The 2025 track and field calendar was exhilarating from start to finish, fueled by the indoor and outdoor world championships, the always-exciting Diamond League circuit, the seven World Marathon Majors, and everything in between.

As it so often does, Boston University’s indoor track played host to national and world records across the distance events, laying the groundwork for an outdoor campaign defined by breakthrough performances that had been a long time coming.

As a track and field fan, there were dozens of jumps, throws, and times that could credibly stake their claim as the best of the year, but as someone who has always favored the distance side of the sport, it’s safe to say I’m a bit biased.

With an electric 2026 season on the horizon, here are three of my many favorite performances from 2025.

Jane Hedengren Re-Wrote The Record Books

After a senior cross country campaign that saw her become the fastest high school girl ever to run a 5K on grass, former Timpview (Utah) standout and current BYU phenom Jane Hedengren rapidly emerged as a household name.

Over the last 12 months, Hedengren has cemented herself as one of the greatest high school athletes of all time, and through just one collegiate semester, she has already separated herself at the NCAA level.

In March, she delivered a historic double at Nike Indoor Nationals, running 4:26.14 in the mile and 15:13.26 in the 5000 meters, lowering the previous national records by nearly two seconds and more than 15 seconds, respectively.

That momentum carried into the outdoor season, where she set new U.S. high school national records in the mile (4:23.50), 5000 meters (14:57.93), two mile (9:17.75), and 3000 meters (8:40.03).

Less than five months later, Hedengren opened her BYU career by setting three straight 6K course records, two of which resulted in Big 12 and NCAA Regional titles, before finishing runner-up at the NCAA Championships.

Her penultimate race of 2025 capped the year in historic fashion. At the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Hedengren ran 14:44.79, shattering Doris Lemngole’s indoor collegiate record of 14:52.57 set in 2024 and Parker Valby’s outdoor collegiate record of 14:52.18 from the 2024 NCAA Championships.

Cooper Lutkenhaus Establishes Himself As The Next 800m Star

For nearly 30 years, Bell Gardens (Calif.) Michael Granville sat atop the high school record books in the 800, one of the few prep records that had yet to be unseated by this generation of distance talent.

Just a few years ago, the duo of Cade Flatt and Will Sumner came as close as anyone ever had, with the former finishing just three-hundredths of a second shy.

It wasn’t until this past June that Granville’s record was finally beaten, with Lutkenhaus doing so at the Brooks PR Invitational, stopping the clock at 1:46.26.

The summer of personal bests was just beginning for the Justin Northwest (Texas) sophomore, as 11 days later, he became the first high schooler to ever break 1:46, winning Nike Outdoor Nationals in 1:45.45.

Little did we know Lutkenhaus had a lot more in store for the American distance running circuit, and where else better to do it than at Hayward Field.

After running 1:47.23 and 1:45.57 to make it all the way to the U.S. Championships final, the record-breaking sophomore held his own with the sport’s elite, finishing runner-up to Donovan Brazier in 1:42.27.

The 16-year-old established a new world U18 record and now sits behind Botswana’s Nijel Amos on the world U20 all-time list.

Beatrice Chebet Becomes First Woman To Ever Break 14:00

At the 2023 Prefontaine Classic, which acted as the Diamond League final that season, Beatrice Chebet came close to history in the 5000m, battling the clock for 12.5 laps as she stopped the clock at 14:05.92, which at the time was No. 2 in world history.

Less than two years later, Chebet once again took on the 5000m distance in Eugene, Oregon, but this time left the Pacific Northwest with an accomplishment no other woman has ever matched. 

In a field that had 17 women sub-15, and 10 sub-14:30, Chebet took down compatriot Agnes Jebet Ngetich and Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay, with the trio finishing in 13:58.06, 14:01.29, and 14:04.41, respectively.

The 25-year-old became the first woman to ever break 14:00 after coming close on multiple occasions, and currently owns the fourth and seventh fastest performances in world history to pair nicely with her world record.

FloTrack Is The Streaming Home For Many Track And Field Meets Each Year

Don’t miss all the track and field season action streaming on FloTrack. Check out the FloTrack schedule for more events.

FloTrack Archived Footage

Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

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