The 2026 Millrose Games will feature a historic first meeting between two of college track’s biggest stars. BYU freshman Jane Hedengren and Alabama junior Doris Lemngole will race the 3000 meters on February 1 at the Armory in New York City.
The two NCAA champions have never faced each other on the track before. Their showdown headlines the second competition on the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold calendar.
Lemngole recently won college track and field’s highest honor. The junior from Alabama earned the Bowerman Award after an extraordinary year that included national titles in the indoor 5000 meters and outdoor 3000-meter steeplechase. She set NCAA records in both events.
The Kenyan runner also became the first woman since 2011 to win back-to-back NCAA cross country championships. Beyond college competition, Lemngole finished second at the Kenyan national championships in the steeplechase and earned fifth place at the World Championships in Tokyo last year. She also won at the Lausanne Diamond League meet in difficult weather conditions.
This will be Lemngole’s first time competing at the Armory (Millrose Games).
Hedengren burst onto the scene this season with a record-breaking performance. The BYU freshman ran 14:44.79 at the BU Season Opener on December 6, destroying both the indoor and outdoor collegiate 5000-meter records. She finished with a blazing 66-second final lap.
Her time broke the indoor record that Lemngole set at the same meet one year earlier. Lemngole’s previous mark was 14:52.57. Hedengren also ran faster than the outdoor collegiate record of 14:52.18, which Parker Valby set in 2024.
The performance placed Hedengren at number two on the all-time U.S. indoor list and number 11 worldwide.
Before college, Hedengren set nine U.S. high school national records. She became the first high school girl to break 15 minutes for 5000 meters when she ran 14:57.93. She also set the U.S. high school indoor 5000-meter record of 15:13.26 at the Armory in March.
Hedengren shared her excitement about the upcoming race on the CITIUS MAG Podcast. She mentioned looking forward to the competitive field and noted she has only run one 3000-meter race before. The freshman called the distance “a perfect mix of speed but also a little bit of endurance” and praised the Armory’s track and atmosphere.
The Millrose Games field will also include professional runners like Josette Andrews, who finished sixth in the 5000 meters at the World Championships. Andrews placed second at last year’s Millrose Games with a time of 8:29.77, which ranks seventh on the U.S. all-time list. Whittni Morgan won that race in 8:28.03.
Millrose Games Meet organizers will announce the complete field later.
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