On September 20, 2025, Owen Huff placed 43rd out of nearly 300 runners at the Trinity/Valkyrie meet in Louisville, Kentucky. He crosses the line, breaking 16 minutes, running a 15:53, a staggering achievement as a sophomore. This achievement places him fifth in school history, ranked among upperclassmen and other running legends such as James Schmidt, even beating his coach’s son by over ten seconds, Ross Frondorf.
About three weeks later, on October 18, pushed by his rivals from Mason High School, Huff broke his personal record by 30 seconds and surpassed the five-year record by 12 seconds. Huff finished in a staggering 15:23 on the course at Voice of America Park, in Mason, for the Greater Miami Conference meet. Huff also ranked amongst the first-team GMC runners- the top 14 runners in the GMC.
“I just went into the race confident and stuck to my plan and trusted in the training I’ve put in,” Huff says. “It was the most shocking and euphoric experience I’ve ever felt”.
Almost exactly a year earlier, Huff’s most significant achievement was placing tenth among multiple experienced seniors and juniors at the GMC meet, clocking an impressive 16:03. Over time, Huff has grown from an impressive freshman to a well-known and competitive sophomore. No longer is it just his age that is surprising, but his ability to run. His Coach, Jim Frondorf, describes his work ethic.
“I’ve seen a lot of good runners and I’ve been around some really good runners, and I have never seen anybody with more of a… commitment or a better work ethic than Owen has,” Frondorf explains. “Yes, he’s got talent, but more important is the fact that he’s willing to work really hard and commit to the sport”.
Huff has a flame that other runners have, but it is incomparable. Huff is determined like no other, using his gifted ability to run in addition to his work ethic to reach goals others can only dream of. Not only is it physical, but a mental and emotional battle of enduring through pain for over 3 miles. It’s not just the distinctive ability to push through the pain, but to run as if it’s not even there.
“The mental part of it’s just something that is hard… you got to train yourself,” Huff explains, “The sport is 90% mental and 10% physical. Sometimes it’s really easy and sometimes it’s really hard”.
Most runners, even non-runners, view the race as getting to the finish- and hopefully not passing out. Huff approaches the sport in a very unique and surprising way. “You gotta think of it as a race that is three different races,” he strategizes. “Each mile being different and that last point one’s just… a sprint and seeing if you can survive”.
Owen plans to run collegiately at the University of North Carolina, and his work ethic and mindset clearly proves he can. His motivation? Chasing, placement, racing in the State meet, college offers, and watching the time drop little by little after every race. Most importantly, though, his biggest motive is his faith.
“Definitely a factor is God and… praising him through everything that I do and doing everything in his name,” He admits. “I just kind of kept on working and praying and trusting God, and it all ended up working out.”
As a mature runner, now being the fastest in school history and the fourth fastest sophomore in the state (second in Division 1), Huff was asked what advice he would give to a new runner.
“Trust the process,” he says without hesitation. “There’s nothing that will really stop you from becoming successful in this sport. It’s just trusting the process and wanting to be a part of this sport and wanting to do well, that will make you be a good runner”.
