AZUSA, CALIFORNIA, April 16–18 — Another season, a few clicks faster. So it went for Jane Hedengren and Habtom Samuel. A year ago at the Bryan Clay Invitational, BYU’s Hedengren, a prep senior at the time, blew minds by cutting her High School 5000 Record down by 15-plus seconds as she placed 3rd behind collegians Pamela Kosgei and Lexy Halladay-Lowry.
That same evening New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel, a soph last year, blistered the men’s 5K in 13:05.87, the fastest all-time college outdoor performance in the event.
Both runners have shimmered from highlight to highlight in the 12 months since and came back to the Clay meet looking for more. In back-to-back races, each delivered fastest-all-time outdoor 5K marks.
Hedengren stopped the clock in her race at 14:50.50, comfortably under the 14:52.18 record then-Florida junior Parker Valby ran at the ’24 NCAA — yet well short of the absolute CR, 14:44.79, Hedengren set indoors at BU in December in her first college track outing.
Whereas the HS senior Hedengren (14:57.93) finished 5 seconds behind the 14:52 times set by Kosgei and Halladay-Lowry, the finish order was reversed here — in a race tuned from the start by pace lights set at a red-hot 14:45 tempo.
Halladay-Lowry, now the reigning USATF steeple champion and a first-year pro in BYU coach Diljeet Taylor’s post-collegiate group, crossed at 14:58.83 for 2nd with New Mexico’s ’25 NCAA 5K/10K titlist Kosgei 3rd in 15:03.09 just ahead of another BYU alum, Riley Chamberlain (15:03.81).
Veteran pro Shelby Houlihan hewed to the pace lights as rabbit and towed Hedengren through 1600 in about 4:43 and 6 laps still on 14:46 pace before stepping off on the next turn.
The star frosh, who already owns NCAA Indoor 3000 & 5000 crowns, hit 8:31.78 for 3K, having slipped not an iota off that tempo. Not until the final 1200 did Hedengren’s stride evidence a loss of fluidity. With a yawning gap back to her pursuers still very much open, she drifted off her steady diet of 71s and 70s to 72-and-change circuits over the last 3 laps.
Hedengren — who at Stanford 2 weeks earlier had pounded the 10,000 CR down to 30:46.80 while dropping Kosgei with a 66.12 last 400 — viewed her result with equanimity.
“Having that pacer there and the lights,” she told Runnerspace, “you’re always gonna have a little bit of a pace in mind, and I think that pace was faster than what I ended up running today.
“But that’s OK. We just keep moving forward and we’re in a good spot and I’m confident that it just didn’t quite show through maybe how we wanted today. Yeah, just take things, learn and keep moving forward and celebrating —celebrating the wins and getting to do it with the people I love.”
Samuel finished his 5000 in 13:03.47 to cut 2.4 from the outdoor CR he set a year ago. The time also bettered Samuel’s absolute PR, 13:04.92 set indoors last year. With command befitting a runner who has won a pair of NCAA titles (cross country and indoor 5K) since Clay ’25, the Lobo junior controlled a contest that looked like a race up for grabs longer than Hedengren’s had.
He dispatched Oklahoma State’s Denis Kipngetich (13:13.43) and precocious BYU frosh Tayvon Kitchen (13:16.27 PR) as the two next-fastest in a formidable field.
Two miles in, after they passed 3K in 7:58, yearling Kitchen boldly challenged Samuel for the lead. Just before 4K, though, with 3 laps left, the Eritrean Lobo downshifted from 63-high laps. He ran a 62.61 to 3800m and then rushed away with a 61.11-59.96-58.18 sequence over the closing 1200. He covered his final 800 in 1:58.14.
Colin Sahlman — the man who had come away with the NCAA Indoor 3000 title after Samuel crossed the line first but was, controversially some felt, DQed for his part in a full-contact mass kick finish rush — explored the pointy end of his range here.
On Friday evening, Northern Arizona senior Sahlman lined up for an 800, the event in which he churned an indoor Collegiate Record 1:44.70 in January. He hit 400m here in 52.02 just behind teammate Tor-Hotung Davidsen, a state of affairs that pleased him.
“When I saw Tor up there with me with like 500 to go, I was like super happy,” he told Runnerspace. “Super happy because we knew that we could both go 1-2 in this event, and we ended up doing that.”
A 1:44.42 PR for Sahlman in the lead carried him to No. 8 on the collegiate ATL. Hotung-Davidsen, a grad student transfer from Div. III Lynchburg, scored a personal best too, 1:45.36.
In a Saturday evening 1500, Sahlman placed 2nd in 3:36.03 to the 3:34.65 PR of Sam Gilman. Winner Gilman, a member of the U.S. Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program, is something of a stealth standout; he placed 4th in the ’25 World Indoor Champs 3000.
In the women’s 1500, Rosemary Longisa, Washington State’s Kenyan soph who placed runner-up in the NCAA Indoor mile, engineered a noteworthy lowering of her 1500 best. A 20-year-old who ran 4:13.59 in ’25, here she ran away with the race.
Taking the lead behind the rabbit at 300, she accelerated in the second lap, reached 400 to go (2:57.97) more than 4 seconds ahead and closed in 64.59 for a 4:02.55 win from BYU senior Carmen Alder (4:07.29).
Longisa’s time elevated her to No. 3 on the collegiate ATL. Her 1500 breakout followed by one night a race at the Wake Forest Invitational in which South Carolina’s Salma Elbadra (4:02.63) and NC State’s Sadie Engelhardt (4:03.28) also climbed up on the all-time collegiate compilation.
Abdinasir Hassan, a prep 10th-grader (Rangeview, Aurora, Colorado), motored through 5000 on Thursday evening in 13:52.31, the No. 9 all-time HS clocking scoring soph class and age-16 records.
CLAY INVITATIONAL MEN’S RESULTS
800: I–1. *Josue Le Cadre’ (Indy [Div2]-Fra) 1:45.09 PR; 2. *Landon Bott (UtSt) 1:45.83 PR.
II–1. Colin Sahlman (NnAz) 1:44.42 PR (8, 8 C);
2. Tor Hotung-Davidsen (NnAz) 1:45.36 PR; 3. **Jamie Phillips’ (Brad-GB) 1:45.74 PR; 4. **Patrick Hilby (Wi) 1:46.03 PR; 5. Ryan Farrell (Louis) 1:46.24 PR.
1500: 1. Sam Gilman (NikeUSAF) 3:34.65 PR; 2. Colin Sahlman (NnAz) 3:36.03; 3. *Rheinhardt Harrison (NnAz) 3:36.28 PR; 4. Connor McCormick (Prin) 3:36.47 PR.
St: 1. **Geoffrey Kirwa’ (Louis-Ken) 8:08.10 PR (2, 2 C);
2. **Titus Kimaru’ (TxT-Ken) 8:18.26 PR (7, x C);
3. **Silas Kiptanui’ (Tul-Ken) 8:25.16; 4. *Jackson Shorten (Prin) 8:26.75; 5. Soheil Boufrizi’ (Fra) 8:28.05; 6. Grant Bradley (unat) 8:28.53 PR; 7. Cody Larson (SDSt) 8:28.94 PR; 8. Logan Garnica (UtSt) 8:29.92 PR.
5000: 1. *Habtom Samuel’ (NM-Eri) 13:03.47 (CL) (3, 3 C; out—1, 1 C)
(31.83, 64.40 [1:36.23], 63.69 [2:39.92], 64.05 [3:43.97], 63.97 [4:47.94], 63.59 [5:51.53], 63.54 [6:55.07], 63.53 [7:58.60], 63.02 [9:01.62], 62.61 [10:04.23], 61.10 [11:05.33], 59.96 [12:05.29], 58.18) (1:58.14, 4:01.85);
2. Denis Kipngetich’ (OkSt-Ken) 13:13.43 PR; 3. ***Tayvon Kitchen (BYU) 13:16.27 PR; 4. **Evans Kurui’ (WaSt-Ken) 13:17.61; 5. Sam Prakel (adidas) 13:17.90 PR.
10,000: 1. ***Elsingi Kipruto’ (Louis-Ken) 27:29.83 PR (10, x C);
2. *Ernest Cheruiyot’ (Ar-Ken) 27:41.59 PR; 3. *Dennis Kipruto’ (Al-Ken) 28:02.83; 4. **Dismus Lokira’ (Al-Ken) 28:05.60; 5. Creed Thompson (BYU) 28:08.37; 6. **Elkana Kipruto’ (Wich-Ken) 28:09.21 PR.
400H: 1. **Jordan Cortner (Tif) 50.24 PR.
LJ: 1. Jason Smith (unat) 25-10¼ (7.88).
CLAY WOMEN’S RESULTS
800: I–1. *Emmaculate Jemutai’ (Ks-Ken) 1:59.88.
II–1. Ellie Baker’ (GB) 2:00.37; 2. **Tessa Buswell (BYU) 2:00.76; 3. Avery Pearson’ (Co-Can) 2:00.91; 4. Michaela Rose (adidas) 2:00.93; 5. Shelby Houlihan (unat) 2:01.68.
1500: 1. **Rosemary Longisa’ (WaSt-Ken) 4:02.55 (3, 3 C);
2. Carmen Alder’ (BYU-Ecu) 4:07.29; 3. *Hayley Burns (NnAz) 4:08.14; 4. Chloe Foerster (Wa) 4:08.64; 5. *Berlyn Schutz (Nb) 4:08.88; 6. Carlee Hansen (BYU) 4:09.13.
St: 1. Sophie Novak (NDm) 9:24.95 (8, x C);
2. *Taylor Lovell (BYU) 9:26.99 (9, x AmC);
3. Ankita Dhiyani’ (Ind) 9:27.91; 4. Rachel Anderson (MnDE) 9:34.23; 5. Colett Rampf Cribbs (unat) 9:44.23; 6. Alexia Goff (unat) 9:53.30; 7. Emily Paupore (MnDE) 9:56.82; 8. **Constanze Paoli’ (Id-Ger) 9:58.03.
5000: 1. ***Jane Hedengren (BYU) 14:50.50 (out CL) (x, 2 C; out—1, 1 C)
(35.55, 71.05 [1:46.60], 71.05 [2:57.65], 70.99 [4:08.64], 70.78 [5:19.42], 70.58 [6:30.00], 71.02 [7:41.02], 70.76 [8:51.78], 70.75 [10:02.53], 70.99 [11:13.52], 72.37 [12:25.89], 72.39 [13:38.28], 72.22) (2:24.61, 4:47.97);
2. Lexy Halladay-Lowry (NikeSwoosh) 14:58.83 (70.65, 2:24.61, 4:52.11); 3. **Pamela Kosgei’ (NM-Ken) 15:03.09; 4. Riley Chamberlain (unat) 15:03.81; 5. **Joy Naukot’ (WV-Ken) 15:12.74; 6. Gabrielle Jennings (adidas) 15:13.50; 7. Jenna Hutchins (BYU) 15:15.76.
10,000: 1. ***Caren Kiplagat’ (Al-Ken) 31:40.74; 2. ***Mercyline Kirwa’ (IaSt-Ken) 31:51.89; 3. ***Betty Kipkore’ (IaSt-Ken) 32:02.45; 4. *Ruth Kimeli’ (Bay-Ken) 32:27.43; 5. **Monica Wanjiku’ (Mo-Ken) 32:28.20; 6. ***Abigael Chemnagei’ (LSU-Ken) 32:45.75.
HJ: 1. **Valentina Fakrogha (UCLA) 6-2¾ (1.90).
PV: 1. *Eva Lowder (GCan) 14-3¼ (4.35).
LJ: 1. Sydney Johnson (UCLA) 21-2½w (6.46); 2. **Cleo Martin-Evans’ (SMU-GB) 21-2½ (6.46).
TJ: 1. Taryn Burkett (GCan) 44-0 (13.41).
JT: 1. Federica Botter’ (Ita) 178-4 (54.37).
