She won’t be ready for those times this year, but sure, how old she is fascinating. We should demand the long form version of her birth certificate.
It isn’t about her running those times as much as those are the type of races where there will be a stream of runners between 4:00-4:06 and 14:55-15:10 where she could be on a good day.
4:06 and 15:00 could be doable and would need to be run at even paces. The winning times don’t necessarily have a direct correlation.
Meanwhile, her NXN win, the 15:13 and 4:26, make me think pacers won’t make much difference for her.
Kipyegon isn’t running the steeple. That being said I am not sold on height being a big steeple advantage versus just being a person who likes the uneven efforts.
being tall does make you look a bit more mature on average. But yeah it isn’t much of a win as a distance runner
Jane Hedengren's height is not the advantage that you imagine it to be. Most of the best women in the world are considerably shorter than her.
Thanks, Captain Obvious. She's 6'0". Since she's taller than 98% of women, of course most of the best are going to be shorter than her.
Well, that's assuming that height has no impact on running performance of course.
Because if it does, then your statement is the same as saying "He's 6'4". Since he's taller than 98% of men, of course most of the best basketball players are shorter than him."
You aren't too bright. Jane Hedengren does NOT have an advantage because of her height. Is that clear enough for you?
I'm not bright? Sweetheart, what I said is 100% useless.
You are actually quite clueless and you don't even realize it.
The average height of an average women is irrelevant. Height is sport specific. In gymnastics Jane would be very tall. In basketball or volleyball Jane would be average or below average in height.
YOU brought up the average height of average women which is totally irrelevant to what is the average height of top runners.
Since y'all brought up her age, she turned 18 in September 2024. How much of an advantage that is...you can decide. Age advantages take a whole new meaning in College so her being 19 for XC for BYU won't make much of a difference when she's competing against mid-20 somethings.
I think it's more her height than her age that is the difference maker (other than her systematic training since elementary school). Most gals are much shorter than her (she's 6'0"). She would still tower over someone like Emma Coburn---who usually towers over her African competitors. I would bet BYU will experiment with her in the steeple. That height advantage can't be ignored.
She is incredibly fast mile thru 5K. I'm sure she would run a great Steeple, but I would never have her make that transition (unless she suddenly began struggling).
If Hedengren wins less than 3 NCAA titles...and sets less than 2 CRs, I would be surprised.
Since y'all brought up her age, she turned 18 in September 2024. How much of an advantage that is...you can decide. Age advantages take a whole new meaning in College so her being 19 for XC for BYU won't make much of a difference when she's competing against mid-20 somethings.
I think it's more her height than her age that is the difference maker (other than her systematic training since elementary school). Most gals are much shorter than her (she's 6'0"). She would still tower over someone like Emma Coburn---who usually towers over her African competitors. I would bet BYU will experiment with her in the steeple. That height advantage can't be ignored.
She is incredibly fast mile thru 5K. I'm sure she would run a great Steeple, but I would never have her make that transition (unless she suddenly began struggling).
If Hedengren wins less than 3 NCAA titles...and sets less than 2 CRs, I would be surprised.
Maybe. But keep in mind that a year ago some people were saying similar things about Leachman and Engelhardt and now Hedengren is faster than both of them.
Most likely there will be a college woman dominating in a few years that none of us are paying attention to right now, similar to how Parker Valby wasn't talked about much in high school but in college she won a bunch of titles and set records.
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.
Lighten up Francis. She is known for distance (cross country first, 2-mile second, and mile third). It’s not MY fault the mile hasn’t been her primary event, from the looks of it she can do it all and probably will in college - hopefully Taylor manages her load thoughtfully (which I suspect will mean more 3K/5K and less 800/mile).
This girl is just on another level, I'm kind of old, been around and the person she reminds me of is a young Mary Decker. In 1973, Decker only like 14 set her first world record, in the indoor mile and the next year she was the world indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters. That's who this girl reminds me of, almost a generational talent. I still can't keep my mind off that cross country race and the fact that the boy who ran her exact time in the boy's race was a sub 9:20 two miler. I predict is she stays healthy, she's going sun 15:00 5k, and she will have a lot to say when 2028 in LA gets here and she will probably be a top 5 or 6 this year in Nationals. Whether she gets this you never know, but the talent is definitely there. I mean that cross country race was almost like a horror movie if you were other girls in that race. :)
This could get interesting if she continues to shrink. By end of college she could be down to the more efficient height of Purrier, Cranny, Touhy and Schweizer.
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.
It’s not MY fault the mile hasn’t been her primary event
Once again you are totally wrong. The 1600/mile actually HAS been her main event. You've already been informed that Jane has run more 1600/mile races than any other distance but it goes in one ear and out the other. I guess you're just not smart enough to understand that basic FACT.
I want to see Sadie run against Jane in OUTDOOR track ASAP!!! Indoor track is week. Cushioned curved bank track, AC, no wind, lame 200 m track. That BU track is short too. Isn't Jane like 6'1" and Sadie 5'10"--- 2 of the tallest GOOD track runners ever. Katelyn Tuohy is like 5'3" and Claudia Lane in HS was 5'2".
