Katelyn Tuohy Surprises Hedengren With Trophy Presentation In Provo

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

Gatorade Photo

As Jane Hedengren made her way to a cafe in Provo on Tuesday morning, she thought she was meeting her future coach, BYU’s Diljeet Taylor, to talk about her summer training.

When she walked into the cafe, she saw Katelyn Tuohy, and she knew she wasn’t going to be talking about training.

Tuohy, holding a massive trophy, was surrounded by Hedengren’s family, friends and teammates. She had one line to memorize, and it was “a bit of a mouthful,” but she delivered it flawlessly:

“Congratulations, you’re the Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Player of the Year.”

For Hedengren, it was the second time in the past year she had heard words along those lines. She won the National Player of the Year award for cross country last fall after a dominant season that culminated in her winning Nike Cross Nationals by 41 seconds and breaking Tuohy’s course record in the process.

Earning the clean sweep, which hadn’t been done since Tuohy did it in 2017-18, meant a lot to Hedengren.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Hedengren said. “There’s a lot of really phenomenal talent on the track. It was amazing to watch all the different women compete this past track season, and also to know that I’m giving it my best shot. It’s a big honor to receive this award.”

No one dominated the sport like Hedengren did this year; the Timpview UT senior broke eight national records and won five national-level races, capturing the attention of the nation along the way.

The string of sensational races started in late February when she ran 9:37.50 in the 3,200 meters at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho, a city that sits nearly 4,500 feet above sea level. Converted to a 9:40.85 for the 2-mile, that performance came up just short of Mary Cain’s national record of 9:38.68, but it indicated that her fitness was on another level.

At Nike Indoor Nationals, she proved that, running 4:26.14 to win the mile and 15:13.26 to win the 5,000 meters, torching national records in both.

By the time the outdoor season rolled around, it came to be expected that her races would result in records. She ended up claiming all-time marks in every distance from the 1,600 to the 5,000 meters. One of the only questions left at the end of the season was, which performance was the best?

For her part, Hedengren said she was most happy with her national record in the mile, a blistering 4:23.50 mark that she ran at the HOKA Festival of Miles on June 5 in St. Louis. 

“I was pleasantly surprised with how I was able to progress in that event this past track season,” Hedengren said. “I was excited that I could have that turnover.”

That mark was only four hundredths of a second shy of Silan Ayyildiz’s collegiate mile record, and it put the collegiate running world on notice. Tuohy said college and pro athletes are anxiously awaiting her arrival on the scene.

“I think everyone knows Jane’s name now, not just collegiately, but professionally,” said Tuohy, who has been training in Utah. “I think a lot of collegiate records are going to go down.”

This fall, Hedengren will join a BYU squad that looks to repeat as NCAA Cross Country champions. She said the biggest thing she’s looking forward to is building relationships in the program.

“It’s a pretty phenomenal team with great people all around,” Hedengren said, “so I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.”