Jane Hedengren is no stranger to receiving honors and accolades due to her prowess in both cross-country and track and field.
The Timpview High standout — and future BYU Cougar — is a running sensation at this point, having won Gatorade National Player of the Year awards for both cross-country (2024) and track and field (2025).
The latest award (track and field) was presented to Hedengren by Katelyn Tuohy, a four-time individual NCAA Division I champion at NC State and a winner of five Gatorade Player of the Year awards before that.
BYU cross-country coach Diljeet Taylor — Hedengren’s soon-to-be head coach — was also in attendance, making the episode a particularly notable one.
Presentation of the award was caught on video, providing a “behind the scenes” look into Hedengren’s latest honor.
Hedengren was an easy choice for national girls track and field player of the year.
She is the high school national record holder in the 5,000 meters (14:57.93), mile (4:23.50), 1,600-meter (4:21.81), 3,200-meter (9:14.65) and the two-mile (9:17.75). And she recently won the 3,000 meter race at Nike Outdoor Nationals, setting an under-20 record of 8:40.3.
Hedengren is expected to star immediately for BYU and she doesn’t shy away from that pressure.
She told the Deseret News’ Krysyan Edler: “I’m sure there’s going to be many learning curves but I’m ready for that and I’m excited for that because I think that will only positively affect me as a person and as an athlete, just with building my resilience and just learning to be adaptable within many different positions.”
