Leachman, Hedengren And Ritzenhein. Brooks PR Will Be Fun.

* Elizabeth Leachman has the fastest time going into the 2 mile championship at the Brooks PR Invitational on Wednesday 

Photo Credit: Derrick Dingle/MileSplit

The race that seems to be popping up on everyone's radar in 2024?

It's the girls two-mile.

Three state champions will go head-to-head in Washington at the full two-mile distance. 

Jane Hedengren, Elizabeth Leachman and Addison Ritzenhein are entered and each owns at least one sub-10 minute time.

Over this spring season alone, those three runners grabbed six individual state titles across state championships in Utah, Texas and Colorado. 

While Hedengren is a high school junior, Leachman and Ritzenhein operate in the sophomore class.

The trio will have a shot at going after Dalia Frias' meet record of 9:50.70 from 2022.

Elizabeth Leachman, Boerne Champion High School, TX

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Leachman owns the fastest personal best in the field, having clocked a time of 9:44.16 from Nike Indoor Nationals in March. Her outdoor 3,200m best of 9:32.74 from the Boerne Greyhound Relays in February converts to a time of 9:47.13.

In May, Leachman went on to score Texas Class 5A state titles in the 1,600m and 3,200m, registering efforts of 4:41.36 and 10:11.40 across a meet where she also vied for an 800m title -- all within a four-hour span. 

In February, she went-head-to-head with Hedengren at Nike Indoor Nationals, taking down the Utah star by five seconds. She later broke the indoor national record at 5K in 15:28.90.

Leachman isn't just a threat to high school runners, though. 

This spring, she competed at the Texas Relays against collegians and set a high school outdoor national record with a time of 15:25.57. Leachman owns three outdoor national records, all of which were set in 2024.

Jane Hedengren, Timpview High School, UT

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Five seconds behind Leachman's personal best is Hedengren.

Hedengren is coming off the Utah state championships in the 800m and 3,200m. But with a PR of 9:49.45 for two-miles indoors, she's right within Leachman's rearview. Her 3,200m best of 9:52.96 outdoors converts to converts to a time of 9:56.4.

Over three years in high school, Hedengren has carved out one of the most impressive resumes in the U.S.

The Hedengren family's running talent doesn't end with Jane, either.

John Hedengren, Jane's dad, is an NCAA Cross Country All-American and was inducted in the Brigham Young University Hall of Fame in 2015. Hedengren told MileSplit USA in April that while her dad is no longer her coach, they occasionally go for long runs together. 

Addison Ritzenhein, Niwot High School, CO

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Ritzenhein enters with a 2-mile best of 9:52.64 from New Balance Nationals Indoor.

The Niwot sophomore recently claimed Colorado state titles for 1,600m and 3,200m and placed third in the 800m state race.

While all three ladies are talented in cross country, at this point Ritzenhein has the best credentials. She's the reigning champion of Nike Cross Nationals and earned Gatorade's top honor, the National Player of the Year recognition, in January.

In April, Ritzenhein continued her statement-making season by producing a 4:42 mile at Arcadia -- Hedengren finished second in the race and Ritzenhein was fifth -- and then she followed at the end of the month at The Penn Relays, demolishing her personal record by 24 seconds in the 3,000m. Clocking a time of 9:17.81, she became third-fastest sophomore all-time at the distance. 

The odds of one of these ladies breaking the 2022 record is very high. 

But we also also can't forget about Allie Zealand.

The Lynchburg, Virginia native won the girls mile at the The HOKA Festival of Miles -- and briefly set a national record there before it was broken by Sadie Engelhardt just a few minutes later.

Zealand's personal record is 9:47.57 in a race where she beat Ritzenhein and Isabel Allori, who is also in the 2-mile field on Wednesday.