, not to quit.

[4] During his winter of uncertainty, he sent gifts individually to his teammates at NC State as a sign of goodbye, and also bought a used recreational vehicle on Craigslist, which broke down immediately after purchase.

[4] During the 2015 indoor season Engels debuted for Ole Miss at the Auburn Invitational, placing third in the mile in 4:05.51.

With a first-place finish in a time of 3:50.71 Engels became the first Ole' Miss man to win a SEC crown in the 1500m Run.

While Engels could have joined NOP during the USATF Championships, he decided to wait until he was able to make an official visit to Portland and meet all the major players.

After officially joining the Nike Oregon Project, Engels raced the Sir Walter Miler, where he finished a close second in 3:57.67 to former high school standout and professional Adidas athlete Drew Hunter's 3:57.32 efforts for first.

During the 2018 indoor season, Engels knocked nearly four seconds off his mile personal best at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University, finishing in 3:53.93.

On September 6, 2019 Engels finished 5th in the 1500 at the Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium running a PR of 3:34.04.

The race was won by Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot in 3:29.26, who led gun to wire in one of the fastest World Championships 1500s in history.