For people who are not familiar with cross country, it is a sport where you race on both grass and paths for a certain distance. Most girls who run cross country quit once they get into high school, but not the person I’m about to tell you about. Jane Hedengren was born September 23, 2006 in Houston Texas. Jane started running at the age of 12, once she started running she immediately fell in love with it. In sixth grade, around 2018 Jane’s dad challenged her to break the school’s record, which led to a passionate pursuit of her sport.
Other than running Jane likes to spend her free time outdoors. Whether it’s going hiking or swimming or having a picnic. Jane also is really into learning anatomy and physiology of the human body
In an interview with Nike, Jane elaborated her passion for running. “ I think I realized I had a talent for running was probably around my sophomore year of high school. I had been working and staying more consistent in running Plus no matter how I performed, I always loved running.”
While Jane is growing as a runner, everyone has their setbacks. In 2023 Jane got injured so she had to adapt her training, shifting her focus to strength and cross- training (biking, swimming, hiking), which helped her be successfully injury free in the 2025 season. Even after her injury she was still able to pull through in the 2024 cross country season. In the 2024 cross country season she won the state title and the woodbridge classic, and was named COROS XC (watch brand) athlete of the year 2024. In her 2025 breakout cross country season she was injury free.
Jane continued to have running success.In Jane’s season of 2025 she broke 5,000 meters with a time of (14:57.93) minutes outdoor and (15:13.26) minutes indoor, 1 mile (4:23.50) minutes outdoor and (4:26.14) minutes indoor. The 3,000 (9:14.65) minutes and the two mile (9:17.75) minutes. Jane also set an indoor record for the 1500m of 4:07.68. She has five national level records in 2025. Her record breaking season included breaking several national records and winning the Gatorade player of the year.
What does Jane hedengren want in the future as a runner?
Jane wants to continue pushing her own boundaries, stay healthy, and enjoy the process of improving and competing. Although people are talking about Jane making it to the olympics. Jane has stated she is not thinking that far ahead and is focusing more on the present. In an interview Jane has said those goals are great and that she is working towards the olympics. We don’t know yet if she will make it to the olympics but she is gonna keep working towards it. She has also said she doesn’t know where she will be in the next few years. Instead of looking too far into the future Jane is focusing on staying healthy and enjoying the sport and talking things step by step.
