The 5-foot-11 senior distance talent won the 3000-meter run at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in a national record clocking of 8:40.03 this past season, obliterating the previous national mark by more than 18 seconds with time that’s less than 12 seconds off the world record set by Zola Budd of Great Britain in 1985. Hedengren also set national high school records in the mile, 2-mile and 5,000-meter run this past season. On successive weekends, Hedengren clocked a 4:23.50 at the HOKA Festival of Miles and 9:17.75 in the 2-mile at the Brooks PR Invitational. The former smashed the previous record against a high-school only field by almost four seconds and the latter, which also set a North American U20 record, by almost 17 seconds. The Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year last fall and the returning Gatorade State Player of the Year for track and field, she won a pair of titles at the UHSAA state meet in the 1600- and 3200-meter events, leading the Thunderbirds to the Class 5A championship.
Hedengren has maintained a 3.79 weighted GPA in the classroom. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to compete at Brigham Young University this fall.
Hedengren has volunteered on behalf of the Road Runner Junior Club as a coach and race day official. She has also donated her time as part of multiple community service initiatives with her church youth group. She’s also had a summer job assembling engineering kits in association with the BYU Chemical Engineering Department.
