We merged this thread with another thread that was started as the race was going on. That thread was titled incorrectly (as it was a 2 mile): "Record watch: Hedengren in 3200m"
She indicated she doesn’t plan to run US Nationals (although that could change). Nike Outdoors and then a break. Think she’s looking toward to the college experience.
Probably the most prudent approach.
Go out on top, healthy & happy, with as many hs records as there are fingers on your hands.
However, the fan in me truly wants to see Jane run one more big race: the Pre Classic women's 1500, the last chance to surpass Efraimson's 4:03.39, the only hs distance record Jane does not have that would mean something to her.
Have to believe Nike would extend her the invitation after everthing she's done within the past few days.
Jane could spend the 3 weeks between NON & Pre cutting back her training to a minimum -- 30-35 miles/wk, maybe -- just easy running and short speed stuff on the track to stay sharp and fatigue-free.
Maybe people on here should stop trying to give advise for what Jane should do. She is NOT your typical elite high school distance runner by far. She is unprecedented and you don't have a clue about what you think you know when it comes to an unparalleled talent.
Whatever she is doing is working and has made her exponentially faster than the best high school runners in the country. Trying to advice Jane is way out of the league of most since we've never seen anyone like her before.
Maybe people on here should stop trying to give advise for what Jane should do. She is NOT your typical elite high school distance runner by far. She is unprecedented and you don't have a clue about what you think you know when it comes to an unparalleled talent.
Whatever she is doing is working and has made her exponentially faster than the best high school runners in the country. Trying to advice Jane is way out of the league of most since we've never seen anyone like her before.
While Ms. Hedengren is indeed a special runner, it's only for now. It's hilarious that she keeps getting compared to Alexa Efraimson, who was also a HS phenom and retired at 25 after 8 years of accomplishing nothing as a pro. She also gets compared with Mary Cain, who has not competed professionally in running since 2020, another total bust. They should be cautionary tales, i.e. who cares if Jane is "the HS GOAT"? She should be judged on her performance professionally. No one did any favors to Efraimson or Cain by overhyping them, and the same applies to Hedengren.
You're saying Efraimson and Cain would have had better pro careers if they didn't excel in high school?
Where does this odd idea come from? I see it so often. Jacob Ingebretsen would beg to differ.
Most teen phenoms aren't successful pros because they don't have pro talent. Eventually their peers with more talent catch up and surpass them.
At this point she needs to go pro. Running 4 years in college is a waste when she is already better than the college competition. She needs to train to win World Championships and Olympic medals, not conference and NCAA titles. She is clearly next level.
Go pro to make peanuts, while passing up a BYU education? I mean, this sport absolutely sucks for money, it's not as if her choice is between declaring for the NBA draft or staying in school. Honestly, it would be idiocy to pass up college. Particularly since, as people are writing, she can probably make at least as much money through NIL. I bet that Cougar supporters would be happy to chip in so that she stays and runs for the university.
At this point she needs to go pro. Running 4 years in college is a waste when she is already better than the college competition. She needs to train to win World Championships and Olympic medals, not conference and NCAA titles. She is clearly next level.
Go pro to make peanuts, while passing up a BYU education? I mean, this sport absolutely sucks for money, it's not as if her choice is between declaring for the NBA draft or staying in school. Honestly, it would be idiocy to pass up college. Particularly since, as people are writing, she can probably make at least as much money through NIL. I bet that Cougar supporters would be happy to chip in so that she stays and runs for the university.
I agree the college provides a great support system with team goals taking pressure off individual goals and with the $ available that is the way to go.
Go pro to make peanuts, while passing up a BYU education? I mean, this sport absolutely sucks for money, it's not as if her choice is between declaring for the NBA draft or staying in school. Honestly, it would be idiocy to pass up college. Particularly since, as people are writing, she can probably make at least as much money through NIL. I bet that Cougar supporters would be happy to chip in so that she stays and runs for the university.
I agree the college provides a great support system with team goals taking pressure off individual goals and with the $ available that is the way to go.
Can't wait until she turns pro. Will have to be with Nike as she has an NIL or will have to sit out like Parker Valby did.. NCAA will do her no favors, but BYU/Diljeet will in that pro environment.
Maybe people on here should stop trying to give advise for what Jane should do. She is NOT your typical elite high school distance runner by far. She is unprecedented and you don't have a clue about what you think you know when it comes to an unparalleled talent.
Whatever she is doing is working and has made her exponentially faster than the best high school runners in the country. Trying to advice Jane is way out of the league of most since we've never seen anyone like her before.
When people here talk about what they think Jane should do, they are not advising Jane. They are discussing amongst each other what they would do with an athlete like that should they ever end up coaching one. People often throw out ideas and look for feedback so they can learn what other people with experience think. This discussion will lead someone to learn not to burn up their athletes with unnecessary racing.
I don't think your statement that "Jane is unprecedented" is correct. Her times are unprecedented and she is extremely talented, well trained, and managed. But she's still a human being just like all runners of all abilities, not a robot who could run 5 hard races a week without breaking. Someone who doesn't realize what that means would make the mistake of overracing her, thinking she can handle it all because she's an "unparalleled talent". The truth is, someone as talented as Jane probably needs to be handled more carefully than the average runner because she is running so close to her limits; significant injury is only one mistake away.
My daughter, not nearly as talented as Jane, suddenly displayed solid ability from 400m - 3200m, and just like that, the coaches wanted her racing 4 times per meet, relays, ridiculous quadruples at invitationals, etc. None of that benefited the team or her own personal development as an athlete so I pushed back on it. This is why people discuss the concept of overracing here, so they can protect their own kids from it.
Regarding Jane, I think her racing schedule has been managed perfectly this year. If she were my athlete we'd be having a discussion about what is left to gain by any more racing this year and whether it is worth it. I could see some races that might be worth doing, but shutting down and getting back to training might be the wiser move. They know what they're doing so I'm sure they'll get it right.
Did they get a 2000m split on her? HS record was only 5:57.56 and she came through 2018m in 5:51.15.
She literally took down ever HS record above 1 mile en route to this record. 2000m, 3000m, 3200m
The 3200m finish camera would be the one to catch this; it's possible. But if they didn't, 5:47.9 looks like a reasonable split just from the video and pacing.
I’m Alan Webb’s age, so watching his 3:53 was mind-blowing, especially as a kid who was focused on breaking 4:20. Haha
This is the first high school performance since Webb’s 3:53 where my mind is blown. 9:17 is incredible.
I knew state champ guys who ran that fast in high school who ran 14:10’s by the end of college.
Your mind wasn't blown by a 3:34 1500? A 4:04 1500 and World Championship top 10 finish? Not to mention Jane's other races - did 14:57 really not blow your mind? I don't think you have to imply that other all-time greats were any less great in order to convey how good Jane has been this year.
I think maybe the most interesting thing about Jane's season to me is how much more improvement she's shown than the other top girls. She was good in cross country, but she was winning 5k races by 40 seconds at best (NXN SW and NXN). She was good indoors, but still had competition - only broke the indoor 2-mile by a couple seconds, and barely beat Blade at indoor nationals. But outdoors she has been completely untouchable, winning races by insane margins and running otherworldly times. Hopefully she rides this wave into USAs and maybe even a Worlds spot.
While Ms. Hedengren is indeed a special runner, it's only for now. It's hilarious that she keeps getting compared to Alexa Efraimson, who was also a HS phenom and retired at 25 after 8 years of accomplishing nothing as a pro. She also gets compared with Mary Cain, who has not competed professionally in running since 2020, another total bust. They should be cautionary tales, i.e. who cares if Jane is "the HS GOAT"? She should be judged on her performance professionally. No one did any favors to Efraimson or Cain by overhyping them, and the same applies to Hedengren.
You're saying Efraimson and Cain would have had better pro careers if they didn't excel in high school?
Where does this odd idea come from? I see it so often. Jacob Ingebretsen would beg to differ.
Most teen phenoms aren't successful pros because they don't have pro talent. Eventually their peers with more talent catch up and surpass them.
I think Cain was clearly a different situation though. Whether you like her or not, there is simply no denying that Salazar absolutely ruined Cain, and was the wrong choice for her as a professional coach. The statement "peers with more talent" and the insinuation that Mary freaking Cain did not have "pro talent" just rubs me the wrong way, when Cain did not get to the level she did by doing anything crazy - she got to 1:59/4:04 and 8th in the world with her high school coach, training and living like any other high school girl. Luckily, Hedengren has Salazar as a great example of what *not* to look for in a pro coach, and I think she has made a great choice with Taylor and BYU.
This would be the number one time in Maine for boys most years by the way. I remember when Will Geoghegan ran a US #1 in indoors one year in 9:18. Visually speaking this is the most impressive high school record I've ever seen.
Analogy: When jazz players heard Charlie Parker playing the clubs for the first time since his “revival” they said they “felt like quitting” (Miles Davis.) I bet some girls had similar thoughts when the saw Jane H. She presents a formidable image: tall, easy, relentless stride, beaming with confidence and strength. Pretty intimidating. Hope the vultures don’t pick her apart.
I’m Alan Webb’s age, so watching his 3:53 was mind-blowing, especially as a kid who was focused on breaking 4:20. Haha
This is the first high school performance since Webb’s 3:53 where my mind is blown. 9:17 is incredible.
I knew state champ guys who ran that fast in high school who ran 14:10’s by the end of college.
Your mind wasn't blown by a 3:34 1500? A 4:04 1500 and World Championship top 10 finish? Not to mention Jane's other races - did 14:57 really not blow your mind? I don't think you have to imply that other all-time greats were any less great in order to convey how good Jane has been this year.
I think maybe the most interesting thing about Jane's season to me is how much more improvement she's shown than the other top girls. She was good in cross country, but she was winning 5k races by 40 seconds at best (NXN SW and NXN). She was good indoors, but still had competition - only broke the indoor 2-mile by a couple seconds, and barely beat Blade at indoor nationals. But outdoors she has been completely untouchable, winning races by insane margins and running otherworldly times. Hopefully she rides this wave into USAs and maybe even a Worlds spot.
No, my mind wasn’t blown by the other ones. Are they absolutely incredible times? yes. And this is only my perspective, so take it how you’d like. it’s all perspective. Jim Ryuns 3:51 time, in the context of today’s milers, doesn’t standout, but it was amazing at the time.
But Webb’s 3:53 and this 9:17 are tectonic shifts for high school running, in my opinion.
No high schooler has run 3:53 since , but the standard was set higher so there’s more sub-4 miles etc. Webb was only the 4th high schooler ever to break 4:00. Now how many?
This 9:17 will be tough to beat, but I suspect we’ll see faster times because we now know it’s possible.
Jane's 7th grade sister Susan just ran 4:57 for 5th in the junior mile. She is ahead of Jane's age progression. Susan's 6th grade 12yo teammate Angie Alder was 3rd in 4:53. Their club is coached by Jane's father.
Let's pump the brakes. They train and race like highschoolers (xc, indoors, outdoors). SOme of his crew are putting in 35 miles per week in middle school. My point is the law of diminishing returns is bound to slow their progress. I don't know that Jane trained as much as her sister is doing now (hence there was more room to grow).
U.S. high school distance runners cannot really be competitive on the world stage, so what would be the point in going pro? The college atmosphere can be great and I'm pretty confident that BYU is a very good developmental program on both men's and women's sides.