Hugh Kent continues his historic freshman season with the University of Portland Pilots, breaking yet another Guam National Record.
Kent, 19, can now call himself the fastest 5K Guamanian with a time of 14:34.16. His latest track event was on May 10th, 2025, at the Lewis and Clark College Twilight Meet in Portland, Oregon.
The 2024 JFK Graduate took the track and crossed the finish line with time a few seconds to spare.
“I just wanted to knock out as many records as I can during my first year in college, and the 5k was the last one that I had a good shot at getting,” said Kent.
Hugh Kent with the peace sign as he runs to a new Guam 5k record.
The previous record holder was Neal Weare. Weare, a middle distance standout in the late 1990s to early 2000s, represented Guam in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Weare’s record of 14:39.84 stood strong for 23 years (April 19, 2002). Kent shattered the old record by five seconds, and he said he would keep momentum going.
“It was my last race, and I really wanted to come back home with as many records as possible, so this was my last chance. I’ve trained plently, so now I just had to run it, and I’m proud to say I did get the record,” said Kent.
2025 has been quite the year for Kent, and we are not even at the halfway mark yet. Kent has now inked his name in history with three national records. Here is what his 2025 timeline looks like so far:
March 1, 2025 – 10,000m outdoor (30:44.04) March 29, 2025 – 1500m short track (4:07.37) May 10, 2025 – 5000m outdoor (14:34.16)
Kent, a Biology major, will return to Guam and join the Guam contingent to compete at Pacific Mini Games in Palau this summer.