When an athlete, male or female is approaching professional level times for their age then it is not appropriate to be running against High School age athletes who aren’t at the same level.
You people do realize that there is a difference between chronological age and sexual age, right? Puberty hits different people at different ages.
It is not uncommon to see two 14-yo boys on the same team, one who has to shave daily and if he decided to drive a car and was spotted by a cop, the cop would not suspect for a second that he wasn't old enough to drive, and the other looks like he could walk into a 5th grade classroom, take a seat, and fit right in. One has a decided advantage, but since they are the same chronological age, they compete directly against one another.
With girls, sometimes puberty is NOT their friend. We've all seen the 9th grade girl who is #1 on the cross country team and goes to the state meet but is the #3 runner as a senior and doesn't go to states. The widening of the hips, breast development, etc., that accompany female puberty sometimes wreaks havoc on their bodies; sometimes it doesn't. Just because a female is a little bit older does not mean she has an advantage due to her age.
It is pretty clear that her recent efforts exceed anything that any prep athlete, male or female, have accomplished over the last several years. There is a much larger gap between her times across multiple distances and the rest of the elite pack versus any gaps on the male side. Much like Mikaela Shiffrin is the best skier in the world (of both genders), she is surely the best prep runner of recent times.
When an athlete, male or female is approaching professional level times for their age then it is not appropriate to be running against High School age athletes who aren’t at the same level.
“Appropriate”? This isn’t a sport about who has the best manners. What a silly, childish take.
Who says Jane is not a miler? She won the mile at Brooks PR as only a sophomore. Of course she's a miler.
You know what I mean - Jane is a distance runner who has dabbled in the mile, Sadie is a miler who occasionally dabbles in longer distances.
If/when Jane focuses training on the mile the way Sadie has, you will (I believe) see even more big improvements - which feels crazy to type after she just broke the national record.
Jane is definitely not a "dabbler" in the mile. How in the world did you come up with that idea? The mile is literally her MAIN track event. She's run a 1500/1600/mile about 20 times in high school, which is more times than she's run any other distance. She has only run a 5k on the track ONE time. So no, Jane does NOT dabble in the mile.
When an athlete, male or female is approaching professional level times for their age then it is not appropriate to be running against High School age athletes who aren’t at the same level.
The crazy thing is Sadie chooses not to race high school races but is NOT the fastest high school miler. She chooses not to race against Jane for good reason.
You know what I mean - Jane is a distance runner who has dabbled in the mile, Sadie is a miler who occasionally dabbles in longer distances.
If/when Jane focuses training on the mile the way Sadie has, you will (I believe) see even more big improvements - which feels crazy to type after she just broke the national record.
Jane is definitely not a "dabbler" in the mile. How in the world did you come up with that idea? The mile is literally her MAIN track event. She's run a 1500/1600/mile about 20 times in high school, which is more times than she's run any other distance. She has only run a 5k on the track ONE time. So no, Jane does NOT dabble in the mile.
She has never run a mile at her HS state championships - but has run and won the 2 mile every year. As a sophomore she also races the 2 mile (but not mile) at outdoor nationals (and won). Same for 2024 - won the 2 mile at state but didn’t race the mile, won the 2 mile at outdoor nationals but didn’t race the mile. Odd record for someone whose “main event” (you claim) is the mile. She has run some miles and done well, but the mile isn’t her main event - it just isn’t.
Jane is definitely not a "dabbler" in the mile. How in the world did you come up with that idea? The mile is literally her MAIN track event. She's run a 1500/1600/mile about 20 times in high school, which is more times than she's run any other distance. She has only run a 5k on the track ONE time. So no, Jane does NOT dabble in the mile.
She has never run a mile at her HS state championships - but has run and won the 2 mile every year. As a sophomore she also races the 2 mile (but not mile) at outdoor nationals (and won). Same for 2024 - won the 2 mile at state but didn’t race the mile, won the 2 mile at outdoor nationals but didn’t race the mile. Odd record for someone whose “main event” (you claim) is the mile. She has run some miles and done well, but the mile isn’t her main event - it just isn’t.
Jane Hedegren has literally has run the 1600/mile MORE than any other event. It's not debatable. It's a fact.
Jane Heddengren has run the mile at Arcadia, she won her state championship in the 1600, she set the national indoor record in the mile, she won BOTH indoor and outdoor Nike nationals in the mile, and she won Brooks PR in the mile. Your very strange, and incorrect, assertion that she supposedly "dabbles" in the mile is flat out 100% wrong. You just keep digging yourself into a bigger and bigger hole. You have no idea what you're talking about.
She has never run a mile at her HS state championships - but has run and won the 2 mile every year. As a sophomore she also races the 2 mile (but not mile) at outdoor nationals (and won). Same for 2024 - won the 2 mile at state but didn’t race the mile, won the 2 mile at outdoor nationals but didn’t race the mile. Odd record for someone whose “main event” (you claim) is the mile. She has run some miles and done well, but the mile isn’t her main event - it just isn’t.
Typical hs distance runner does everything from 800 4x800 mile 2 mile, 5000 5k xc dmr and even a 10k road race over the course of a year.
Basically, no one is a specialist, except in the mind of some posters here.
So basically, both these girls were born in 2006 and should have graduated HS last year, but instead they are still running in HS and hugely profiting from it in a PR point of view...
If this was Europe there wouldn't be any problem at all, because your running career is totally independent to you studying career, therefore even if you are a year behind in school you will still be racing people your age, not people a year younger than you.
So basically, both these girls were born in 2006 and should have graduated HS last year, but instead they are still running in HS and hugely profiting from it in a PR point of view...
If this was Europe there wouldn't be any problem at all, because your running career is totally independent to you studying career, therefore even if you are a year behind in school you will still be racing people your age, not people a year younger than you.
Jane's 15:13 5000 was a US U20 record, not just high school, so there's the age piece.
So basically, both these girls were born in 2006 and should have graduated HS last year, but instead they are still running in HS and hugely profiting from it in a PR point of view...
If this was Europe there wouldn't be any problem at all, because your running career is totally independent to you studying career, therefore even if you are a year behind in school you will still be racing people your age, not people a year younger than you.
High school grade assignments are not based on calendar years. They are based on school years. Most states use September 1 as the cutoff. Jane, born September 23, is in the correct grade for Utah. Sadie, born August 21, is 11 days outside the cutoff for California.
They were born one month apart so basically the same age. No matter where you put the cutoff date some athletes will be almost a year older than others in the same classification.
And again, Jane is in the correct grade. There is no valid argument about that.
You are correct. Why is this so confusing for so many posters? It makes me see why so many people are in debt and have no idea how to get out. In terms of track and field at a national level, both are really high school age because Sadie could move to a different state today that has a cutoff of August 1st.
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