At the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, all eyes were on BYU’s Jane Hedengren.
Hedengren entered the women’s 10k field as the heavy favorite — as a true freshman at only 19 years old, she broke three collegiate records and claimed two national indoor titles over 2025 Bowerman champion Doris Lemngole of Alabama. Although defending outdoor 5k and 10k champion Pamela Kosgei threatened Hedengren’s hopes, the odds seemed to be ever in her favor.
2026 College graduate Lily Murphy toed the line right between Hedengren and BYU comrade Jenna Hutchins as the gun went off. It was a tight, tactical race from the start. Less than a second separated the top pack through the first two kilometers, while the chase group followed behind by only a few meters.
Hedengren took over the lead from North Dakota’s Jadyn Keeler around the halfway point. The pace slowed to 77-second laps as the majority of the field was separated by less than five seconds. A race that was Hedengren’s to win turned into seemingly anyone’s game.
A freshman ultimately won the women’s 10k, but it wasn’t the 19-year-old favorite. Mercyline Kirwa, then a 26-year-old freshman competing for Iowa State, closed in a blistering 61 seconds to take the title while Hedengren took the bronze. In her final meet donning the Red and Blue, Murphy finished in 23rd place, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors.
Age-based eligibility issues in the NCAA are at the forefront of the collegiate track and field world, especially on the distance side. International runners swept all the scoring positions in the men’s 10k at the NCAA Championships for the first time in event history. Programs are regularly criticized for prioritizing rising international talents and former professional athletes over domestic high school recruits.
For the Ivy League, however, the NCAA’s eligibility change represents a chance to become a more competitive athletic conference.
With five unrestricted years of eligibility from the time someone graduates high school or turns 19 years old, Ivy student-athletes don’t have to worry about redshirting a season to maintain eligibility after they graduate.
Although the Ivy League doesn’t recognize redshirting, only allowing undergraduates to compete, many athletes will reduce minutes or game-time appearances during their freshman or sophomore year to keep eligibility. For Penn football prospects, this means playing four games or fewer in a season. On the track, athletes taking a redshirt season can only compete in one-third of that season’s meets.
This negatively affects the Ivy League’s prospects on a national level. In conference, undergraduates are competing against other undergraduates, while some talent chooses to stay on the bench. Although some programs consistently trounce the rest of the conference, the level of competition is consistent.
On the rare occasion an Ivy League team makes it to a national tournament, they’re faced with a rude awakening: the best teams in the country don’t have to worry about potential starters choosing to redshirt for non-medical reasons.
The Ivy League is already at a disadvantage when competing against Power Four schools. Although a prospective student-athlete may be wooed by elite academics and networking opportunities, Ivy League schools don’t offer scholarships or the NIL opportunities dominating college sports. Redshirting to get a year or two of play in a “better” athletic conference leaves rosters limited and unable to utilize their depth.
Take Penn football for instance. Incoming freshman quarterback Miles Teodecki is breaking program records as the highest-ranked recruit of the modern era before even moving in. He was previously committed to Kansas State before flipping to the Red and Blue.
After losing program-great quarterback Liam O’Brien to graduation and a final year of eligibility at Cincinnati, Teodecki is expected to make an impact as soon as the Quakers hit the field. In an interview with the Athletic, Teodecki raved about the opportunity to study at The Wharton School while maintaining NFL ambitions.
If Teodecki wanted to maximize his Ivy League experience and NFL potential, he would likely redshirt during his freshman season to tack on an extra year of eligibility after graduation, leaving the Quakers struggling without a critical puzzle piece.
However, due to the new age-based eligibility model, Teodecki is automatically granted five years of eligibility. He can compete for the Quakers without restrictions for four seasons, graduate with a Wharton degree, and pursue greener pastures for a graduate season before declaring for the draft.
It’s the best of both worlds.
