The sprint MASTER 😤 All year, Arkansas’s Jordan Anthony showed he could do it all in the sprints, winning the NCAA title over 60m indoors and 100m outdoors, sweeping the SEC 100m/200m titles, and running 9.75w, the 3rd fastest all-conditions 100m in U.S. history.

A perfect end to a pretty darn perfect year 👏 Alabama’s Doris Lemngole wins the 2025 Bowerman, capping off a 2024-2025 season where she won NCAA titles in XC, indoors, & outdoors, becoming the first — so far only — collegiate steeplechaser in history to break 9 minutes with her record 8:58.15 run.

Grand Slam Track, the high-profile track & field startup league that promised to revolutionize the sport with a record-setting $12.6 million prize pool and major backing, has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The field for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials just got a little bit bigger thanks to the California International Marathon. 55 women ran under the qualifying standard of 2:37:00‼️

Timing it JUST right ⏱️ Futsum Zienasellassie wins his second California International Marathon with a flawlessly-executed race, reeling in early leader Joey Whelan to pick up his second U.S. marathon title in 2:09:29, a 65:12-64:17 negative split.

Bringing her A game no matter where 💪 Weini Kelati wraps up a long and varied year of racing with a win at the 2025 U.S. XC Championships, running 33:45.4 for 10km to beat runner-up Katie Izzo by 15 seconds. Kelati was the 2024 champ as well as Team USA’s top finisher at World XC that year.

Turns out the lethal kick works on any surface 💥 Ethan Strand powers his way to a 5:25.8 victory over 2km at the U.S. XC champs, securing a spot on Team USA for the second time this year as a member of the World XC relay.

Gracie wins another racie!! 🥇 Three months after her breakout win at the Fifth Avenue Mile, Gracie Morris is now a U.S. champion as she wins the 2km race at USA XC in 6:19.4 over runner-up Sage Hurta-Klecker.

Hungry like the Wolfe 🐺 Parker Wolfe uses his perfect combo of strength and speed to win his first national title as a pro, claiming the victory at the 2025 U.S. XC Championship in 29:16.4.

SPEED DEMON 😈 Josh Hoey BLITZES a 1:12.84 600m at the BU Season Opener to knock almost a full second off Donavan Brazier’s world indoor best, coming just 0.03 seconds shy of Johnny Gray’s outright world record in the process.

14:44.79 ARE YOU KIDDING ME 🤯 Jane Hedengren shatters the NCAA record in the indoor 5000m at the BU Season Opener, knocking 8 seconds off Doris Lemngole’s 2024 mark and becoming the first collegian ever under 14:50 indoors.

PHOTO FINISH 📸 Only 0.03 seconds separated Colin Sahlman of NAU and George Couttie of Virginia Tech, but it’s Salman who comes out with the victory in the 3000m at the BU Season Opener in 7:36.71, as they both crack the top ten list at NCAA #8 and #9 all-time.

Track is BACK 👏 Salma Elbadra of South Carolina kicks her way to a huge 17-second PB in the 3000m at the BU Season Opener, running 8:41.76 for the #5 all-time collegiate mark, one spot ahead of NCAA XC champ Doris Lemngole.

That was a close one! 😅 In a tight team battle in the NXN girls’ championship, Wayzata (MN) perseveres over Niwot (CO) by just five points, 142 to 147. Maddie Gullickson’s 7th place 17:21.8 finish led the Wayzata crew to victory, as the team moved up 15 total team places in the final 1km.

TRUE GRIT 😤 Sophomore Natasza Dudek of Ann Arbor (MI) battles her way back to the front at the end of the NXN girls’ championship, claiming the win in 16:50.1 for 5km just ahead of runner-up Blair Bartlett.

DOMINANCE 😤 The boys of Niwot (CO) took Portland by storm, defending their title and racking up a 61-point team victory at NXN led by 2 runners in the top 6, Quinn Sullivan and Hunter Robbie. Niwot led the team competition at every split, and the school’s top 4 finishers all broke 16 min for 5km.

WINNER WINNER 👑 Jackson Spencer of Herriman (UT) wins the NXN boys’ championship 5km in 15:01.1, two seconds up on Yohannes Van Merteen. Just like he did at the Southwest regional, Spencer hit the front in the final mile and never gave up the lead, holding off the kickers to claim the victory.

Star Athletics lives up to its name 🌟 Prolific sprint coach Dennis Mitchell is named the 2025 Nike Coach of the Year by @usatf. This season, Mitchell guided Melissa Jefferson-Wooden to two U.S. titles & three World titles, as well as U.S. 100m champion Kenny Bednarek & 6 of the 8 U.S. 4x100m legs.

A bright future ahead 🌅 Middle distance phenom Cooper Lutkenhaus is named the @usatf Youth Athlete of the Year. The Texas native made history when he became the youngest ever member of Team USA with a second-place finish in the 800m at age 16, setting a world junior record of 1:42.27.

Another crown for the king 👑 400m hurdles World champ Rai Benjamin is named the 2025 Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year by @usatf. Benjamin claimed his 3rd straight global title over 400H in Tokyo with a 46.52 run. He also added a World silver in the 4x400m & picked up his 6th straight U.S. title.

Our athlete of the year 😍 Three-time World champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is named the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Athlete of the Year by @usatf. In addition to her historic triple gold in Tokyo, MJW set PBs of 10.61 for 100m (#4 all-time) and 21.68 for 200m (#8 all-time), going undefeated over 100m.

Jakob’s bad-luck year continues 😢 Three time European XC champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen 🇳🇴 won’t be competing for another title after all, as the Norwegian had had to withdraw from next weekend’s championship in Lagoa, Portugal.

The first headliners for the 2026 Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games on Feb. 1 have been announced 🗽 Elle St. Pierre returns to go for her 4th title against 2025 World championship medalists Dorcus Ewoi & Jess Hull + Nikki Hiltz and Sinclaire Johnson citiusmag.com/articles/202...

The first headliners for the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games on Feb. 1st have been announced 🗽 Elle St. Pierre 🇺🇸 Dorcus Ewoi 🇰🇪 Jessica Hull 🇦🇺 Nikki Hiltz 🇺🇸 Sinclaire Johnson 🇺🇸 Read more here: citiusmag.com/articles/202...

QUINCY WILSON ➡️ MARYLAND ❤️🖤 The 2024 Olympic gold medalist will be a Maryland Terp next fall, the high school phenom announced live on the CITIUS MAG YouTube. Wilson will be guided by coach Andrew Valmon, himself a 2x Olympic champ on the 4x400m and head coach of Team USA at the 2012 Olympics.

RUNNER UP NO LONGER 😤 After two consecutive second-place finishes, Habtom Samuel of New Mexico finally gets his #NCAAXC title, gapping the field with a huge move in the final mile and celebrating all the way down the homestretch to claim the 10km victory in 28:33.9.

The reign of Jane is just beginning 👋 BYU’s freshman phenom Jane Hedengren rounded out her stellar season with a runner-up finish in the #NCAAXC championship, running 18:38.9 for 6km behind back-to-back champ Doris Lemngole. Hedengren also led the Cougars to a second-place podium finish.

BACK TO BACK (with a detour in Tokyo!) 🥇🥇 Doris Lemngole of @AlabamaTrack defends her #NCAAXC title with a huge move in the final kilometer to drop BYU’s Jane Hedengren and take the crown in Ganz Creek in a course-record 18:25.4 6km.

🏆 NCAA XC Championship Preview: "The Case For..." and "The Case Against..." some of the top team title contenders 📺 How to watch: Coverage starts at 10 a.m. ET on ESPNU on November 22 with the women’s 6K at 10:20 a.m. + the men’s 10K at 11:10 a.m. citiusmag.substack.com/p/2025-ncaa-...

GRANT FISHER VS. COLE HOCKER REMATCH SET FOR MILLROSE GAMES 2-MILE ON FEB. 1, 2026 READ MORE: citiusmag.com/articles/gra...

Good take on Conner Mantz's American record at #ChicagoMarathon from today's @thelapcount.bsky.social newsletter:

🗣️"I'm very grateful to have a year like this...Every race, I ended up like, ‘I can’t believe I just did that’ or, ‘That was awesome!’“ 🇺🇸 Conner Mantz joins me to recap his American record-setting run at the Chicago Marathon – 2:04:43 for 4th place. 🎧 SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/episode/3Fo1...

🎥 Also available to watch the full interview with Conner Mantz on YouTube: youtu.be/NAkOLAWy9IQ?...

🗣️ “My long term goal is a medal at the LA Games. To practice for that, I need to be competing for a podium spot at every major I’m in.” 🇺🇸 Conner Mantz is on a mission to continue building upon his 2:04:43 American record at the Chicago Marathon. 🎧 SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/episode/3Fo1...

📫 In today’s newsletter: • Conner Mantz Calls His Shot 🚀 • Brittany Brown Carries ATHLOS To Relevance 👸 • Behind The Scenes With Chicago Marathon champion Hawi Feysa 🗣️ + More News From The Track And Field World 📰 Subscribe and read it all here ⬇️ thelapcount.substack.com/p/lap-242-go...

ADVANTAGE: PAULINO 😏 In their eighth matchup of 2025, Marileidy Paulino gets the better of rival Salwa Eid Naser in the ATHLOS NYC 400m, running down Naser on the homestretch to clock a 50.07 to Naser’s 50.94. Paulino improves to 6-2 head-to-head against Naser this year and 14-2 in their careers.

LAST ONE FAST ONE IS RIGHT 😳😳😳 Brittany Brown doesn’t just complete the ATHLOS 100m-200m double… she CRUSHES it, running a lifetime best 21.89 for a stadium record to finish her 2025 season on a high note. Are you even allowed to cashapp $120K?! 🤪

Can’t shake the GOAT 😆 Even a kamikaze first 400m split of 60.5 by Gudaf Tsegay couldn’t rattle Faith Kipyegon, who cruises to her second ATHLOS NYC title with a 4:17.78 mile victory. Tsegay hangs on for second in 4:19.75, miles ahead of the chase pack where Nikki Hiltz kicks to third in 4:32.51.

Two years undefeated and counting 🐐 Long jump queen Tara Davis-Woodhall continues her epic streak of victories stretching back to 2023, triumphing in even the unconventional format of ATHLOS NYC’s two-day, seven-round competition with a 7.13m leap on her final attempt to take the crown.

DOMINANCE ON DISPLAY 🙌 Keely Hodgkinson’s late start to the season helped her get to October in great shape, gapping the entire field in the final lap of the 800m at ATHLOS NYC to claim the victory in 1:56.53.

Nobody gets a bag like our girl Brittany Brown 🤑 Brittany Brown wins the ATHLOS NYC 100m in 10.99, holding off Jacious Sears (11.01) by a step the whole way down the straightaway to claim her first big prize of the night.

Ending the season where she started: on top 👑 Masai Russell wins the ATHLOS NYC 100m hurdles in 12.52 (+2.3) over a stacked field that included Jamaican champ Megan Tapper, World Indoor champ Devinne Charlton, and current world #1 Grace Stark.

📫 In this week’s newsletter: • Will Conner Mantz Break The American Record In Chicago? 🇺🇸 • ATHLOS 2: Here We Go Again 🏃‍♀️ • Belgian Athletics Owes Nafi Thiam An Apology 😡 • What’s Going On With NCAA Cross Country So Far? 🤨 + more news thelapcount.substack.com/p/all-system...

“I’ve heard they’re going through halfway in 60:30…” 🇺🇸 Conner Mantz on what the buzz is around the pacing plans for 🇰🇪 John Korir and 🇺🇬 Jacob Kiplimo in this weekend’s Chicago Marathon. 🇰🇪 Kelvin Kiptum ran 60:48 for the first half of Chicago in his 2:00:35 WR & covered the second half in 59:47.

Sooooo, what's the plan to try and break the American record at the Chicago Marathon this weekend? 🇺🇸 Conner Mantz shares his thoughts, his training and what he's hearing about the pacing plans for the race ▶️ SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JjMS6Go7l8I2Dj4AKLuwC?si=j8F11VyQQjSdlFxqYSBv5g

BREAKING NEWS: Cooper Lutkenhaus has opted to forego all of his remaining high school and collegiate eligibility to turn professional and sign a contract with Nike. citiusmag.com/articles/coo...

NEWS: Cooper Lutkenhaus, the record-breaking 16-year-old 800m star, has decided to turn pro and signed with Nike. He’s set to make history as the youngest American to compete at the World Championships. More details here + a Q&A w/ @phofmahoney.bsky.social citiusmag.com/articles/coo...

It would be quite the feel-good story to see Dalilah Muhammad make one last team, and now it looks like she might even win one last national title, which would be her fifth total but first since 2019. USAs Women's 400m Hurdles Preview ⤵️ citiusmag.com/articles/usa...

Athing Mu-Nikolayev has the biggest talent and upside of the field and it’s just a question of whether it will show up in time. USAs Women's 800m Preview ⤵️ citiusmag.com/articles/usa...

Grant Fisher, Nico Young & Graham Blanks are the men to beat here. They’re the fastest by PB (26:33.84, 26:52.7, 26:57.30, respectively) + they’ve simply run better across all events than anyone else in the 20-man field over the past year. USAs Men's 10,000m Preview ⤵️ citiusmag.com/articles/usa...