At the 2024 Texas Relays, Elizabeth Leachman made the case early in the outdoor season that she is the nation’s top prep distance runner. In the 5000 meter invitational race, she finished 35 seconds ahead of the second place finisher in a field of collegians, setting a new high school record on the way, breaking the tape in 15:25.27.
After the race, she said, “I’m excited to be running the 5k again I love this race. My main goal was just to build off the last time I did it and see if I could improve in all the places I knew I could.” Mission accomplished.
The sophomore from Boerne Champion High School in Boerne, TX (north of San Antonio) has been on a rash of top finishes since the beginning of the season. At the Nike Indoor Nationals meet just three weeks prior to her latest feat, Leachman ran 15:28.90 to set a national record by 9 seconds, which she preceded by the second best 2-mile in history the night before (a record still held by Mary Cain). Not just a master of the track, she also won this past year’s Foot Locker National Cross Country Championship.
Leachman was recently awarded Track & Field News’s 2024 High School Women’s Athlete of the Year.
Full Results: Texas Relays
