EUGENE, OREGON – AUGUST 03: Silver medalist Cooper Lutkenhaus poses after finishing second in the Prevagen Men’s 800m final during the 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on August 03, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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Fresh off the daze of qualifying for the World Athletics Championships in the men’s 800 meters at the USATF Outdoor Championships on Aug. 3, Cooper Lutkenhaus didn’t know where to turn.
His father, George, was halfway across Hayward Stadium at the 300-meter mark. His mother, Tricia, was high up in the stands near the finish line taking video. And his brothers, George Jr. and Andrew, were located at turns two and three.
The 16-year-old Lutkenhaus wasn’t expected to make the U.S. team headed to Tokyo in September, but then he did after finishing second and clocking a new world under-18 record in a time of 1:42.27. The performance was sixth-best in the world. It was the fourth-best ever for an American.
And the closest person of significance near the finish line?
It was Nike’s North American athlete manager Paul Moser, who had gotten to know Lutkenhaus during his time with the company’s youth marketing project, Nike Elite, which annually tabbed America’s best high schoolers and guided them through an array of programming.
Lutkenhaus smacked Moser’s hand, and then gave him a hug.
Twenty-two days later and just 19 days out from the World Championships, the 16-year-old solidified a whirlwind few weeks by signing with Nike and officially ending his high school career. Lutkenhaus’ deal was first reported by Gordon Mack’s Track: All-Access. I independently verified the news with sources close to the situation.
Contact details were not disclosed.
Behind Cooper Lutkenhaus’ Decision To Turn Pro
Before signing with Nike, Lutkenhaus was pursued by “multiple” other companies, his father told me recently. Nevertheless, Lutkenhaus’ ceiling has been rising across the 2025 season. The Texas native – whose family lives about 20 minutes north of Fort Worth – first broke the high school national record at 800 meters in June, clocking a time of 1:46.26 at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle.
At the time, the performance shattered the 29-year-old record of 1:46.45 once held by Michael Granville. A little less than two weeks later, Lutkenhaus followed that moment up with another at Nike Outdoor Nationals, submitting a time of 1:45.45 on the clock.
Those successes were achieved in high school-only meets.
By the time Lutkenhaus arrived at the U.S. Championships in late July, he was in peak form. The 16-year-old calmly navigated the first and second rounds of the men’s 800 meters – which included a near fall in the semifinal – before a remarkable performance in the final, which guaranteed his position on the U.S. team headed to Tokyo, securing his position as the youngest athlete on the U.S. roster.
A History Of High School Track And Field Athletes Turning Pro
EUGENE, OREGON – JULY 31: Cooper Lutkenhaus competes in the Men’s 800m during the 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on July 31, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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Lutkenhaus isn’t the first American teenager in history to turn pro out of high school. Nor is he even the first to focus on the 800 meters.
In 2013, Mary Cain, then a 17-year-old middle-distance star from Bronxville, New York, made the jump from preps to pros. Five years later, Josh Hoey, a senior out of Bishop Shanahan High School near Philadelphia, did the same, becoming the first male teenager focusing on the 800 meters to make the leap.
Hoey’s career after that decision didn’t exactly go to plan, with ebbs and flows that included various changes with training groups, locations and coaches, but the 25-year-old is now firmly entrenched as one the U.S.’s top middle-distance runners. Other distance runners to make the jump directly from high school to the professional ranks include Hobbs Kessler, Drew Hunter, Alexa Efraimson and Mary Cain.
Interestingly enough, Lutkenhaus beat out Hoey, the reigning world indoor champion, for one of the three automatic spots reserved for U.S. athletes. Hoey is currently aiming to qualify for the World Championships through the Diamond League. He will need to win the men’s 800 meter final on Aug. 28 in Zurich, Switzerland to earn a spot on the line in Tokyo.
Ten days after his memorable trip to Eugene for the outdoor championships, Lutkenhaus returned to Justin Northwest High School for his first day of school. That same morning, he wore Nike Structure 26’s for his warm-up and Nike Alphafly’s for his workout.
