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Women's Steeple
a weekly newsletter by James Fields
3/15/00 Report
COLLEGIATE ACTIONS
- More Opportunities
1999 College List - Melbourne
meet - This Weekend March 18 -
April Addition - Season
Schedule -
The NCAA News issue of 13 March 2000 featured a long front-page article on the women's steeplechase. It can be read in full at www.ncaa.org on the world wide web, but some highlights appear below.
1. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has "approved the women's 3000-meter steeplechase as an event, beginning with the 2001 Outdoor Championships."
2. In Division I, the women's steeplechase will replace the women's 3000-meter run. In Division II, the steeple will be an additional event - not a replacement.
3. It's uncertain when the event will be added to the Division III championships. Adding in 2002 was recommended by the division's track and field subcommittee; but the championships committee tabled a vote in a previous year, then sent the proposal back to the T&F subcommitee in January 2000 -- requesting more information. The delay for Division III was caused by unresolved questions related to a proposal for adjusting the water jump dimensions as well as costs related to such change. Much of the NCAA News story concerns those questions, a familiar topic to veteran readers of the Steeple Report.
What if the NCAA had proceeded with an earlier plan for starting the women's steeplechase in 1998? Who would have earned All-Amrican honors. Here is a "1999 USA College List" showing 40 valid marks reported to us last year for college and university athletes in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase. Not included are invalidated marks of 24 June 99 in the USATF national championships where the seven water jumps were over a barrier set too low. Pos = the athlete's finish position in the reported race. Times shown in tenths of a second, rather than hundredths, are "manual" (hand timing, not automatic).
Time Athlete, affiliation Pos-Venue Date
10:54.8 Marie Davis, U. of Oregon 1-Eugene 07-22
11:11.5 Emily Mulick, Idaho State U 4-Walnut, CA 04-16
11:11.9 Erin Kelly, Butler University 5-Walnut, CA 04-16
11:16.38 Kim Kutska, Butler Univ. 1-Indianapolis 05-07
11:21.5 Kaarin Knudson, U. of Oregon 2-Eugene OR 07-22
11:48.37 Christine Breiner, Kenyon College 1-Delaware, OH 05-01
11:52.57 Vanessa Crossgrove, Wittenberg 2-Delaware, OH 05-01
11:53.14 Chrissy Ruiter, Univ of Oregon 1-McMinnville, OR 03-06
11:56.28 Jen McGovern, Sacred Heart U 4-Albany, NY 05-07
12:00.53 Erica Viger, U. Albany-NY 5-Albany, NY 05-07
12:03.28 Jen Begue, Baldwin Wallace 1-Delaware, OH 04-09
12:04.1 April Petrus. Ohio Northern 2-Delaware, OH 04-17
12:04.76 Mary Beth Curren, Denison U 3-Delaware, OH 05-01
12:08.21 Brooke Mayfield, Denison U 4-Delaware, OH 05-01
12:12.56 Lindsey Kriete, Univ of Vermont 6-Albany, NY 05-07
12:12.64 Kate Weichsel, Case Western U 5-Delaware OH 05-01
12:13.79 Cheryl Carey, CW Post College 7-Albany, NY 05-07
12:16.34 Emily Hill, Hamilton College 8-Albany, NY 05-07
12:20.0 Jill Salmon, Oregon 2-McMinnville 03-06
12:20.46 Holly Hargroder, Columbia SC 9-Albany, NY 05-07
12:20.4 Lauren Tuchband, Binghampton U 1-Albany NY 04-17
12:28.15 Heidi Endebrock, Muskingum Coll 3-Delaware, OH 04-09
12:29.93 Sam Heiman, Butler Univ 2-Indianapolis 05-07
12:29.80 Alyssa Mack, Allegheny College 6-Delaware, OH 05-01
12:30.7 Carmen Brabham, Case Western 5-Delaware OH 04-17
12:31.02 Katherine Kapo, Kenyon College 7-Delaware, OH 05-01
12:38.93 Becky Graseck, Earlham College 8-Delaware OH 05-01
12:42.67 Aaron Zarusky, Idaho State U 2-Provo, UT 04-17
12:46.99 Nikki Boeshansz, Otterbein Coll 4-Delaware, OH 04-09
12:53.67 Melissa Roehm, Baldwin Wallace 5-Delaware, OH 04-09
12:56.64 Katherine Coursey, Wooster 9-Worcester OH 05-01
13:16.87 Lynn Gurney, W. Oregon Univ 3-McMinnville OR 03-06
13:23.0 Melanie Fornari, Ohio Wesleyan 8-Delaware OH 04-17
13:26.1 Tricia Mulligan, Binghampton U 2-Albany, NY 04-17
13:27.95 Arden Thomas, Earlham College 11-Delaware, OH 05-01
13:33.55 Christina Chin, Ohio Wesleyan 12-Delaware, OH 05-01
13:36.9 Stephanie Altman, Otterbein Co 9-Delaware OH 04-17
13:44.69 Lisa Minich, Coll of Wooster 13-Delaware, OH 05-01
13:59.69 Tracy Johnson, Otterbein Coll 7-Delaware, OH 04-09
14:52.46 Natalie Moon, Ohio Wesleyan 15-Delaware, OH 05-01
Many marks came from the (Division III) North Coast Athletic Conference in meets held by Ohio Wesleyan College in Delaware, Ohio; the women's steeplechase at conference championships had 15 finishers! Some collegiate steeplers are not on this 3000m list because they ran only in 2000m steeples. Also missing are a few fine runners who did not steeple in 1999, some for medical reasons.
Special Meet - Olympic Park - Melbourne, Australia
"To assist athletes trying to obtain Olympic and World Junior qualifying marks," Athletics Victoria will conduct some events at Olympic Park on Thursday, 30 March 2000, offering AV officials and photofinish etc. That includes 3000m Steeplechase at 8 p.m. with separate races for male and female athletes. To provide quality competition it is suggested that the standard for males be around 9.50 and for females around 13.00.
THIS WEEKEND March 18 -- Taft (California) Union High School will conduct its annual "Wildcat Invitational" which includes a 2000m steeplechase for girls at 0930. The girls steeple was added to the meet in 1994 when the global standard for hurdle height was 36 inches, 91.4 cm, the height cleared by Jessica Hackler of Taft when she set the meet record of 8:05.34 in 1996. Taft does not have the expensive new adjustable-height hurdles.
The second high school girls 2000m steeple of the season will be held at noon Saturday, March 18, during the 24th Annual West Valley Relays at West Valley College in Saratoga, CA. The meet has attracted 64 high schools with over 1200 athletes entered.
March 19 -- On Sunday there is a women's open 3000m steeple in a meet at Sacred Heart University, 5151 Park Avenue in Hartford, CT. There is no entry deadline or entry fee. Head coach Christian Morrison says SHU has "adjustable barriers including the water jump. This will be the first opportunity of the spring for women to run a steeple in the Northeast. Anyone is welcome to enter ... The meet will start at Noon, and the steeple will be held early on." For more information, contact the coach morrisonc@sacredheart.edu
Wheeling (West Virginia) Jesuit University will include a women's 3000m steeplechase, also with adjustable steeple barriers, in its annual invitational meet on Saturday, 8 April 2000. Expected start time for the race is approximately 3 p.m. but the meet is on a rolling schedule; athletes "should be there earlier than later and be prepared for delays, etc. ... The entry deadline is April 4th ... for more information athletes can contact Chris Kreger via e-mail at kreger@cet.edu or phone and leave a message at 304-243-2365." If driving to this meet, use Highway I-70 West into Wheeling, take the Washington Avenue Exit marked with the Wheeling Jesuit University name on it, take an immediate right off the exit and the university is on the left.
The Steeple Report of 3 March 2000 included our full schedule of women's steeple races in Canada and USA for the year 2000. Persons joining our mailing list later will get a copy. We received the rumor about Stanford Invitational meet dropping its scheduled March 25 women's steeple but, as noted in our March 8 message copied to Stanford coach and meet director, the race stays on our schedule until we get something official via e-mail reply from a Stanford source.
The Steeple Report has been distributed free via internet since Spring 1996 as a volunteer service. Copyright 1998-2000 by James Fields. We welcome information about and for girls and women steeplechasers -- including results, scheduled events, and training tips. Send messages, including additions or revisions for our mailing list, to paradocs@esper.com
