* Elizabeth Leachman poses after breaking the 3200m national record (view the new mark on the scoreboard)
Photo Credit: Jennifer Breuer
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Elizabeth Leachman ended the 2023 outdoor track and field season by earning a freshman class national record in the two-mile with a time of 9:57.65.
Tonight, she initiated the 2024 outdoor track and field season with an outright national record outdoors.
The Boerne Champion sophomore ran 9:45.57 at the Northside ISD meet at Gustafson Stadium in San Antonio, Texas, scoring the outdoor mark in one fell swoop. She also added a 2:13.97 new personal best with a win in the 800m.
That performance betters the previous national outdoor record of 9:47.88 set by Katelyn Tuohy (North Rockland - NY) in 2018. Denton Guyer's Brynn Brown ran 9:38 in a 2020 time trial, but it wasn't officially timed and therefore is not recognized as a record. Sydney Thorvaldson ran an indoor national record of 9:44.74 in 2021.
This could be just the beginning of things to come for Leachman in 2024. She ran 9:16.84 to win the 3,000m on January 20 at the Texas Tech Corky Classic against NCAA Division I competition.
Volunteer coach Jennifer Breuer described Leachman as just chilling, smiling and laughing throughout the race. "She started laughing at me when she went through the mile under five minutes and she just kept speeding up," Breuer shared.
Leachman was training through the race, using it to stay sharp for more important indoor races to come. "She was supposed to do it as a workout, so I wasn't even thinking about it," Breuer admitted.
Kenny Dirkson, who leads the Celerity Performance distance training program, combines to train Leachman and added to Breuer's statement, commenting, "she's currently towards the end of swim season, which makes what she did today even more impressive. I think a lot of people know by now that Beth's training is comprised of lots of cross training."
The next big race to come for the new national record-breaker is Nike Indoor Nationals.
"We discussed that would be her early season focus, apparently she is more than ready. I admire her toughness, humility, and graciousness," Dirkson said.