Browsing: Athlete

After a summer in which he chopped 4.18 seconds from the HSR in three chunks, Lutkenhaus got a valuable taste of international racing at the World Champs. (KEVIN MORRIS)

IN A SEASON FULL of great performances, assuredly the single best moment for a high schooler came on the final afternoon of the USATF Championships when sophomore Cooper Lutkenhaus stormed from the back of a pack of pros to nearly steal the 800 final, finishing 2nd in a mind-blowing 1:42.27.

The 16-year-old from Northwest High School in Judson, Texas, might have been our High School Athlete Of The Year even without that record-crushing mark, but that moment engraved his prep legacy in stone, making him the 79th athlete to win those laurels in a list of greats that stretches back to â€47.

“Itâ€s definitely the race I hold closest to my heart,†Lutkenhaus says.

A 1:47.58 performance the year before gave him the 9th grade national record, so even with modest improvement, Lutkenhaus had been expected to challenge Michael Granvilleâ€s HSR of 1:46.45, one that the California prep set 29 years earlier. Lutkenhaus looked on target indoors, blasting a 1:46.86 to slash 0.81 off Josh Hoeyâ€s undercover HSR. (Continued below)

2025 HS Boys Athlete Of The Year Voting

A year after Quincy Wilson became the first soph to be chosen as our Boys AOY, Cooper Lutkenhaus becomes the second in the 76th edition of the coveted award. At 16 years old, Lutkenhaus brought down the HSR three times outdoors (and once indoors). His stunning 1:42.27 made him the youngest athlete on Team USA in Tokyo. It also would mark the end of his HSR-setting days, as he signed a Nike pro contract — the real deal, not an NIL, and will bypass the rest of his prep eligibility, along with the NCAA.

HSRs also fell to Wilson, 100 men Maurice Gleaton and Tate Taylor, as well as Tayvon Kitchen in the 3000.

This yearâ€s 14 vote-getters, with their All-Am events (* = junior; ** = soph):

1.
**Cooper Lutkenhaus
(Northwest, Justin, Texas)
800
220

2.
*Tate Taylor
(Harlan, San Antonio, Texas)
100, 200
175

3.
*Quincy Wilson
(Bullis, Potomac, Maryland)
400
162

4.
Owen Powell
(Mercer Island, Washington)
800, mile, 2M
144

5.
*Jackson Cantwell
(Nixa, Missouri)
shot
142

6.
Maurice Gleaton
(Hughes, Fairburn, Georgia)
100
119

7.
Jaâ€Shaun Lloyd
(Corsicana, Texas)
110H, 300/400H
91

8.
Tayvon Kitchen
(Crater, Central Point, Oregon)
2 Mile
61

9.
*Victor Olesen
(Saint Christopherâ€s, Richmond, Virginia)
pole vault
42

10.
*Kendrick Joshua
(Richmond Hill, Georgia)
300/400 hurdles
20

11.
Miles Nesmith
(Central, Memphis, Tennessee)
triple jump
14

12.
Ashton Hearn
(Christian Brothers, Memphis, Tennessee)
shot, discus
9

13.
Owen Spira
(Exeter-West Greenwich, West Greenwich, Rhode Island)
hammer
6

14.
Etoro Bassey
(Tompkins, Katy, Texas)
high jump
5

Click here to see our complete list of boys AOYs, starting with â€47.

Outdoors, he served notice at the Texas 6A Championships, running 1:47.04 for the win and scoring another PR with a 46.30 for 2nd in the 400. Two weeks later he ran his only mile of the season, a PR 4:06.33 for 2nd at the Lone Star Elite Invite. Then he took down the HSR — for the first time — at the Brooks PR meet on June 8, cruising a comfortable 1:46.26 to slice 0.19 off Granvilleâ€s standard.

He wasnâ€t done, not by a longshot. On June 21, he won the Nike Nationals with a 1:45.45, an improvement by 0.81. Then came the USATF, also in Eugene. Coming to the meet with an intent he described as “more of a learning experience than anything else,†he got through round 1 with a solid 1:47.23. Then, after nearly tumbling in his semi, he closed like a runaway train to snatch the last auto-qualifying spot finishing 2nd in 1:45.57. That missed his own HSR by just 0.12.

A 2-day rest set the stage for the performance that shocked the world. Using what he called “middle school tactics,†he hung back until the final 200. Thatâ€s when Lutkenhaus, the youngest in the race by more than 5 years, blasted the final furlong to race his way onto the team, finishing faster than any of the pros.

Much has been written about the time that popped up on the board, one that he stared at in shock. The 1:42.27 destroyed his own HSR by 3.3 seconds, while also breaking the American Junior Record of 1:43.55 that Donavan Brazier had set in winning the â€16 NCAA. It was the No. 2 time ever by a world U20 performer, after only Nijel Amosâ€s World Junior Record 1:41.73 that won silver at the â€12 Olympics.

With just over six weeks until the first round at the World Championships in Tokyo, Lutkenhaus had a weighty task before him: preparing for a significant extension of his season while trying to figure out the next move that could define his career.

On the first part, he said that he and coach Chris Capeau were planning to stick with what had worked. “The training is going to be very, very similar to what we have been doing.†His goal for Tokyo? “It doesnâ€t matter if I have the fastest time going in or the slowest time in my first race. Iâ€m going to leave it all out there on the track.â€

The career-defining part came in late August, when Lutkenhaus signed a contract with Nike and forfeited the rest of his prep career as well as his college eligibility. As much as some traditionalists might have decried it, the move made sense. A 1:42 performer isnâ€t going to find much meaningful competition at the prep level, and the financial benefits of going pro might certainly outweigh an NCAA career, even in the age of NIL.

Says Lutkenhaus, “I still do plan on attending college, because nothing in this sport is guaranteed.†As to where, he says he has only started shopping recently, and no decisions have been made.

First, though, came the World Championships. Unfortunately for the youngest member of Team USA, the spark he felt in Eugene wasnâ€t quite there; everyone knew it would be a tough ask. He ran to a non-advancing 7th in his heat, his 1:47.68 over a second short of what he needed. “It was definitely tough walking off that track. I felt like I could have been able to do a little more out there, but I feel like I did as much as I could in the first round.â€

His takeaway: “Just knowing the racing is different. High school races are definitely different than World Championship racing. Just knowing that nothing in the sport is guaranteed. You might be a 1:41 guy, but you still might not make the finals.â€

He adds, “Every race is a little bit different. I guess that ‘middle school†tactic was just kick with 200 to go. I wouldnâ€t say that was really the plan coming into [the World Championships], but I think something thatâ€s so important that I learned is every race is different, especially in the prelims… When you get to this championship setting, youâ€re going to be coming through 53, 54 seconds, and then, you know, everybodyâ€s still going to have a kick with 200 to go when youâ€re coming through that slow.â€

With his return to the hallways at Northwest, Lutkenhaus still has to navigate the changes that his incredible season have brought to his life. He notes, “I feel like Iâ€ve been doing this running thing for a long time, even though itâ€s only been about two years. A lot of my kids at my school kind of realized I was pretty good at this. I donâ€t think this good, but you know itâ€s almost pretty normal in a way at my school now. ‘Oh,†they say, ‘Cooper runs 1:42.†Now they donâ€t know what that means…â€

The son of the athletic director adds, “Iâ€ve grown up at Northwest High School, so all the teachers, theyâ€ve seen me since I started learning how to walk, so just always being around them, they understand whatâ€s been going on.â€

One point that Coach Capeau had raised earlier in the season was that the Lutkenhaus family provided the perfect support for their son to reach this level. Cooper agrees, adding, “This is always a sport Iâ€ve enjoyed. So whenever I find something I have enjoyment in, I always pull everything I have into it. I always wanted to be good at this sport. I didnâ€t know this was possible, especially at this age. But to be able to do it at 16 is definitely different. Not many people have been able to do that. So just enjoying all the little moments with my family, you know, good and bad, I think thatâ€s the most important part.â€

At the TAFNOT Tour banquet in Tokyo, a post-race Lutkenhaus dealt with the question of whether this season — and his moment on the big stage in National Stadium — was possibly too much too soon. Had he been ready for it all?

He had no regrets, he said, and in a similar situation wouldnâ€t hesitate. “Iâ€ll go for it, right? Again, nothingâ€s guaranteed in four years. You donâ€t know where youâ€re going to be. You donâ€t know… youâ€re going to be a whole different person in four years.

“So taking the opportunity when itâ€s given to you, especially being so young, itâ€s everything to gain but nothing to lose. You know, I went out here and gave everything I had. Obviously, it wasnâ€t the results I really wanted, but… I mean, itâ€s been a great year.â€

Jeff Hollobaugh is a writer and stat geek who has been associated with T&FN in various capacities since 1987. He is the author of How To Race The Mile. He lives in Michigan where he can often be found announcing track meets in bad weather.

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‘RUN – The Athlete Refugee Team Story’, shares the incredible and inspirational story of the Athlete Refugee Team (ART), from its formal beginnings in early 2017 through the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year that halted, albeit temporarily, their seemingly impossible journey towards the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Three years in the making and released in 2020, the feature-length documentary (93 minutes) by director Richard Bullock begins with an introduction to some of the refugee athletes selected to compete on the inaugural Refugee Olympic Team in Rio, who train at the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation training camp in Ngong, Kenya.

We meet Loroupe, a pioneer in women’s distance running renowned now as much for her community development and peace-making efforts as for her achievements in sport, who approached World Athletics and the IOC with the refugee team concept and who helped hand-pick those athletes from trials competitions at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northeast Kenya.

And, we follow the athletes’ journey after that ground-breaking and symbolic debut on the world stage at the Rio Games when the programme shifted its focus to longer term goals as it expands to include refugees based in other areas.

But like the best documentaries, the film is at its finest when it shares personal moments that illustrate the challenges and the difficult choices the athletes face, both in and out of training and competition and when showing the importance the athletes place on representing the faceless millions around the world that are currently displaced in unprecendented numbers.

In its annual Global Trends report issued earlier this week, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, reported that nearly 82.4 million people were living displaced from their homes at the end of 2020, a further four per cent increase on top of the already record-high 79.5 million at the end of 2019. Last year marked the ninth straight year of uninterrupted rise in forced displacement worldwide and witnessed a doubling of the number of displaced persons in the world since 2011, when the total was just under 40 million.

When the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games will finally be staged later this summer, the team’s participation – seven were ultimately chosen to compete in athletics – will once again became a source of inspiration for those tens of millions while their stories will resonate with millions more.

“We try to pass a message through sport for the people to recognise that the refugee, that whatever any human being can do, that refugees can also do,” says Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, who will make her second Olympic appearance in Tokyo. “Once they are given the chance.”

Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

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By: Ed Weaver  /  June 15, 2021

Senior Will Poirier was named the Northern Tier League’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year last week on Wednesday, June 9.

Poirier added his final high school accolade that is voted upon by all NTL Athletic Directors to go along with an All-State soccer selection, three NTL Soccer All-Star selections, and an NTL Tennis All-Star selection.

In soccer, Poirier finished his career with 57 goals, 84 assists, and 198 total points. Poirier is the 1st Hornet to finish with 50+ goals and 50+ assists for his career and is one of six Hornets to reach 50 career goals since the program’s inception in 2003. Poirier led Wellsboro during the 2020 season in goals (24), assists (29), shots taken (59), and points (77).

In tennis, he had three 10+ win seasons in singles, went 13-2 his senior year in singles, had a career record of 33-4, and won the PIAA District IV Class AA Doubles championship with cousin Zach Singer.

Poirier is the 5th Wellsboro student-athlete to win the NTL Student-Athlete of the Year Award since its inception in 2007-2008. Dalton Prough, Sarah Ingerick, Jordan Jackson, and Alex Marple are the previous winners.

WellsboroAthletics.com would like to congratulate Will on being named the Northern Tier League’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year.

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By: Ed Weaver  /  May 21, 2018  /  Photo: Dr. Robert Bair

Senior Dalton Prough was named the Northern Tier League‘s Male Athlete of the Year on Sunday, May 20 at the league’s annual banquet.

The NTL Athletic Directors Athlete of the Year award was started in 2007 to honor the outstanding male and female student-athletes of the Northern Tier League. The award recognizes NTL athletes for superior athletic skill, leadership, academic excellence and the willingness and eagerness to participate in community service.

Each NTL school nominates one male and female athlete to represent their respective schools, with the athletes of the year being voted on by all of the league’s athletic directors. Receiving the NTL Female Athlete of the Year was Athens’ Breana Gambrell.

Prough becomes the fifth Hornet to win the award. The last Wellsboro graduate to receive the award was Sarah Ingerick back in 2016.

“I would just like to say that it is a true honor to receive this recognition by the other schools,” Prough said. “It means a lot with all the hard work and time spent devoting my life for the past four years to be great at sports. I feel blessed to have received this award especially with all the other good athletes there. I could not have done it without my parents, brothers, grandparents, and coaches being understanding, flexible, and passionate about my success.”

Prough had an outstanding senior year in Green and White. During the fall Prough helped lead the Hornets to an undefeated regular season record whie making 20 receptions for 463 yards and 8 touchdowns. In the winter, Prough helped lead the Hornet basketball team to an NTL Large School Division championship, an NTL Showdown championship, and the school’s first District IV championship in 66 years. He also surpassed the 1,000-career point milestone after missing time with a broken collarbone suffered during the end of football season.

Currently, Prough is two hits shy of becoming the third Hornet to reach 100 career hits in baseball while helping the Hornets win the NTL Large School Division title and locking up a number one seed in the upcoming District IV Class AA playoffs.

Joining Prough at Sunday’s banquet was fellow senior Lizzie Poirier. Like Prough, Poirier had a great senior season as she helped both the Lady Hornet soccer and basketball teams reach the District IV playoffs. In the fall, Poirier helped the Lady Hornets turn around a 5-win 2016 season to an 11-win 2017 season.

In the winter, Poirier helped the Lady Hornets win the NTL Large School Division title while scoring 974 career points and grabbing 407 career rebounds.

“I felt very humbled and privileged to be honored at the banquet, especially coming from a school with a handful a great athletes. With that being said, I owe much of my athletic success to my parents, coaches, and school.”

WellsboroAthletics.com would like to congratulate both Dalton and Lizzie on tremendous senior years, and would like to thank them for all the hard work and dedication they have shown to their respective sports over the past four year.

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By: Ed Weaver  /  December 7, 2017  /  Photo: Ed Weaver

Senior Quinn Henry was named the Wellsboro Gazette’s Male Athlete of the Fall at their Fall Sports Awards banquet on Sunday, December 4.

Henry had a stellar 2017 fall season as he guided the Hornets to a 10-1 record and the football team’s sixth straight Morton F. Jones Trophy win over rival North Penn-Mansfield. Henry threw for 1,207 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for 1,320 yards and 27 touchdowns.

In addition to Henry being named Male Athlete of the Fall, multiple Hornets received awards from the Gazette.

Up-and-Coming All-Stars

Megan Starkweather (volleyball)
Aidan Hauser (football)
Caitlyn Callahan (volleyball)
Joseph Propheta (golf)
Aidan Fletcher (boys xc)
Aislinn Hoose (girls xc)

Honorable Mention All-Stars

Brandyn Tuttle (golf)
Taynton Repard (golf)
Brett Rudy (boys soccer)
Kailee Clymer (girls soccer)
Chase Moser (football)
Connor Brought (boys xc)
Morgan Guthrie (girls tennis)

Speciality All-Stars

Jillian Graver (volleyball)
Gabe Leach (boys soccer)
Sydney Tremper (girls soccer)
Dalton Prough (football)

Outstanding All-Stars

Quinn Henry (football)
Caitlyn Callahan (volleyball)
Cheyenne Sherman (volleyball)
Brianne Keane (volleyball)
Ben Barnett (golf)
Aidan Perry (boys xc)
Anna Bleggi (girls xc)
Tanner Runyan (boys soccer)
Olivia Ryan (girls tennis)
Kristen Bair (girls tennis)

WellsboroAthletics.com would like to congratulate all the athletes who received recognition from the Wellsboro Gazette.

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