| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Northwest High School (Texas) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 400m, 800m |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | All per athlete's World Athletics and MileSplit Profiles. |
Cooper Lutkenhaus is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 800 meters.
He holds the Texas high school record and the American high school freshman record in this event, with a time of 1:47.58 set in 2024.
Early life and background
Lutkenhaus comes from a family of athletes. His father George was the Class 1A state runner-up in the 1600 meters in 1995. His older brother Andrew had a personal best of 1:50.04 in the 800 meters in high school.
Lutkenhaus looks up to Bryce Hoppel, who set the American record in the 800 meters at the 2024 Summer Olympics, running 1:41.67.
Michael Granville, who holds the 800 meter high school record of 1:46.45, claims that Lutkenhaus has the ability to break his record.
Career
In middle school, Lutkenhaus competed in football, wrestling, basketball, cross country, and track & field. As an eighth grader, in spring 2023, Lutkenhaus won the 800 m at the Brooks PR Invitational and Nike Outdoor Nationals in times of 1:54.20 and 1:53.59 respectively, leading him to pursue athletics more seriously in high school.
During his freshman year of high school from 2023–2024, Lutkenhaus finished 47th in the Class 5A cross country state meet, running 16:23.4 for 5 kilometers. He went undefeated in the 800 m, winning three national meets and a Texas Class 5A state title, which he won in 1:49.84. At the Brooks PR Invitational, Lutkenhaus set a new American high school freshman record and a new Texas high school state record in the 800 m, running 1:47.58. That same season, Lutkenhaus also ran 47.33 for 400 meters.
Lutkenhaus began his sophomore season in August 2024 with a personal best of 4:14.17 in the 1600 meters, finishing in a final lap of 59.1 seconds.
On January 24, 2025, running against collegians at the Texas Tech Invite, Lutkenhaus set a new U.S. high school sophomore record in the indoor 800 meters, running 1:50.15.
References
- ^ "Generational 800-meter talent Cooper Lutkenhaus already ahead of pace set by Olympians". Dallas News. 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- "Southlake 1 mile". milesplit.live. MileSplit. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Dickinson, Marley (2024-06-13). "15-year-old U.S. high schooler runs crazy 800m time". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ "Justin Northwest's Cooper Lutkenhaus breaks state record in 800 with time of 1:47.58". Dallas News. 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- Grundy, William. "Michael Granville, Cooper Lutkenhaus Taking 1:45 NR To 1:44". Texas MileSplit. Archived from the original on 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- McCartney, Micah (2024-06-17). "Golden summer: Lutkenhaus earns wins in summer trifecta - Wise County Messenger". Wise County Messenger -. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- Riddle, Greg (2024-05-04). "As Kailey Littlefield ends amazing career in 800, Cooper Lutkenhaus is just starting his". Dallas News. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- "Northwest freshman Cooper Lutkenhaus is a 'generational talent.' The sky is the limit". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- Mull, Cory (2024-06-13). "Is Cooper Lutkenhaus The Second Coming Of Michael Granville?". FloTrack. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- "Cooper Lutkenhaus - Stats".
- Grundy, William. "Cooper Lutkenhaus Runs Nat'l Lead 1:50.15 At Red Raider Inv". Texas MileSplit. Archived from the original on 2025-01-24. Retrieved 2025-01-26.