| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | December 19, 2008 |
| Education | Northwest High School (Texas) [1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 400m, 800m |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | All per athlete's World Athletics and MileSplit Profiles. |
Cooper Lutkenhaus (born December 19, 2008) [3] 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. [4] [5] In 2025, he set a new indoor high school national record of 1:46.86. [6]
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. [1]
Lutkenhaus looks up to Bryce Hoppel, who set the American record in the 800 meters at the 2024 Summer Olympics, running 1:41.67. [1]
Michael Granville, who holds the 800 meter high school record of 1:46.45, claims that Lutkenhaus has the ability to break his record. [1] [7]
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. [1]
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. [8] 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. [1] [9] [10] 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. [4] [5] [11] That same season, Lutkenhaus also ran 47.33 for 400 meters. [12]
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. [1]
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. [13]
On February 8, 2025, Lutkenhaus competed in the professional 800 meters at the Millrose Games in New York City. He set a new indoor high school national record in the event, clocking 1:46.86, which broke Josh Hoey's previous record of 1:47.67 by almost a second. [6]