SOMETIMES THE FUTURE comes knocking at the door. Other times it’s in such a hurry that it smashes down the door altogether. Such appears to be the case of young Cooper Lutkenhaus of Judson, Texas, who is wasting no time trying to establish himself as the fastest prep 800 runner ever.
Last year, the Northwest High frosh stunned many when he won the Brooks PR title in 1:47.58, destroying the national frosh record (which had been Brandon Miller’s 1:49.87 at the start of the year).
Now, having turned 16 in December, the 6-1/155 soph has taken on indoor track for the first time. His initial race in Lubbock gave him a 1:50.15 and the 10th grade national record. His next came at the Millrose Games, where an invite to the pro 800 gave him a chance to race the big boys, including indoor HSR holder Josh Hoey.
Up front, Hoey put on his own show with a 1:43.90 American Record, while Lutkenhaus ran a steady race at the back of the pack, placing 6th as his 1:46.86 demolished Hoey’s old HSR of 1:47.67 from ’18.
“Whenever you see that fast of a time, you’re a little shocked, but also excited,” says Lutkenhaus, the No. 1 HS All-America last season. “But my coach and I were talking about it. We didn’t really have an opportunity to run fast yet, and that was a true opportunity. And I knew I was stronger and faster than I was at the end of last year when I ran 1:47. So, we just looked at that and decided we could run faster.
“It was an awesome experience getting to race up in New York, it was my first time ever there, and getting to race the pros… All of them are super nice people. Hopefully I get to meet them again soon.”
Was he scared about being a 10th-grader stepping onto the historic Armory track with some of the fastest runners on earth? “I don’t really find it intimidating,” he says. “I think the way I look at any race, the track is the same length every time. I think having older guys and better competition, that should be fun. You should be excited to get out there, go race, and hopefully run a fast time.”
Lutkenhaus credits his family background with giving him a healthy attitude toward competition. His father (the athletic director at Northwest High) was a Texas State runner-up at 1600. One older brother swims at Adams State; the other one runs for Tulsa. “We are extremely competitive,” says Lutkenhaus.
“All three of my brothers, actually. We always try to one-up each other in everything we do, but both of my brothers, they’re a big reason on the support side of things, and they’ve helped me through a lot of challenges.”
The pathway to Millrose started when Lutkenhaus was just a kid. At the time, his father, George, was the track coach at Northwest. “I used to go to track practice every day since I was in elementary school, so I think growing up around that,” he says, gave him his start. “And then in middle school, track was always my favorite sport, especially the 4×4 with some of my best friends, so I think that’s kind of the main reason that I do it now.”
These days, Lutkenhaus is coached by Chris Capeau. “This is his first year here,” says Lutkenhaus, “and he’s awesome. I think he brought a true winning mentality, and that we’re going to win races, and our team is going to be the best that it can possibly be.”
Training for the young prodigy is “nothing crazy,” he says.
“I think a lot of people think when somebody runs that fast at that young, ‘Oh, they’re running maybe 60M a week, but actually, we are anywhere from 30 to 33 a week. It’s a lot of speed work, a lot of, fast 200s, fast 150s. I don’t think there’s anything crazy. There’s no secret workouts or anything. It’s just staying consistent.”
Lutkenhaus has had discussions about moving up a bit to be more of a 800/mile type as he gets older and his 400 progress stalls, but right now that’s on hold. He ran 47.60 last year. “This year, I’m still truly sticking to the 400/800, so I’m trying to get my quarter down a little more so I don’t have to move up as soon, since the 4/8 are my favorites to run.”
In the fall, he runs cross country, where he has a 15:58.6 best for 5K. He’s fine with not being a big star at the longer distance: “Cross country is definitely not as fun as track season, but I think it’s still extremely exciting getting to race. Getting to race for the guys on the team, I think that is a big reason that I like cross country.”
The recurrent theme in Lutkenhaus’s words revolves around his love for competing. “Racing is awesome. It’s one of my personal favorite things to get to go do, I just love a track scene, you know, because it’s going to a track meet with all the fans, and that pumps me up, seeing all those people there. Especially, say at the State Meet my freshman year, seeing those maybe 2000 people, I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m ready to go now.’”
He admits that he is driven just as much by time goals. He is aware that his 1:46.87 indoors is a mere 0.42 away from Michael Granville’s outdoor HSR that has lasted since ’96. “My, you got to give credit to Michael Granville, that record’s been there for 29 years,” he says. “Everybody’s chasing times now, and I’m chasing times, but you just never know. I mean, 1:46, that’s pretty dang quick, especially for outdoors and the way he did it.”
This spring, he’s looking forward to the Texas State Meet — his team has moved up to the biggest classification, 6A. And after that? “Just try to run as fast as possible, and compete in the national meets, Brooks PR or Nike Outdoors, and just see where it goes from there.”
The essential question about Cooper Lutkenhaus is simply, why is he so good at running 800m? He pauses, then gives the answer a go: “I’m just grateful with the talent that I was born with, but also the outside aspects of it, great parenting. My parents, they’ve done really well with me so far, and then also the coaching side of it. At Northwest, we have some of the best coaches that there’s to offer, so I think those are three of the main reasons, I guess you could say, why I’m so fast.”
