Once again, junior Hannah Hartwell represented Fort Lewis College very well on the national stage. Hartwell finished third in the women’s 5-kilometer race and 10th in the women’s 3K race at the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis.
She earned first-team All-American honors in the 5K and second-team All-American honors in the 3K. Hartwell was an All-American in cross country in the fall.
“I was just really excited to be there and feeling really good,” Hartwell said. “I had a great time and I really got to get to know some of the other girls that were racing quite a bit. Partly because I didn't have my team there to warm up and cool down with. So I just ended up connecting with my competition and making friends with them. It was great.”
Hartwell was the lone Skyhawk to make it to the indoor track and field national championships and was accompanied by associate head coach Gracen Key.
The various events began on Thursday and Hartwell had to wait a while as the women’s 5K was the second to last event of the day. The running events took place on a banked 200-meter track and therefore the 5K was 25 laps.
Hartwell didn’t get the chance to run the track before the race because of some travel delays but said she really liked it more than a flat track and said it felt fast.
The Skyhawk junior stayed in the top five for the first few laps of the 5K as the 18 runners stayed together in one big pack. Hartwell was as high as second about nine laps into the race as the pack started to spread out.
Colorado School of Mines’ Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge made a move to the front with about 12 laps to go, which separated her and Adams State’s Tristian Spence from Hartwell and the chasing pack Hartwell was in.
“During the race and after, I thought, ‘Wow, they made that move so early, it was like a mile in,”’ Hartwell said. “Then I actually watched the video afterward and realized it was way later in the race than I thought … which is funny, because usually I'm more aware of what lap I'm on, but I think I got caught up in the excitement of racing and lost track of where I was and it threw me off.”
Hartwell fell back to seventh with about eight laps to go and then realized there was only a mile left and knew she still had a lot to give. She made her move with five laps to go. Key was there the whole time cheering her on and giving her instructions.
FLC’s star distance runner had a lot of time to make up but pulled away from the chasing pack to finish in third; she almost caught a fading Spence in the process.
Ramsey-Rutledge put on an impressive display over the final few laps, leaving Spence behind her and winning in 16 minutes and 3.45 seconds. Spence came in second in 16:10.60 and Hartwell’s stellar finish got her across the line in 16:11.91.
Hartwell’s final lap of 34.33 was the fastest lap of the race. Key thought Hartwell could have finished anywhere in the top three but Hartwell needed a little more confidence to go with the top two when they broke away.
Key and Hartwell had Friday off, enjoyed some local food and running around a local reservoir before Hartwell’s 3K on Saturday. Hartwell said the food on the trip was a highlight and made her feel like a queen.
Hartwell started the 3K in the middle of the pack but Hartwell looked like she was shot out of a cannon as she took the lead with about 800 meters left and five laps to go.
It was surprising to Hartwell that early on in the race, no one made a move; she thought the group went out pretty slow. She was frustrated early on in the race that she was boxed in and then went for it. Hartwell was proud of herself for having the confidence to go for it when no one was.
After Hartwell got to the lead, she was quickly passed and fell back through the pack over the last few laps to 10th. Lauren Kiley of Grand Valley State won the race in 9:26.14. Hartwell crossed the finish line in 9:33.19.
Hartwell will redshirt the outdoor track and field season to preserve her eligibility for next year.
“She did super well,” Key said. “Super well is obviously an understatement. She's just a true talent; it was fun to watch her compete but also grow as a competitor, just being once again in a really competitive atmosphere and just doing the best that she can.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
