INDIANAPOLIS -- Dominating the competition in her collegiate debut at the Pre-Nationals Invitational, Jane Hedengren (Provo, UT/USATF Utah) earned recognition as the 37th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2025. It is her third AOW award in 2025.
Showing no drop-off from a senior year of high school that saw her set multiple national U20 and prep records, Hedengren opened her BYU career with a runaway win on Missouri's Gans Creek XC Course, clocking a course record 18:42.3 to win by more than 20 seconds and lead her team to victory.
Ensconced in third through the first kilometer in 3:08.1, Hedengren moved up to second over the next kilo, passing that mark in 6:17.9 behind Clemson's Silvia Jelego. The freshman moved to the front by 3000 in 9:21.7 and stretched her lead over Jelego to seven seconds as she went through 4K in 12:34.6. Steadily pulling away from the field, Hedengren hit 5K in 15:36.0, 19 seconds ahead of her nearest challenger, and she cruised to a 3:06.3 final kilometer to take a memorable victory.
Other top performances from last week:
Fiona Bayly won the women's 55-59 division at the USATF Masters 5K Championships, and her time of 19:22 earned her the highest age graded score at 91.84.
Lynn Rathjen won the men's 80-84 division at the USATF Masters 5K Championships in 22:23 to earn a 92.49 age grading that was the best among all male competitors.
Grace Hartman of North Carolina State won the women's individual title at Wisconsin's Nuttycombe Invitational in 19:30.1.
Now in its 24th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2025 Winners: January 15, Zariel Macchia; January 22, Conner Mantz; January 29, Katelyn Tuohy; February 5, Ethan Strand; February 12, Yared Nuguse; February 19, Grant Fisher; February 26, Josh Hoey; March 5, Heather MacLean; March 12, Cole Boone; March 19, Isabella Whittaker; March 26, Claire Bryant; April 2, Curtis Thompson; April 9, Taylor Roe; April 16, Valarie Allman; April 23, Jane Hedengren; April 30, Kaitlin Bounds; May 6, Masai Russell; May 13, Lynna Irby-Jackson; May 20, Jaydin Blackwell; May 27, Jonah Koech; June 3, Anna Hall; June 10, Jane Hedengren; June 17, Nico Young; June 24, Cooper Lutkenhaus; July 1, Chase Jackson; July 8, Rudy Winkler; July 15, Quincy Wilson; July 22, Sinclaire Johnson; August 5, Cooper Lutkenhaus; August 19, Curtis Thompson; August 26, Nikki Hiltz; September 2, Cordell Tinch; September 9, Conner Mantz; September 30, Jaydin Blackwell; October 7, Annie Carey; October 14, Conner Mantz; October 21, Jane Hedengren.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.
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