A name has been creating waves in the realm of high school track and field. At the tender age of just 16, this rising star has been breaking and creating records and has been putting her competitors under pressure with her sheer talent and grit. 

Texas-born Elizabeth Leachman has been creating headlines with her journey to the top of the track world. With a perfect GPA and a high school national record, Leachman has carved her path with each stride, leaving a trail of broken records in her wake. But besides defying expectations on the track, she has also been balancing her academic life with unwavering commitment.

Elizabeth Leachman’s rise to high school track stardom with record-breaking 5000-meter runs

Being the youngest competitor to dominate the 5,000-meter distance, Leachman’s impact is reverberating far beyond the finish line. Elizabeth Leachman is a sophomore at Boerne Champion High School in Texas. She began her journey on the national track with a string of record-breaking showdowns. 

In December 2023, Leachman clinched the first position in the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in San Diego. She clocked 16:50 and won by a margin of 14 long seconds. From then on, Leachman has been continuing her task of shattering records. On March 10 she shattered the indoor 5,000-meter high school record at the Nike Indoor Nationals in New York. There was previously another college athlete, Katelyn Touhy, who clocked 15:37.12 in 2018. Leachman clocked a time of 15:28.90, which eclipsed Tuohy’s record by over six seconds. 

Her meteoric rise continued further as on March 28, in the Texas Relays, Leachman created another history by claiming the outdoor 5,000-meter high school record with a stunning time of 15:25.27. Her timing broke Natalie Cook’s previous record by 0.66 seconds. Although Leachman has been rewriting the record book with ease, her coach Jenny Breuer is just concerned about her mentee running even splits. 

With a sound performance, Elizabeth Leachman won the 2-mile race at the Nike Indoor Nationals in just 9:44.16. She covered the first mile in 5:03 and the second in 4:41. Besides winning titles in the world of track and field, she is also balancing her training with her academics and with part-time work at a gym. But neither Leachman nor her coach Breuer are satisfied with her winning streaks as they are aiming for long-term success. Leachman acknowledges her weaknesses and tries to work on them. She knows that she needs to work on her pacing. “That’s definitely been a struggle for me. I really like to go out hard and just kind of get after it. But I pay for it at the end, for sure”, said Leachman reflecting on her weakness.

Bridging dreams and reality: Leachman’s journey to running greatness

Guided by her coach’s mantra of aiming for success at the collegiate and professional levels, Elizabeth Leachman is focussing on her future goals. Jenny Breuer, her coach, always tries to be by her side. Breuer said, “We talk a lot about external expectations, and just because you’re good at running doesn’t mean that it’s everything that defines you. That’s what’s really hard, I think, for a 16-year-old to remember sometimes when the spotlight is on. I try to remove that pressure as much as possible and remind her that this is supposed to be fun.”

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Referring to how 16-year-old Leachman is striking a balance in her life, she said, “Because running is important to me, it’s the focus of what I’m doing a lot of the time. When I’m away from it, I try not to make my whole life focused around it, so that I can be more balanced in general.” Although Leachman has not yet broken the U.S. Olympic Trials standard of 15:10 for 5,000 meters, one can speculate that the 16-year-old is indeed very close to it. Leachman has already met the minimum qualifying time of 15:45 twice and now it’s just a matter of time for the young athlete to shatter the ultimate record before June 21.

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