After raising his hands in disbelief when he crossed the tape at U.S. Nationals, Cooper Lutkenhaus knew exactly where to look. His entire immediate family were scattered along the rail of University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, strategically choosing their spots to encourage him while he ran the 800m final. His mom, Tricia, filming his race like she’d done for years, was standing a few rows above the starting line. His middle brother Andrew was at the 200m mark, his oldest brother George Jr. was at the 300, and his dad, George Sr., was at the 100m homestretch. They had just watched Cooper run a 1:42.27 — the fourth fastest time for an American and one of the greatest performances by a high schooler ever.
After that performance, Lutkenhaus is running toward many things. This month, he’ll race in Tokyo as the youngest American in history to compete at the World Athletics Championships. He’ll don the Swoosh for the first time as a professional Nike athlete, the partnership signed in late August. The contract means that Cooper, now a few weeks into his junior year, will forgo his remaining high school athletic eligibility to race with the greats. Away from Tokyo, he’s a leader among his peers, particularly in his time attending Northwest High in Texas, a responsibility he took more seriously after his involvement in the Nike Elite Program, which he joined as a freshman. Here, Cooper shares his thoughts on leadership, mentorship and what it means to run for family.
Being the youngest brother helps keep you grounded once you reach a certain level of success. Growing up, me and my brothers were always trying to outdo each other. Who could run fastest? Who could get the highest grades? Being the youngest sibling, I didn’t win many of those competitions, but it also gave me a drive to compete every single day.
I’m lucky, because it’s not necessarily a given that you and your siblings are each other’s biggest fans. George swims collegiately, and Andrew runs collegiately, and we all want the best for each other. They were my biggest support system when I competed at U.S. Nationals. Having them in my corner has been so important to my development over these last few years.
You can’t help but grow as a leader when you’re surrounded by a certain skill level. The Nike Elite Program was a huge point of growth for me. I came in at the end of my freshman year in 2023, and I went on two different cohort trips, where the 40 athletes all trained together. I was the youngest guy on the roster that freshman year. I didn’t talk too much. Then, my sophomore year when I went up there, I talked a lot more. I think a lot of people would tell you that I grew a lot last year. That was thanks in large part to the company I was surrounded by. Even though we’re all different ages and we compete in different races, we’re able to learn from each other and from the coaching staff.
The Nike Elite Program provides a select cohort of runners, like Cooper, with the resources and opportunities they need to excel at the highest level, paving a path to future national teams.
You can see it in a runner’s eyes when they’re representing something a little more than just themselves. Getting to watch those of us from the Elite program go back home to compete in meets, you see a standard of leadership they bring back to their high school meets. You can see it in their eyes when they’re racing. It’s almost like a responsibility. I feel like you see it with every Nike athlete. Donavan Brazier at USA’s for example — when he came across the line, you could see it on his face after he won. Being an athlete for Nike and being a leader at Nike go hand in hand. Going to the Nike Elite Program and coming back to my school, I felt like I became a much stronger leader.
Leadership is shown through both words and actions. I’ve felt a boost in confidence in being a leader to my peers at Northwest. I’ve always felt leading by action in important, but I do think I’ve become more vocal because of the Elite program. I’ve made more of an effort, trying to help my underclassmen teammates as much as possible. My sophomore season last year, we had a freshman come in who I took under my wing, and he’s been running really, really strong lately. I tried soaking in everything I admired when I went on those Elite trips and tried modeling it at our high school program.
At this point, my goals are day by day. I’m really excited for Worlds. I want to see how far I can make it through the rounds. And then, if I make the final …you never know. Especially at an event like Worlds, you never know what could happen.
I’m representing Northwest High School just as much as I’m representing Team USA. But no matter what, I’m always representing my family. They’ve sacrificed so much for me to be able to get to where I am. I want to do them proud.