NEW YORK — Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Daniel Ireland has announced the addition of 33 newcomers to the cross country and track & field programs.
The class consists of 18 women, 15 men, and 9 cross country runners.
The entire incoming class can be found below. The full 2025 cross country roster can be found HERE, while the full 2025 track & field roster can be found HERE.
The cross country season begins this weekend on Saturday, September 6 with the Fordham Fiasco.
Tibor Barankay – Fy. – Distance – 6-4 – SEAS – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania / Science Leadership Academy
Prior to Columbia: 2x Cross Country Philadelphia Public League Champion … 4x Track and Field Philadelphia Public League Champion … 2x Cross Country State Qualifier … 2x Track and Field State Qualifier … Track Nationals Qualifier … 1600m PR: 4:18 … 3200m PR: 9:16 … 5K PR: 15:02.
Personal: National Honor Society … Volunteered at local 10k … German heritage and fluent speaker … Hobbies include cycling, watching sports and movies … Favorite sports memory is running a big PR to qualify for states in the 3200m.
Zayna Flynn – Fy. – Multi Events – 5-9 – CC – Lincoln, California / Twelve Bridges High School / Revolution Express Track Club
Prior to Columbia: 4.0 GPA … AP Scholar with Distinction … 3x League Champion … School record holder in pole vault, 4×100, and 300m hurdles … State finalist in 2025 … Arcadia and Stanford Invitational participant … All-American in Dance … Competed for Revolution Express.
Personal: Originally from the DC area … Lifelong dancer and former competitive swimmer … Passionate about musical theatre and animals … Hobbies include travel, acting, environmental activism, and true crime podcasts … Favorite memory: winning Stanford Invitational with relay team.
Chris Young – Fy. – Hurdler/Sprinter – 6-3 – SEAS – Lambertville, New Jersey / Notre Dame High School / Trenton Track Club
Prior to Columbia: Scholar Athlete of the Year … 4x All-American … 1x National Champion (Adidas Outdoor Nationals 2025, Shuttle Hurdles) … Indoor MVP (Senior Year) … Varsity Letter (Freshman–Senior) … Team Captain (Junior & Senior) … Meet of Champs Qualifier (4×400, 55HH) … Personal Bests: 55HH 7.61, 60HH 8.13, 55m 6.92, 400m 50.50, 300m 37.15 … Outdoor MVP & Most Improved (Senior Year) … Meet of Champs Qualifier (110HH) … Personal Bests: 110HH 14.09, 400IH 58.39, 400m 49.04, 200m 22.64 … Competed for Trenton Track Club.
Personal: Eagle Scout … National Champion (Shuttle Hurdles) … Hobbies: skiing, biking, soccer, board games, and reading … Favorite sports memory: first trip to New Balance Nationals with his shuttle hurdle team.
Moriah Luetjen – Fy. – Sprints – 5-4 – BC – Shutesbury, Massachusetts / Amherst-Pelham Regional High School
Prior to Columbia: Four-year varsity athlete … 3x All-Western Mass (Soccer) … Gazette Girls Athlete of the Year 2024 … 400m PR 55.5, 200m 24.8 … 2025 New England 400m runner-up … 2x MIAA D4 Outdoor 400m State Champ … NBON Freshman 400m Champ … 2x 200m State Runner-up … School record holder (2 individual, 2 relays).
Personal: Hobbies: running, sewing, soccer, baking … Favorite sports memory: winning the 4×4 at New England’s.
Ryan Power – Fy. – Middle Distance – 5-11 – General Studies – Alexandria, Virginia / Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Prior to Columbia: AP Scholar with Distinction … 2x VHSL National District Champ … 2x All-State … School record holder (1k, indoor 4×400) … 2x team MVP … PRs: 800m – 1:54.24, 1k – 2:32.17, 400m – 50.1.
Personal: Can dunk with a 7’6″ standing reach … Hobbies: running, golf, spikeball, hiking, and movies … Favorite memory: celebrating a 4×400 win early and nearly losing to the slow heat.
Jayla Johnson – Fy. – Sprinter – 5-6 – CC – Bronx, New York / The Montfort Academy / New Horizon
Prior to Columbia: Magna Cum Laude … Athletics Award (4.0 GPA) … National Honors Society VP … Theology & Spanish Awards … 4-year varsity athlete … PRs: 55m 7.62, 200m 25.57, 400m 55.30 … Competed for New Horizon.
Personal: Hobbies: biking, drawing, music … Passionate about track since age 6 … Favorite memory: winning AAU Club Championships in the 400m.
Marcus Blasucci – Fy. – Throws – 5-11 – CC – Interlaken, New Jersey / Christian Brothers Academy / Brothers Track Club
Prior to Columbia: AP Scholar with Distinction … Shore Coaches 2025 Field Athlete of the Year … Shot put PR: 67-6.5 … 2025 Meet of Champions Winner … Holds CBA indoor & outdoor records … Competed for Brothers Track Club.
Personal: Third-generation Columbia student … Hobbies: surfing, guitar … Favorite memory: breaking school record at Shore Conference, receiving stadium-wide applause and Olympian praise.
Reena Hsieh – Fy. – Distance – 5-3 – CC – Arcadia, California / Arcadia High School
Prior to Columbia: AP Scholar with Honor … Pacific League XC Champ (3x) … CIF/State/Footlocker Nationals Qualifier … 1600m – 4:49, 3200m – 10:38, 3M – 16:33 … Arcadia High Sportswoman of the Year.
Personal: Former swimmer … Hobbies: videography, painting, baking … Favorite memory: hiking in La Jolla with teammates post-Nationals.
Ella Farley – Fy. – Throws/Javelin – 5-7 – CC – Niceville, Florida / Niceville HS / Emerald Coast Track Club
Prior to Columbia: AP Scholar … Top 1% of graduating class … School co-founder of Women’s Empowerment Club … PRs: Discus 40.06m, Javelin 38.95m … 2025 Nike Nationals qualifier (Javelin) … Competed for Emerald Coast TC.
Personal: Switched from hurdles to throws early in HS … Hobbies: reading, writing, lifting … Favorite memory: surprising herself with a big javelin PR.
Christian Wilbon – Fy. – Sprinter – 6-1 – CC – Waldorf, Maryland / Westlake High School
Prior to Columbia: 4x State Champ … 3x Adidas All-American … 100m – 10.96, 200m – 22.21 … Scholar Athlete Award … 5.0 GPA senior year.
Personal: 16x AAU All-American … Hobbies: musicals, shopping, reading … Favorite memory: winning his first MPSSAA state title.
Jackson Downin – Fy. – Mid Distance – 6-1 – CC – Wilmington, Delaware / Tatnall High School
Prior to Columbia: High Honor Roll every semester … Cum Laude Society … Math award winner … Mandarin Chinese Seal.
Personal: Studying Chinese since kindergarten … Hobbies: photography, watching sports … Favorite memory: setting state 4×800 record and earning All-American.
Maya Helman – So. – Throws – 5-5 – BC – Clatskanie, Oregon / Clatskanie HS / Western Oregon University
Prior to Columbia: Valedictorian … State Champion in Basketball … District Field Athlete of the Year … Transferred from Western Oregon, GNAC All-Academic … Discus school record holder.
Personal: Of Hispanic heritage … Barista since 15 … Hobbies: painting, family time … Favorite memory: dad coaching her through her throwing career.
Lukas Malek – Fy. – Distance – 6-0 – CC – Wilmington, North Carolina / Laney High School
Prior to Columbia: Top 10% of class … School record holder in 1600m, 5k … PRs: 15:27 (5k), 4:14 (1600m), 1:56 (800m).
Personal: Hobbies: fishing, hiking, Pokémon … Dog named Rusty.
Ashlyn Mundell – Fy. – Sprints – 5-5 – General Studies – Casper, Wyoming / Stanford Online School
Prior to Columbia: 3x All-State … PRs: 100m – 12.06, 55m – 7.03 … 5 national titles … 7 youth world records.
Personal: Advocate for women in STEM … Tech entrepreneur … Favorite memory: running into her parents’ arms with 3 medals.
Ben Pizarro – Fy. – Distance – 6-2 – CC – Wilmington, Delaware / The Tatnall School / CYM Cross Country
Prior to Columbia: 5x team state champ … 2024 XC State Champ … 2024 Gatorade POY … Indoor 3200m state record holder … Competed for CYM.
Personal: Former soccer player … Hobbies: reading, painting … Favorite memory: Nike Indoor Nationals junior year.
Omolade Dada – Fy. – 400M Runner – 5-6 – CC – League City, Texas / Clear Creek HS / Texas Cyclones Club Team
Prior to Columbia: Team captain … 4x Superintendent Scholar … 400m PR – 56.12 … Competed for Texas Cyclones.
Personal: Hobbies: singing, reading … Favorite memory: anchor leg of 4×4 for the first time.
Cali Holliday – Fy. – Throws – 5-7 – CC – Trenton, New Jersey / Hamilton North High School
Prior to Columbia: Multiple All-American honors … Shot Put PR – 41-10 … Discus – 130-1 … Competed at Penn Relays and NB Nationals … Top 10 in class … Football background.
Personal: Hobbies: powerlifting, MMA, piano, writing, drawing … Favorite memory: sectional win on last discus throw.
Brynn Garcia – Fy. – Distance – 5-6 – CC – San Juan Capistrano, California / Jserra Catholic High School
Prior to Columbia: 4-year varsity athlete … 3x State Champ (XC) … CIF Track Champion (3x) … 2x NXN Qualifier.
Personal: Hobbies: reading, thrifting, outdoor adventures … Favorite memory: qualifying for NXN.
Gavin Holcombe – Fy. – Pole Vault – 6-0 – CC – Danville, Pennsylvania / Danville Area High School
Prior to Columbia: 4-year varsity athlete in track and swimming … Pole vault PR: 15’6″ … Region Scholar Athlete Award … District Field Athlete of the Year.
Personal: Enjoys music and theater … Favorite sports memory is winning the state title as a team his sophomore year.
Mia Hoskins – Fy. – Throws – 5-5 – CC – Coventry, Rhode Island / Coventry High School
Prior to Columbia: National Champion at NBNO 2025 (Hammer) … 6x All-American … First Team All-State … CHS Athlete of the Year … Vice President of Class of 2025 … 4-year varsity athlete and multisport competitor.
Personal: Aspires to become an Olympian … Hobbies include lifting and throwing … Favorite memory: winning New Balance Nationals in June 2025.
Roan Krishnamurthy – Fy. – Sprints – 5-8 – Engineering – Seattle, Washington / Lincoln High School / GLS Speed Track Club
Prior to Columbia: 8x WA State Qualifier … USATF Junior All-American … PRs of 10.86 (100m) and 22.20 (200m) … Competed for GLS Speed.
Personal: Hobbies include cooking, poker, and web development … Favorite memory: training with talented senior teammates during sophomore year.
Dana Lehr – Fy. – Distance – 5-5 – CC – Belmont, Massachusetts / Belmont High School / Emerging Elites
Prior to Columbia: MIAA 2 mile state champion (2024) … 2025 D2 mile and 2 mile champion … Mile PR: 4:48 … 2 Mile: 10:30 … 3K: 9:40 … Ran for Emerging Elites.
Personal: Was captain in soccer and track … Enjoys cooking, hiking, and time with her dog … Favorite memory: breaking 5:00 in the mile as a sophomore.
Ava Malagisi – Fy. – Distance – 5-2 – CC – Ridgefield, Connecticut / Ridgefield High School
Prior to Columbia: All-New England (Indoor Track 2024) … Mile PR: 4:57 (2025 gap year) … 5K: 17:08 … 1600 leg of 4:58 in DMR at NBNO 2024.
Personal: Took a gap year to train, work as a research assistant and coach … Hobbies include yoga, nutrition, puzzles, ASL, and hairstyling … Favorite memory: boys and girls teams both winning FCIACs and doing a victory lap together.
Darren Pasek – Fy. – Distance – 6-0 – CC – Saratoga Springs, New York / Saratoga Springs High School / Racing City Track Club
Prior to Columbia: 2x State Champion … 3200m PR: 9:04 … 1600m PR: 4:15 … NBNI All-American … Captain since 10th grade … Ran for Racing City TC.
Personal: 4.0 GPA … White Award for Physics … AP Scholar … Hobbies include guitar, hiking, reading, and cycling … Favorite memory: winning states on a 6th-man tiebreaker.
Ethan Singleton – So. – Sprinter – 5-10 – CC – Dallas, Texas / St. Mark’s School of Texas / Wesleyan University / X-Factor
Prior to Columbia: Transferred from Wesleyan … 47.83 in 400m (school record) … All-SPC 2024 … 10.75 in 100m … 22.01 in 200m.
Personal: Founded Tennis Without Limits non-profit … Co-authored a novel … Hobbies include foodie travel blogging, saxophone, investing, Knicks fandom, and volunteering.
Max Thompson – Fy. – Mid-Distance – 5-10 – CC – Kings Mountain, North Carolina / Kings Mountain High School
Prior to Columbia: 2024 NCHSAA 800m State Champion … 3x Big South Conference MVP … 2x 1000m State Runner-Up.
Personal: Valedictorian and student body president … AP Scholar … Raised $10K for the team … Hobbies include piano, fishing, YouTube channel “LakeTalk”, and lifting.
Temoc Zamora – Fy. – Hurdles – 5-11 – CC – Corpus Christi, Texas / Veterans Memorial HS / STX Punishers
Prior to Columbia: UIL 5A 110H Bronze Medalist … Region IV 5A Champion … PRs: 110H – 13.97, 300H – 37.94 … National science fair finalist … Team captain in Track & Swim.
Personal: Founder of “Giants” youth science program … Enjoys beach volleyball, the arts, and biking … Favorite memory: beating rival school to win district title after 8 years.
Meredith Wolfe – Fy. – Distance – 5-7 – CC – Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock High School / 620 Running
Prior to Columbia: 4-year varsity athlete … 1600m PR: 4:52 … 5K PR: 17:51 … Named Girls XC Athlete of the Year by Austin American Statesman.
Personal: Volunteered through church and women’s service program … Hobbies include biking, piano, swimming, and listening to music … Favorite memory: her team making state.
Mignonne de Beer – Fy. – 100m Hurdles and Long Jump – 5-6 – General Studies – Stellenbosch, South Africa / Bloemhof High School for Girls
Prior to Columbia: Competed in the 100m, 100m hurdles, and long jump all four years of high school, advancing to senior-level championships in 2025. Won multiple school and club titles, including first place in both 100m hurdles and long jump at the 2022 school championships. Personal bests include 12.08 in the 100m, 14.30 in the 100m hurdles, and 5.99m in the long jump. Also served on her school’s House Committee and Student Representative Council, and competed for Menlo Park Club.
Personal: Hobbies include playing the violin, chess, and spending time with her siblings in her free time.
Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field and cross country by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
MINOT, N.D. – Earning a conference championship definitely deserves a place on the best moments of the year, so it is no surprise that a second individual title earns this runner a spot in the top 5 in our countdown.
No. 4 on Buckshot’s Best of 2025 is two-time NSIC champion Bailey Wride, who raced to the conference crown in the women’s 1,000 meters at the NSIC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
A standout distance runner from Kalispell, Montana, Bailey made her mark as a freshman at Minot State as she set a new all-time school record and won the women’s NSIC 600-meter title at her first NSIC Indoor Championship meet, in February of 2004, clocking a time of 1 minute, 36.76 seconds.
A reigning NSIC champion, the sophomore headed to the 2025 NSIC Indoor Championships having broken her own school record in the 600 with a time of 1:35.74 earlier in the 2024-25 indoor season, but she would not defend her title, instead stepping up to the 1,000 meters.
That change didn’t affect Wride one bit as she once again broke an all-time Minot State record and raced to a second NSIC title, winning the 1,000-meter crown in 2:55.63 to become a 2-time NSIC individual champion.
BUCKSHOT’S BEST OF 2025
No. 10: Minot State soccer finishes 4th in NSIC, hosts playoff game
No. 9: Minot State men’s hockey claims MCH Tournament title in 1st season as an MCH member
No. 8: Beaver women’s hockey goalie and freshman Jillian Ackerman earns All-American honors
No. 7: Jace Carlisle shoots school-record 7-under 65, finishes 4th at NSIC Championship to earn NSIC All-Tournament Team honors
No. 6: Jaxon Gunville sets career 3-pointer record with 316 made 3s, and ties the single-game 3-pointer record
No. 5: Haleigh Lematta earns return to NCWWC Nationals Tournament becoming 1st Beaver women’s wrestler to qualify twice for Nationals.
No. 4: Bailey Wride races to 2nd NSIC title, wins 1,000 meters at 2024-25 NSIC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
AUSTIN, Texas – Jody Conradt, who built University of Texas Women’s Basketball and Texas Women’s Athletics into a respected, enviable broad-based collegiate powerhouse, is retiring from fulltime appointment. She most recently served as special advisor to Longhorns Vice President and Folger Family Athletics Director Chris Del Conte.
Effective December 31, 2025, she will continue as a department volunteer, providing input and support as requested or needed. She also will complete a nine-year tenure on the NCAA Infractions Committee in August 2026.
Conradt completes 49 notable years after joining UT in spring 1976 as the first fulltime women’s head coach in two sports – basketball and volleyball. Prior to moving the Longhorns’ women’s programs into the NCAA championships structure in 1982-83, she coached in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) era, had teams that dominated the Southwest Conference for most of two decades and coached teams for 10 years in the Big 12 Conference. Her teams won a staggering and historic 183 consecutive games against SWC opponents from January of 1978 to February of 1990.
She retired from coaching following the 2006-07 season with 900 career victories, 10 SWC and two Big 12 Conference regular season titles, nine SWC postseason tournament championships and one Big 12 Conference postseason tournament crown, one AIAW Final Four and three NCAA Final Four appearances and the first perfect season (34-0 in 1985-86) in NCAA women’s basketball history. That 1985-86 team captured the only national basketball title at Texas.
Prior to Texas, she was an athletics administrator, coached volleyball, basketball and other sports and was a physical education instructor at Sam Houston State (1969-73) and UT Arlington (1973-76).
Conradt was the first women’s coach not required to teach collegiate classes upon joining UT. She coached volleyball for the first two years and then served former Texas women’s AD Donna Lopiano as basketball coach and associate athletics director for all women’s sports for the next 15 years. She conceptualized the academics support structure for women student-athletes, hiring fellow Baylor graduate Dr. Sheila Rice to head those services in 1977 and then Dr. Randa Ryan in the 1990s. She also insisted upon important career readiness/life skills programming and mentorship as part of academics services, along with behavioral/mental health and intervention for disordered eating.
In the late 1970s, Conradt sought the services of former NCAA shot put champion Dana LeDuc to develop her team with strength and conditioning programming as he was doing with men’s sports. She also was instrumental in recruiting first Becky Bludau Marshall and later Tina Bonci (1985) to oversee sports medicine/wellness services specifically designed for elite female student-athletes. The protocols in these units were considered best in class and eventually expanded under the direction of Conradt and legendary men’s athletics director DeLoss Dodds to provide services for all men and women student-athletes.
As conference realignment altered the college athletics landscape in the early 1990s, Conradt was named director of UT’s eight-sport separate women’s athletics department in spring 1992 when Lopiano became executive director of the Women’s Sports Foundation in New York City. In the same month, undergraduate women on several UT club sports teams filed a Title IX lawsuit against the University, seeking more scholarship and participation opportunities for women.
Conradt and Dodds worked with UT administration and UT System Board of Regents to settle the lawsuit in May 1993, which resulted in adding three varsity sports: women’s soccer (fall 1993), softball (fall 1996) and rowing (fall 1998). Conradt hired accomplished hall of fame caliber coaches, including Chris Petrucelli in soccer, Connie Clark in softball and Carie Graves in rowing. She also performed both basketball coach and AD jobs for nine years (1992-2001) before returning to basketball coaching solely in April 2001. Her 2003 team reached the NCAA Final Four and won both Big 12 regular season and postseason tournament crowns. Texas also won the 2004 Big 12 regular season title.
To date, eight of UT’s 11 women’s sports have won national championships, and the three others (golf, soccer, beach volleyball) are well positioned to vie for one in the near future.
Texas Athletics emphasized class attendance, graduation and career readiness long before NCAA governance required “life skills” programming. Conradt’s basketball team members were media personalities, brand ambassadors, polished public speakers and ultimate representatives of the University and attracted deserved attention and fan support from UT faculty and staff, government civic leaders, politicians, artists and musicians and authors.
Texas women’s basketball attendance soared to 8,000-plus in the mid-to-late 1980s, creating a model that many other institutions and athletics departments sought to emulate. Schools sent representatives to Austin to learn about Texas Women’s Basketball frameworks for media coverage, tv and radio exposure, fundraising, sponsorships, marketing and community engagement.
Donors, keenly interested in the academic futures of Texas women student-athletes, eagerly established endowed scholarships at then UT-established levels to underscore the emphasis on the importance of student-athletes attaining a college degree to launch their career sustainability and personal success. Conradt and her fellow coaches structured mentoring programs for successful and high-profile female professionals to meet with female student-athletes and encourage them to pursue careers in areas considered ground-breaking for women.
Intuitively sensitive to her team’s burgeoning public profile after winning the national championship in 1986 and achieving the first sold-out NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four in Austin in 1987, Conradt worked with Dodds, Lopiano and former men’s basketball coach Tom Penders to establish the Neighborhood Longhorns Program in 1989. More than 5,500 fifth-through-eighth grade students from more than 30 grade schools and middle schools from Austin Independent School District and other districts participate in NLP programming, which includes after-school tutoring by UT students and student-athletes and emphasis on class attendance and good grades, which lead to such rewards as UT campus visits for museum and college department tours, Texas Longhorns men’s and women’s sports events and a scholar award event that honors high achieving students with savings bonds for future college education.
The NLP returned to Texas Athletics’ department structure in 2025 after being administered for several decades by campus operational units. Conradt continues on the NLP Advisory Board, citing the program as one that allows the University to reach across the community and impact and incentivize youngsters to work toward attending college someday. An official credit hour course in service learning was launched in fall semester 2025 within the College of Education, with more than 30 students tutoring students in a pilot at Gus Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy. The course will continue under leadership of Dr. LaToya Smith, executive senior associate AD for student services in athletics and NLP advisory board longtime member and UT graduate Howard Nirken.
Conradt is in nearly every athletics hall of fame. She was just the second woman after Delta State legend Margaret Wade to be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. She is both an inductee and emeritus board of directors member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville. She has been a trusted Women’s Basketball Coaches Association leader and led its ethics committee during her years as head coach.
In March 2026, she is being honored along with higher education notable Ruth Simmons with the History-Making Texan Award from the Bullock Texas State History Foundation as part of annual Texas Independence Day celebrations.
PELLA— Recording a pair of top-10 national marks at two different competitions over the weekend yielded the American Rivers Conference Male Athlete of the Week honors for Gunner Meyer on Monday.
Meyer also was Men’s Track and Field Track Events Performer of the Week. Ava Parkins was tabbed as Women’s Track and Field Track Events Performer of the Week.
Meyer ran Division III’s fastest 60-meter hurdles time at the Jimmy Grant Alumni Invitational hosted by the University of Iowa at 7.92 seconds. It was also an American Rivers Conference record time. He also high jumped 6 feet, 7.5 inches at the Dutch Holiday Preview, the seventh-best mark in Division III this season.
In the women’s 60-meter prelims at the Jimmy Grant Invitational, Parkins clocked in at 7.70 seconds to share second place on the program’s all-time list. It also makes her No.8 nationally. She didn’t run the finals after qualifying in seventh. She also finished third in the 300 meters in 39.35 seconds.
Next on the Dutch track and field schedule is the Dutch Athletics Classic on January 16, 2026.
Drew Bonifant covers sports for the Press Herald, with beats in high school football, basketball and baseball. He was previously part of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel sports team. A New Hampshire…
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The 2025 track and field calendar was exhilarating from start to finish, fueled by the indoor and outdoor world championships, the always-exciting Diamond League circuit, the seven World Marathon Majors, and everything in between.
As it so often does, Boston University’s indoor track played host to national and world records across the distance events, laying the groundwork for an outdoor campaign defined by breakthrough performances that had been a long time coming.
As a track and field fan, there were dozens of jumps, throws, and times that could credibly stake their claim as the best of the year, but as someone who has always favored the distance side of the sport, it’s safe to say I’m a bit biased.
With an electric 2026 season on the horizon, here are three of my many favorite performances from 2025.
Jane Hedengren Re-Wrote The Record Books
After a senior cross country campaign that saw her become the fastest high school girl ever to run a 5K on grass, former Timpview (Utah) standout and current BYU phenom Jane Hedengren rapidly emerged as a household name.
Over the last 12 months, Hedengren has cemented herself as one of the greatest high school athletes of all time, and through just one collegiate semester, she has already separated herself at the NCAA level.
In March, she delivered a historic double at Nike Indoor Nationals, running 4:26.14 in the mile and 15:13.26 in the 5000 meters, lowering the previous national records by nearly two seconds and more than 15 seconds, respectively.
That momentum carried into the outdoor season, where she set new U.S. high school national records in the mile (4:23.50), 5000 meters (14:57.93), two mile (9:17.75), and 3000 meters (8:40.03).
Less than five months later, Hedengren opened her BYU career by setting three straight 6K course records, two of which resulted in Big 12 and NCAA Regional titles, before finishing runner-up at the NCAA Championships.
Her penultimate race of 2025 capped the year in historic fashion. At the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Hedengren ran 14:44.79, shattering Doris Lemngole’s indoor collegiate record of 14:52.57 set in 2024 and Parker Valby’s outdoor collegiate record of 14:52.18 from the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Cooper Lutkenhaus Establishes Himself As The Next 800m Star
For nearly 30 years, Bell Gardens (Calif.) Michael Granville sat atop the high school record books in the 800, one of the few prep records that had yet to be unseated by this generation of distance talent.
Just a few years ago, the duo of Cade Flatt and Will Sumner came as close as anyone ever had, with the former finishing just three-hundredths of a second shy.
It wasn’t until this past June that Granville’s record was finally beaten, with Lutkenhaus doing so at the Brooks PR Invitational, stopping the clock at 1:46.26.
The summer of personal bests was just beginning for the Justin Northwest (Texas) sophomore, as 11 days later, he became the first high schooler to ever break 1:46, winning Nike Outdoor Nationals in 1:45.45.
Little did we know Lutkenhaus had a lot more in store for the American distance running circuit, and where else better to do it than at Hayward Field.
After running 1:47.23 and 1:45.57 to make it all the way to the U.S. Championships final, the record-breaking sophomore held his own with the sport’s elite, finishing runner-up to Donovan Brazier in 1:42.27.
The 16-year-old established a new world U18 record and now sits behind Botswana’s Nijel Amos on the world U20 all-time list.
Beatrice Chebet Becomes First Woman To Ever Break 14:00
At the 2023 Prefontaine Classic, which acted as the Diamond League final that season, Beatrice Chebet came close to history in the 5000m, battling the clock for 12.5 laps as she stopped the clock at 14:05.92, which at the time was No. 2 in world history.
Less than two years later, Chebet once again took on the 5000m distance in Eugene, Oregon, but this time left the Pacific Northwest with an accomplishment no other woman has ever matched.
In a field that had 17 women sub-15, and 10 sub-14:30, Chebet took down compatriot Agnes Jebet Ngetich and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, with the trio finishing in 13:58.06, 14:01.29, and 14:04.41, respectively.
The 25-year-old became the first woman to ever break 14:00 after coming close on multiple occasions, and currently owns the fourth and seventh fastest performances in world history to pair nicely with her world record.
FloTrack Is The Streaming Home For Many Track And Field Meets Each Year
Don’t miss all the track and field season action streaming on FloTrack. Check out the FloTrack schedule for more events.
FloTrack Archived Footage
Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.
