Jane Hedengren’s first taste of collegiate indoor track went much like her freshman cross country season this fall for the BYU Cougars.
That is to say she dominated and broke some records along the way.
Saturday marked the beginning of the track season for the Cougars, and Hedengren won the 5,000 meter race at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston with a historic time of 14:44:79.
How historic was Hedengren’s performance? She became the youngest American to break 15:00 in the event, it was the second-fastest time ever by an American and it is a new NCAA record by eight seconds. She also became the first collegiate woman to break 14:50.
Regarding the NCAA notes, Hedengren broke the record set last year by Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, who beat Hedengren for first place in the cross country national championships two weeks ago.
While Hedengren will deservedly get the headlines, coming in second place in the race was her teammate Riley Chamberlain with a time of 14:58:97.