She now has fastest U20 5K time in American history on an outdoor
track.
By Andrew Dawson
Dec 14, 2020

jenna hutchins at five dime track meet
David Sheets
* Jenna Hutchins, a junior at Science Hill High School, in Johnson
City, Tennessee, broke the U20 outdoor 5K record, running 15:34.47
at the Five and Dime track meet in Columbia, South Carolina, on
December 11.
* This is the third-fastest U20 5K time ever; the other two times
were run on indoor tracks.
* Three weeks ago, Hutchins broke the 5K cross-country record.
__________________________________________________________________

The 16-year-old running star is at it again.

Jenna Hutchins, a junior at Science Hill High School in Johnson City,
Tennessee, broke the U20 outdoor 5K record, running 15:34.47 at the
Five and Dime track meet in Columbia, South Carolina, on December
11—her first-ever 5K on a track. The previous record was 15:37.12, set
by Katelyn Tuohy in 2018.

Want the latest running news? Sign up for Runner’s World+ 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

This was Hutchins’s third record of the year; three weeks ago, she
broke the 5K cross-country record at the RunningLane National
Cross-Country Championships with a time of 15:58.42 on November 21. In
August, she set a the junior national class record in the 3200 meters,
running 9:49.83 at the Music City Distance Carnival.

Hutchins credits much of her incredible year to her work with her
coach, Joan Hunter, who is the mother of pro runner Drew Hunter.
The two were connected this year by pro running agent Ray Flynn, who is
a family friend. In preparation, Hutchins also worked with Julie
Stackhouse, a running coach who has worked with Hutchins on improving
her strength and conditioning this season.

“I started working with Joan at the beginning of my sophomore season,
and she learned my personality and we experimented with some workouts
and found what worked best for me,” Hutchins told Runner’s World. “This
past season, we started working on strength training, and working
with Julie, I’ve worked on more running dynamics along with more
weights and mobility. It’s made a huge difference.”

jenna hutchins u20 5k track record
David Sheets

When the race started, Hutchins settled in comfortably behind the
pacer, going out in 4:56 for her first mile. But because the 5K
distance is a bit longer than what she’s used to running in high school
competition—the two-mile is the longest track race at the high-school
level—she came around the seventh lap thinking about how she had five
laps to go instead of just one.

She conquered the mental challenge by focusing on one lap at a time. By
the two-mile mark, she was on pace at 9:59, but if she wanted the
record, she’d need a fast final mile.
Related Story
Jenna Hutchins Sets National High School XC Record

“With around 800 to go, I had to run 2:29 in order to beat the record,”
Hutchins said. “I really had to kick it into that other gear. I dialed
in and focused on finishing strong. I normally have a kick at the end,
so I knew I had that built up. I pushed strong, and as I came down the
final 100 meters, I knew it was going to be a close margin, but by 50
meters, I could tell I was going to get it.”

Hutchins capped off her race with a final 400 in 70.63, crossing the
line in 15:34.47 and setting the U20 record. Her U20 5K time is the
third fastest in American history. She now sits behind only Anna
Rohrer’s indoor 15:32.03 in 2016 and Sarah Disanza’s indoor 15:20.57 in
2015.

“It’s unbelievable,” Hutchins said. “I could’ve never imagined any of
this would happen this season and I’m grateful for the opportunity to
run despite COVID-19.”
jenna hutchins
David Sheets

Her latest record continues to garner praise from around the running
world, including some kudos on Instagram from one of her idols, Molly
Huddle.

“She has been one of my inspirations since I started running when I was
six and she’s still doing well today,” Hutchins said. “That meant a lot
to me. The running community is so supportive and it means so much to
me. Next time someone breaks the record, I hope I can do that same.”

With Hutchins’s final race of the season finished, she now heads into a
rest period before the indoor season hopefully takes place. She has
some big goals for 2021, and she plans to keep having fun in the
process of getting better.

“Going into this season, I had no idea I had the potential to reach
this point,” she said. “Running has been one of the most enjoyable
things in my life since I was 6 years old. The records are great, but I
enjoy the process more than anything. Racing is a reward for having fun
out there and doing what I love. It’s a cherry on top of everything
else.”
Andrew Dawson Gear & News Editor Drew covers a variety of subjects
for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and
editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness,
gear, and fitness for the brand.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported
onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be
able to find more information about this and similar content at
piano.io
--- up 16 weeks, 7 hours, 51 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (24:150/1)