LAKEWOOD, NJ (Sept. 25, 2025) - A former Georgian Court Lion standout on the track is now a new world record holder.

Jess Pettrow (formerly Handsaker) competed on the Georgian Court Track and Field and Cross Country teams from 2014-18. She was a multiple time conference champion in the middle distance races and was All-Conference on the cross country course.

Since graduating, Pettrow has continued to be an endurance athlete and lately has been competing in the sport of Hyrox. 

"I unexpectedly fell into Hyrox when a friend convinced me to race my first race," said Pettrow. Coming from a middle distance running background an endurance event consisting of 8.7km of running plus eight functional fitness stations was way out of my expertise and comfort zone, but I jumped in for some fun.

Hyrox is a global fitness race that combines endurance and functional exercises. Competitors run 8K total worth of distance interspersed with eight function exercise stations. The format sees competitors run 1K before doing an exercise, repeated eight times. The eight functional exercises are ski erg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jump, row erg, farmer carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls. 
 
"I realized I did fairly decently in my first attempt and knew if I started training specifically for this sport there could be some potential there. I focused my training and lifestyle around Hyrox and in my first season competing I earned my spot competing in all four of the Elite 15 major races in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Las Vegas and Glasgow. I qualified for the 2025 world championships in Chicago in the Elite 15 solo, doubles and country relay team representing Australia."

Pettrow's season opened with a doubles race in Perth, Australia and that's where her and her partner Joanna Wietryzk set a new world record. The duo completed the course in 54:24.1, a new doubles record by .888 seconds. 

Hyrox doubles is structured similarly to singles. The team runs each 1K together before moving onto the functional exercises. The distance covered by the exercises remains the same as singles, but teams can share the workload however they like with one person working at a time. 

Next up for Pettrow is the first Elite 15 major of the season in Hamburg, Germany. Her individual race is October 3rd and the doubles is October 4th. 

"What I've loved most about competing in Hyrox is taking on a new sport that has been completely new and out of my comfort zone from my previous athletic background. The challenges of building on areas of weakness and also the excitement that comes along with seeing improvement in those areas. I also love the variety in training for this sport. There is a lot of areas to train which takes a lot of time, but it keeps it exciting and I absolutely love doing it!"

Pettrow also has a current affiliation with Georgian Court, even though she graduated seven years ago. She is the cousin of current Lion Ryan Pettrow on the Track and Field and Cross Country teams. 

Follow along with Pettrow by clicking the link above to the Hyrox website which has schedule information, results and world rankings.