- Utah sisters Angelina and Lily Alder, and Susan and Jane Hedengren, excelled at a national track meet.
- Angelina Alder set a sixth-grade mile record despite a foot injury.
- Jane Hedengren broke her own 2-mile national record at Brooks PR Invitational.
RENTON, Wash. — Young athletes from Utah competed at the Brooks PR Invitational last week, bringing home a couple of national records, too.
A Utah sixth-grader, Angelina Alder, broke a national record despite a foot injury.
"I was confident I wasn't going to run," 12-year-old Angelina told KSL.com. "I stepped on something and got a skin infection and couldn't walk. My foot was so swollen. (Days before the race) I was sitting on my balcony and knew that either way, I wanted to run this race."
Angelina was able to get some medication for her foot, and on June 8, she toed the line to race the mile in the sixth- to eighth-grade girls' division. Immediately, she found herself in the back of the first pack but knew that if she just held on, she would be able to kick it into gear and move up.
"I started making my move after the third lap, and I kept with that front pack like my plan was," she said.
Her plan worked, and she was able to finish third place overall and break the sixth-grade national record in the mile with a time of 4:53.93.
"It was shocking and exciting at the same time," Angelina said. "When I finished, I hadn't even realized that I had broken a sixth-grade national record. … I was really shocked and proud of myself for doing it. It made me so happy to see my hard work pay off as an athlete who had been training so hard for this race. It also gave me more confidence that I can do anything that I put my mind to, since that week I was recovering from an infection on my foot. It was a miracle that I was able to run as fast as I did."
Also competing well in the mile was seventh-grader Susan Hendengren, who, despite a last-place ranking heading into the meet, was able to finish in fifth place with a blazing fast time of 4:55.99.
Her dad, John Hendengren, who coaches Angelina and Susan, 13, in the Provo-based Roadrunner Club, spoke to his daughter's "courage" to "embrace the challenge."
"Susan had the slowest seed time coming into the race at 18th in a very competitive field," he said. "She followed her plan to stay patient through the first two laps. She strategically moved up to finish fifth. She has the courage to run with the best and embrace the challenge."
Sisters
Running fast is a family affair for both Angelina and Susan, with each having parents and older siblings who have competed at the national and collegiate levels. In fact, both of them had older sisters who also competed at the Brooks PR meet.
Lily Alder, 17, is heading into her senior year at Timpview High School, and Jane Hendengren, 18, just graduated. Both are BYU bound, with each following in the footsteps of their older siblings and parents — while subsequently leading the way for their younger siblings.
"Lily needs to stay in the first pack and just go for it!" Angelina was recorded as saying in a postrace interview, just before her older sister raced.
Just as her younger sister advised, that's exactly what Lily did. Staying tucked in with the lead pack for the first two laps put Lily within striking distance and then in the lead position going into the final lap. And after being passed on the final turn, she "went for it," finishing in first place with a personal best time of 4:37.35.
"It was a lifetime best!" Lily told KSL.com. "The race was amazing! I felt really good going into it. I knew, based on my training, that I was due for a breakout race. With training in Utah (at a higher altitude), you're not exactly sure what you're capable of, so it was really fun to put a time to the training. While I definitely am super pumped for breaking 4:40, I still think that there is more work to be done and believe in a sub 4:35 goal."
Nobody knows putting faith in training more than Jane Hendengren, who KSL.com first spoke to in January when she ran the fastest 5K ever recorded in girls' cross country history. That breakthrough race and so many others have caused some to call her "the most dominant high school distance runner in American history." One of those dominating performances came at this very meet during the 2-mile race, where not only did she beat the second-place runner by 40 seconds, but she broke her own national record by nearly 17 seconds, coming in at 9:17.75.
In a postrace interview given to her coach, Jane talked about going into the race with a balance of humility, trust in her training and in God. She expressed gratitude, and when asked if she had any advice to give her fellow athletes, including her younger sister, Susan, she emphasized time, kindness, gratitude and fun.
"Have fun out there," she said. "We have so much time to develop as athletes and people. Be kind to others. Be grateful."
"I loved the hugs I got from each of them after the race," Susan's and Jane's dad, John Hendengren, said. "They both did something special. I'm proud of their hard work at the race, but also for their months and years of preparation. I see the little things like getting to bed early, fueling right after workouts, strength exercises at home, and cross-training sessions at the pool. They inspire me with their dedication.
"The Alder and Hedengren sisters delivered impressive performances," he continued. "Their combined mile times would have set the national high school 4-by-4-mile girls record by 44 seconds with a sixth and seventh grader on the team. I am grateful for their coaches and the supportive community that builds this type of program."
As for what's next, the four runners are preparing to race at Nike Outdoor Nationals on June 19-22 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
