Latest news with #Hedengren
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Is This Utah Teenager The Best Girls Track Athlete In History? She Certainly Looks The Part
ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 12: Jane Hedengren of Timpview wins the girls two miles in a national ... More high school record 9:34.12 in the 57th Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School on April 12, 2025 in Arcadia, California. (Photo by) Standing maybe just a shade over 6-feet, Jane Hedengren is fast becoming one of the all-time greats in high school running. The 18-year-old from Provo, Utah, is currently amid one of the biggest tears in high school track and field history. On Thursday, the Timpview High School senior became the first American teenager to secure a result under 15 minutes for 5,000 meters, posting a time of 14:57.93 against a sea of collegiate and professional women at the Bryan Clay Invitational in California, finishing third in the race. Her performance is now the 11th-fastest performance in the world for 2025 and a new U.S. under-20 record. The previous best time for an U20 athlete? 15:20.57. The time suggests, maybe sooner rather than later, that she can compete on the world stage. With qualifying for the World Championships in Tokyo fast arriving, Hedengren is currently ranked seventh among American women—though for reference, the winning time for the women's 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June was Elle St. Pierre's highly-strategic 14:40.34. 'She's certainly made an incredible jump in the last year to insert herself in the conversation," said Chris Chavez, the founder of Citius Mag, a network dedicated to coverage of all levels of track and field. "The key thing for Jane to become a contender for the team would be learning to close hard in a championship-style race.' That being said, Hedengren's performance wasn't surprising. Last week, she set a national record at two miles. A month earlier, she broke the high school mile record, and in December she nabbed a national championship in cross country. Hedengren's last loss was six months ago. 'I was really set on, 'I'm going to come into this race feeling really good today,'' Hedengren told FloTrack after her 5K record. High school track and field results are all fickle. They change year to year. Athletes come and go. But the legendary figures—names like Katelyn Tuohy and Mary Cain—and their career successes have held around. Tuohy was a generational talent from New York who won three national cross country championships and set a slew of national high school records over her time for North Rockland. She's long been considered the GOAT of distance running at the high school ranks, surpassing Cain, who last held that mantle and reached the World Championships in 2013 as a high schooler at Bronxville. Tuohy's national success stretched over three seasons before she went on to have a dazzling career at North Carolina State, winning a handful of individual and team titles with the Wolfpack. Cain, meanwhile, turned pro out of high school in 2014. Is this six-month stretch enough to create a legend out of Hedengren? 'I think Jane's indoor and outdoor tear put her on the Mt. Rushmore of high school girls distance running," Chavez said. "She's already beating college women without having taken a single class at BYU. (But) I think I still give the edge to Mary Cain as the best high schooler because she was able to make the 1,500m final at the World Championships in 2013 and it was in an era before super shoes.' That worldview really depends on the person. Are legends the product of years of service? Or can an athlete who flies close to the sun for a short amount of time have the same impact? The future Brigham Young University athlete now owns six high school national records. She finished her high school cross country career with the fastest performance ever recorded for the 5,000 meter distance. Tuohy's best moments in high school have all been supplanted. So have Cain's. In time, so will Hedengren's. Arcadia, CA - April 12: Jane Hedengren of Timpview (Utah) wins the women's 2 mile invitational ... More during the 2025 Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School in Arcadia on Saturday, April 12, 2025.(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) That's the evolution of track and field in this country. Records are like door stops. All of them are meant to move. Then again, Hedengren's run does feel a bit different. She certainly doesn't look like your typical high school running superstar, towering over most of her competitors. She also comes from a long-line of high performers on the track – her father, John, ran at BYU and was inducted as a Hall of Famer in 2015. Her brother, Isaac, currently competes for the Cougars. Running was in Hedengren's DNA growing up. A year from now, she'll be competing for BYU's Diljeet Taylor, considered one of the NCAA's top distance minds. The Cougars won the NCAA title in cross country this past fall, too. Thursday was Hedengren's first true race against athletes outside high school. What's more incredible is the fact that she beat Florida's Hilda Olemomoi, a 10-time first-team NCAA All-American; Georgetown's Chloe Scrimgeor, a 7-time NCAA All-American; and Stanford's Sophia Kennedy, a 4-time NCAA All-American, in that 5K at Bryan Clay. These women are all headed to the professional ranks. Hedengren, meanwhile, is still 18, still in high school, and still a few months away from graduation. 'High schoolers are not shy about pushing themselves to the limit and with all of these advances in training, technology and mental breakthroughs – all these records need to be written in pencil,' Chavez said. Sooner rather than later, maybe that legendary status will be cemented.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
BYU commit demolishes national high school 5K record
Timpview's Jane Hedengren wins the Timpanogos Invitational cross-country meet in Orem on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Utah high school runner Jane Hedengren broke another national record on Thursday. At the 2025 Bryan Clay Invitational, Hedengren, a star for Timpview High, ran 14:57.93 to shatter the high school national record for the 5,000 meters. Advertisement The time bests the outdoor record of 15:25.27 that Elizabeth Leachman set in 2024 and the indoor record of 15:13.26 that Hedengren set almost exactly a month ago at the Nike Indoor Nationals. On Thursday, Hedengren finished third overall in the 5,000 meter race, five seconds behind BYU's Lexy Halladay-Lowry, who finished second. New Mexico's Pamela Kosgei won the race with a time of 14:52.45. Halladay-Lowry's time of 14:52.93 broke the BYU record set by Whittni Morgan (15:12.90) in 2021 by almost 20 seconds, per the university. What Jane Hedengren said after the race Hedengren has been on a tear as of late, setting indoor national records for the high school 5,000 meter and the mile (4:26.14) at the Nike Indoor Invitational as well as the two-mile (9:34.12), which she set just six days ago. Advertisement Before beating her own 5,000 meter record Thursday and becoming the first high school girl to run the race in under 15 minutes, Hedengren woke up with a sore throat, she told reporters post-race. 'I'm just so grateful to have competed tonight. I woke up sick this morning, and so, I just really didn't know how it was going to go,' she said, per FloTrack. She added, 'It was just a great opportunity to be out here and I'm so glad that like my body was able to pull through and I was able to feel decent today.' Hedengren on running for BYU After the race, the BYU commit expressed her excitement to join the BYU team. Advertisement 'I'm so excited for BYU. They're just such great women. I'm excited to build my relationships on that team,' she said. Hedengren already knows 'pretty much everyone on the team,' she said. 'But it's different when you're in the workouts with them, like hanging out all the time. You really get to know people. So I'm really looking forward to that aspect for sure,' she said.
Los Angeles Times
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Local athletes look ahead to stretch run after Arcadia Invitational
As a new track and field season gets underway, much of the discussion fromathletes revolves around improving their marks and times. If the marks meet a standard or the times drop enough, athletes may gain entry into the Arcadia Invitational, a meet that draws talent from across the nation and provides a chance for the competitors to elevate themselves. For some, it gives an opportunity to view greatness, as it was for Corona del Mar distance runner Max Douglass. He was in the race on deck when Utah teen Jane Hedengren of Provo Timpview set the national high school record in the 3,200 meters with a time of 9 minutes 30.68 seconds. 'I've never seen a women's performance like that, especially in high school,' Douglass said. 'That was phenomenal. Props to her for getting in such good shape and getting to where she is right now.' Hedengren easily put away a top-flight field, the chase pack paced by Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery with 9:58.17. 'Thank you, Arcadia, for cheering,' Hedengren said immediately after the feat. 'It really helped. … It just was amazing to have that excitement and energy here.' For the local athletes competing in the Saturday night meet at Arcadia High, it was a challenging day, their focus turning to a stretch run that includes the CIF Southern Section postseason and beyond. Douglass, a Notre Dame commit, had a breakthrough moment in dropping below nine minutes to win the Eric Hulst 3,200-meter race in the Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational on March 15. Since then, the Sea Kings' senior standout has had his momentum stalled by an illness. He clocked in at 9:09.18 in a 3,200 seeded race that saw 21 runners break the nine-minute barrier. 'If you're feeling sick and your legs aren't there, there's only so much that I feel like I can do with my mind to push through it,' Douglass said. 'I'm going to get back into shape. We got time until CIF, so I'm hopeful. I'm excited for the future. Everyone hits road bumps, so it's nothing to whine and complain about.' Sage Hill senior sprinter Jake Pirnazar crossed the finish line eighth in 10.67 seconds in the 100-seeded heat. He looked perplexed afterward, and described his feeling on the run, 'I was crashing into the ground with all my steps.' 'I was really excited to make it,' Pirnazar said of competing in the Arcadia night meet. 'This is a meet that my team had always been looking forward to since I was a freshman, so I guess I am proud to say that I made it here, but the outcome is also really disappointing at the same time.' The day did hold some promise for Pirnazar and the Lightning, who saw the 400-meter relay team drop their season-best time to 42.07 seconds in the open meet. With each improvement, the quartet that also features sophomore Adam Pirnazar and seniors Preston Simpson and James Karahalios, continues to lower the school record in the event. 'Again, our hand-offs weren't where they should have been, but we [set a new personal record],' Jake Pirnazar said. 'We're showing consistent improvement every time we run it.' Huntington Beach senior Marconi Mendoza produced a mark of 159 feet in the discus throw for a new personal record. He placed third in the rising stars meet on Friday. Coming off a career-best clearance of 15 feet in the pole vault in a dual meet against Los Alamitos on April 8, Fountain Valley junior Viet Le placed sixth in the rising stars section of the event with a mark of 14'-4'. Newport Harbor junior Natalie McCarty clocked in with seasonal-best times in both hurdles events in the open section — 100 (15.04 seconds) and 300 (44.03 seconds). 100 Seeded — 8. Jake Pirnazar (Sage Hill) 10.67 100 Open — 43. Jay Serrambana (Marina) 11.12 200 Open — 10. Jay Serrambana (Marina) 21.84 400 Relay Open — 9. Sage Hill 42.07 800 Open — 41. Michael Appell (Huntington Beach) 1:58.83 3,200 Seeded — 29. Max Douglass (Corona del Mar) 9:09.18 3,200 Open — 21. Kevin Steinman (Corona del Mar) 9:54.99 HJ Open — 13T. Callan Allende (Newport Harbor) 6-0J LJ Rising Stars — 7. Colton Eggelston (Corona del Mar) 21-10½ PV Rising Stars — 6. Viet Le (Fountain Valley) 14-4 SP Open — 18. Marconi Mendoza (Huntington Beach) 43-5 DT Open — 10. Jack Paavola (Ocean View) 155-7 DT Rising Stars — 3. Marconi Mendoza (Huntington Beach) 159-0 3,200 Seeded — 25. Marley McCullough (Newport Harbor) 10:58.28 100 HH Open — 15. Natalie McCarty (Newport Harbor) 15.04; 34. Sydney McGill (Huntington Beach) 15.51 300 IH Open — 11. Natalie McCarty (Newport Harbor) 44.03 400 Relay Open — 30. Corona del Mar 48.94 TJ Rising Stars — 10. Alia Pasternak (Huntington Beach) 35-8½
