Katelyn Tuohy (born March 18, 2002) is an American professional middle- and long-distance runner.
She is a four-time individual NCAA Division I champion. In high school Tuohy won five Gatorade Player of the Year awards and was the 2018 Track & Field News High School Girls Athlete of the Year.
Early life and background Katelyn Tuohy comes from suburban Rockland County, New York. She has two brothers: a younger brother, Ryan, and an older brother, Patrick, also a successful cross country runner for North Rockland High School, who now runs track at Fordham University.
At ten years old, while running with her parents, Patrick and Denise Tuohy, she was noticed by her future coach, Brian Diglio.High School phenom smashes records while coach tries to keep pressure off, Runners World, John A. Kissane, November 16, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
Early career Encouraged by her family,Katelyn Tuohy could have run farther and faster but is very happy as mile record-holder, New York Times, Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal NewsJune 18, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018. she began setting age-group records in the 7th grade, retiring marks set by earlier high school phenom Mary Cain.
2017 Tuohy attended and competed for the North Rockland High School Red Raiders. In the 2017 Cross Country season during the Manhattan College XC Invite, in the Bronx, New York, she took 32 seconds off the historic Van Cortlandt Park course record with a time of 13:21 for the 2.5 mile / 4 kilometer event. She then later won the Nike National cross country (NXN) championship on December 2, 2017, as a sophomore with a 5K time of 16:44.7 to cap an undefeated season. Tuohy won the event by 40 seconds, trimming 12 seconds off the course record, despite cold and muddy conditions.Tuohy wins Nike Cross National Championship, setting course record despite rain, cold, Lohud, Nancy Haggerty, December 2, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2018. The Rockland County legislature honored her victory, declaring December 19 as "Katelyn Tuohy Day."
2018 On January 20, Tuohy set the U.S. national junior and high school 5000-meter record, when she ran 15:37.12, bettering the time of 15:45.46 set by Mary Cain in 2013.
Spring In May, she became the fastest US high school outdoor 3200-meter runner of all time, running 9:47.88. In June, she ran the second fastest U.S. outdoor time ever in the country by a high school girl for 3000 meters with a time of 9:09.71.Track: Katelyn Tuohy breaks girls U.S. high school record in mile; Ursuline DMR champs, Rockland/Westchester Journal News, Nancy Haggerty, June 19, 2018. Also in June, on the 17th at the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina, Tuohy won the mile by over 15 seconds, breaking Polly Plumer's 36-year high school outdoor mile record with a 4:33.87.Track: North Rockland's Katelyn Tuohy sets U.S., world record, marks at Virginia Showcase, Lohud, Nancy Haggerty, January 22, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
Fall On September 22, at the Ocean State Invitational, Tuohy ran the fastest American girls cross country 5K ever with a time of 16:06.87, lowering the course record by 88 s.Rundown And Race Video Of Katelyn Tuohy's Insane Ocean State Course Record, Milesplit.com, September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2018. Her time clipped almost 17 s from Katie Rainsberger's 2016 best-ever high school girls' standard on any course, running faster than all but one of over 1000 high school boys running the sandy course that day.Tuohy runs national-record race, her time second to only one boy out of 1,000-plus, Lohud, Nancy Haggerty, September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018. On October 19, her 16:45.4 broke her own Bowdoin course record, set in 2017 while winning the state federation championship. The next fastest girl ran 19:07.9.Cross-country: Tuohy breaks own Bowdoin course record, Lohud, Nancy Haggerty, October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018. On December 1, despite her missing her state section championship race with knee tendonitis, a few weeks earlier,Cross-country: Tuohy-less North Rockland girls win at Section 1 championships, Lohud, Nancy Haggerty, November 4, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018. she repeated as Nike's Cross Nationals Individual Champion. Notwithstanding muddy conditions, she set a new course record time of 16:37.8.Katelyn Tuohy Defends NXN Title, MileSplitUSA, Cory Mull, December 1, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018. Tuohy's remarkable potential had fostered New York Times speculation on her future.America’s Next Great Running Hope, and One of the Cruelest Twists in Youth Sports, New York Times, Matthew Futterman, June 8, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018. Her high school coach, Brian Diglio, who was also her Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher, endeavored to keep Tuohy in check while guarding her progress. “My role so far has been to try to put the brakes on, so she doesn’t do too much,” he said. “She has an unbelievable work ethic; I’ve never seen anything like it." He feels her academic diligence is as important as her athletic accomplishments. She finished the 2017–18 school year with a 4.59 GPA.Katelyn Tuohy To Be Featured On Sports Illustrated Cover, Flotrack, Cory Mull, July 18, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
2019 On January 26 in New York City (NYC), she broke Mary Cain's best high school indoor time of 9:02.10 with a time of 9:01.81, while finishing third in the 3000 meter against seven pros.Running against pros, Katelyn Tuohy places third and breaks another HS record, Lohud, Nancy Haggerty, January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2019. That gave her four of the fastest eight ever indoor times by a high school girl for the distance.HIGH SCHOOL ALL-TIME INDOOR TOP 10S — GIRLS, Track and Field News, Jack Shepard, March 29, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019. She competed in the New Balance Indoor Two Mile in NYC on March 10, and won with a time of 9:51.05, making her the second fastest ever U.S. high school girl, indoors or out.New Balance Indoor Girls — A Thrilling Mile Tops The Bill, Track and Field News, Jeff Hollobaugh, March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.Katelyn Tuohy Wins Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Award, Sports Illustrated, Chris Chavez, February 7, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019. Consideration was given to have her competing exclusively in open competition, rather than in high school events. It was thought that experiencing stiffer competition from professional runners might be expected to benefit her regarding the possibility of Olympic Trials training to follow in 2020.Katelyn Tuohy intends to run for North Rockland as senior and fit in pro races toward Olympic Trials, Westchester Journal News, Nancy Haggerty, April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
In her first major race of the season, Tuohy won the Great American Cross Country race in North Carolina, 13 seconds under the course record.Katelyn Tuohy breaks Great American Cross Country Festival record, Westchester Journal News, Nancy Haggerty, October 5, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019. On December 7, she became the first athlete, boy or girl, to become a three-time NXN champion, winning the race in 17:18.4. This was the closest margin of victory for not only Tuohy but in NXN history.GIRLS RACE - WEBCAST REPLAY - NIKE CROSS NATIONALS 2019, RunnerSpace.com, December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.Cross-country: Tuohy, feet and legs numb, holds on for record 3rd Nike Cross Nationals title, Rockland Journal News, Nancy Haggerty, December 8, 2019. After her last high school race, she underwent knee surgery.Maybe Now Everyone Will Stop Talking About What Katelyn Tuohy Did in High School, Runner's World, Sarah Lorge Butler, June 12, 2022.
College Tuohy entered NC State as a freshman in 2020. She missed most of the fall season with an injury, but she made her NCAA debut in February 2021 at the Camel City Invitational.
2021 In her first year at North Carolina State University, Katelyn raced once during the cross country season in the delayed 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, placing 24th with a time of 20:41.3. She was the top freshman finisher in 2020 (the meet took place in March 2021) and the only freshman to achieve All-American status. NC State placed second. Tuohy bettered her 2020* performance by placing 15th at the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships with a time of 19:43.0. She helped NC State take home the team title and once again was selected as an All-American.
2022 Tuohy's 2022 1500 m and 5000 m best times ranked respectively as the eighth and seventh fastest ever for collegians.NCAA East Prelims Next Up for ACC Track & Field Qualifiers, Atlantic Coast Conference, May 20, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022. On June 11, she won the NCAA 5000 m outdoor title in 15:18.39.NCAA Championships, NCAA, June 11, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022. Two weeks after soundly beating 2020 NCAA XC Champ Mercy Chelangat at Notre Dame, Tuohy won Wisconsin's Nuttycombe 6K cross country invitational in 19:44.3, leading her NC State team to a tiebreaker win over the second ranked University of New Mexico Lobos.2022 Nuttycombe: Katelyn Tuohy and Stanford Men Get Statement Wins, LetsRun.com, October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022. On October 28, she won the 2022 ACC Cross Country Championships with a new course record of 19:08 (for 6K) and helped her team win the team championship title.NC State Women, Wake Forest Men Claim 2022 ACC Cross Country Championships, 2022 ACC Cross Country Championships, October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2022. On November 19, at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, Tuohy came from more than 11 seconds back to overtake Florida's Parker Valby at around the five kilometer mark, and ended up winning the women's individual championship. This also helped propel NC State to the 2022 women's team crown. Afterward, she signed an NIL deal with Adidas Running.NC State's Katelyn Tuohy announces that she has signed with Adidas. Fast Women
2023 Tuohy opened the 2023 season on January 28 by breaking the NCAA indoor mile record, finishing third to two professionals, in 4:24.26 at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge. She beat the previous record of 4:25.91 set by Jenny Simpson (then Barringer) in 2009. On February 11 at the Millrose Games in New York, she set a new NCAA indoor 3000 m record with a time of 8:35.20, to break Karissa Schweizer's previous collegiate best of 8:41.60.
In Tuohy's first race of the 2023 Cross country season, she finished second to Florida's Parker Valby at the Nuttycombe Invitational. At the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships she finished fifth with a time of 19:23 behind Parker Valby's winning time of 18:55.2. Tuohy's finish edged NC State to the 2023 DI women's cross country team title, finishing with 123 points, one in front of Northern Arizona University. The win gave the Wolfpack three straight titles, becoming the first program to complete a three-peat since Stanford (2005–07).
Professional On December 6, 2023, Tuohy announced that she had signed a professional contract with Adidas and would forgo her final track season at NC State.Katelyn Tuohy signs pro contract with Adidas after record-setting collegiate career, Rockland/Westchester Journal News, Nancy Haggerty, December 6, 2023.
Following time off due to injury, Tuohy competed at the 2024 Olympic Trials in the 5000 m where she ran 16:09.22 to qualify for the final. Later that same month she recorded her first win as a pro at a meet in Los Angeles.
In January 2025, she ran a 4:25:54 at the Dr. Sander invitational to set a record in the mile and in June won the 5K at the Portland Track Festival.
Achievements NCAA titles NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships 5000 meters: 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships 3000 meters: 2023 5000 meters: 2023 NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship 6 km XC: 2022
Collegiate achievements