As 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus rounded the last turn heading into the straight in Sunday’s USATF 800-meter final in Eugene, Oregon, the broad-shouldered junior-to-be at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, had already made history by being the youngest ever male qualifier for an 800m national final. Yet with four well seasoned veterans up ahead battling for the three World Championship places in Tokyo in September, the future for the strapping young prodigy remained tantalizing up the track a ways.

Leading, in a dead sprint, ran Josh Hoey, the 2025 world indoor champion. His arms, like weed-whackers, sliced viciously at the offending air. Coming onto his outside shoulder motored the American record holder, Bryce Hoppel, fourth in the Tokyo Games 2024 (1:41.67), while just to Hoppel’s outside ran fellow 2024 Olympian Brandon Miller, the tail of his doo-rag flapping like a cape in his wake. Finally, on the rail, 2019 world champion Donovan Brazier, returning to the form of old, prayed for the inside to come open. 

With the “Big 4” battling for the three World team places, 2018 NCAA champion and 2023 world team member Isaiah Harris tried to close the 10-foot gap in fifth, as Cooper Lutkenhaus slipped past on the outside looking for running room.

Down but not out, the savvy teen timed his kick to near perfection. With his final gear engaged, he rolled through Harris, then Miller, Hoey, and Hoppel in the desperate, final strides like a 16-pound Brunswick through tenpins. A few more strides, and he might’ve taken down Brazier, as well. 

It wasn’t just that Cooper became the youngest team member in world championship history, or that his time  was the U18 world record at 1:42.27. It was the manner in which he did it. 

What came to my mind was a young Jim Ryun, the ultimate high school prodigy from 60 years ago.

In 1965, at age 18, the Wichita, Kansas sensation took down the Olympic 1500-meter gold and silver medalists from Tokyo ‘64—Peter Snell of New Zealand and Josef Odložil of Czechoslovakia—along with the American record holder in the mile, Jim Grelle, in San Diego’s Balboa Stadium to win the AAU championship. 

And like Cooper Lutkenhaus last weekend, unless you saw his face, which betrayed his age, from a physical standpoint, Ryun was every bit the size of his competitors—6’2” (1.88m). But also like Ryun, Lutkenhaus took your breath away with his closing speed. 

Because it reminded me so much of Jim, I emailed the former congressman from Kansas—who now lives in Tampa, Florida—and asked him if he’d watched the race and what his thoughts were. As ever, Jim was a gracious responder.

“Like you, I was stunned and amazed at Cooper’s fantastic race. I think his future is very bright as long as he doesn’t get caught up in what others expect of him.

“The only concern that I would express at this point is how he handles the pressure internally.  Internal in the sense of what he expects of himself and the external being media and what others might think he should accomplish.

“Cooper will always have those who say he has run too fast too soon and can’t keep up the progression that would naturally come to such a talented young man. However, in the interviews that I saw yesterday, he seems very capable of handling the media pressure.  My prayer for Cooper is that he would find someone who could filter some of these external pressures from the media so that he doesn’t have to respond to everyone’s unique request.

“In his interviews following the race, he demonstrated profound maturity in expressing how he stuck with his race plan—to remain close to the front and with 200 yards to go begin his kick. This maturity will serve him well in the days ahead.

“One feature of his race that stood out to me specifically was his ability to remain relaxed in his final sprint. At the finish line, you could see all the other competitors grimacing as they raced toward the finish line. Cooper remained very relaxed. I lecture on this technique at the Jim Ryun Running Camps (ryunrunning.com). I emphasize that for a runner to find an additional sprint, he must remain relaxed in spite of how he  might feel physically and mentally. Cooper demonstrated that perfectly in his final sprint to the finish in such a relaxed manner.

With that said – I was 6’2” and 145 lbs in high school. Graduating from college, I was still 6’2” and had put on an additional 20 pounds, largely due to weight: strength training.”

I couldn’t find out how tall Cooper is, but just from the picture of him standing next to Bryce Hoppel and Donovan Brazier as they celebrated their runs on Sunday, Lutkenhaus is close in stature to Donovan, who is 6‘2“ and weighs 165 pounds.

Hard to say which was the more improbable result, Donovan Brazier’s Lazarus-like resurrection from multiple Achilles tendon surgeries, or the freight train finish of the high school sensation. Both brought us to our feet on Sunday, stirring passions that once electrified the sport some sixty years ago and promises more in Tokyo on September 20th. 

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