* Jane Hedengren competes at the 2023 Penn Relays. Hedengren broke the sophomore class 2-mile record at Nike Outdoor Nationals on Saturday.
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Magnant/MileStat
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It's been quite the statement-making week for Jane Hedengren.
It began on Wednesday with a sensational nation-leading 4:35.69 girls mile win for the Timpview (UT) sophomore at the Brooks PR Invitational, logging the second-best time ever for 10th graders at the distance.
And on Saturday, Hedengren added another notable win and PR performance to her belt, traveling to Eugene to win the 2-mile crown at Nike Outdoor Nationals in 9:54.38.
It gave her yet another all-time effort, breaking the sophomore class record for the outdoor 2-mile.
She moves past former Staples (CT) standout Hannah Debalsi on the 10th grade leaderboard, who held the previous 2-mile class record of 9:55.05 from 2014. Hedengren also becomes just the fifth sophomore to ever dip under 10 minutes in the event, and the only one to ever go under both 10 minutes and 4:40 for the full mile.
It's a huge breakthrough for Hedengren, who has earned the first two national championship wins of her career in the span of just a few days to go along with the record-breaking marks.
This spring, she won Utah state titles in the 800m, 1,600m and 3,200m, and won ever race she contested except for two runner-up finishes in the mile at the Arcadia Invitational and the 3,000m at the Penn Relays.
But perhaps it comes as no surprise that Hedengren has found herself at the top of girls high school distance running. Her father and coach, John Hedengren, is a BYU hall-of-famer who earned All-American honors at the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Making history certainly seems to run in the family as Hedengren concludes one of the most historic weeks of racing seen from a sophomore distance athlete.
