2013 USATF Women’s Steeplechase: Nicole Bush Wins Four Years After Breaking Her Foot at World Trials

*Have you read our coverage thus far? Round 1 recap here. Preview here. 

By Chris Lotsbom, with LetsRun.com analysis and commentary at end of article
June 22, 2013
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

DES MOINES, IOWA, USA (22-Jun) — Four years after breaking her foot because an official set a barrier at the wrong height, Nicole Bush won her first national 3000m steeplechase title here at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, timing 9:44.53 in extremely hot conditions. Bush led wire to wire, qualifying for her first IAAF World Outdoor Championships team.

Temperatures read 91-degrees (33C) as the starter’s pistol was pointed skyward, making the women’s 3000m steeplechase the most grueling event on Saturday’s program. From the gun, Bush took over the pacing duties, finding her groove in front of the 14-person field.

“The plan was to just go out and aggressively hurdle cleanly for the first 1500m,” said the Michigan State University alum. “I just happened to be in the lead and I kind of just wanted to trust my instincts and trust how I felt. I guess it worked out.”

Nicole Bush winning the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships steeplechase title at Drake University in Des Moines (photo by David Monti for Race Results Weekly)

Lap-by-lap, Bush cleared the barriers while a group of contenders jockeyed for second and third. Even with the lead, Bush’s mind was still on those chasing, including Olympians Bridget Franek and Shalaya Kipp, Team USA Minnesota’s Jamie Cheever, and New Jersey-New York Track Club’s Ashley Higginson. Bush’s eyes would often wander to the scoreboard and her ears were tuned to the sounds of the water pit, hoping to get a sense of where her competitors stood.

“At some point I was just like, ‘stop looking and stop trying to listen for them,'” said Bush, who trains with the Furman Elite group in South Carolina.

With one circuit of the Drake Stadium blue track remaining, Bush had a determined look on her sweat-covered face. Higginson, Cheever, and Franek seemed to be closing.

As the bell rang, though, Franek simply fell apart, succumbing to the nauseating heat.  Her form disintegrating and visibly not her usual self, the Oregon Track Club Elite member did anything she could to prevent herself from dropping to the track. Ultimately, she would fade all the way back to 12th.

“I can’t blame it on the weather, can’t blame it on my training,” said Franek, visibly dejected. “Everything just got hard.”

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Caught up in the battle for third, Kipp was charging. Higginson remained clearly in second, but the battle for the third and final podium spot was between Cheever and Kipp. With 200 meters remaining, the 22 year-old NCAA champion from University of Colorado made a move that Cheever simply couldn’t answer.

“I was really surprised to find myself in third today,” said Kipp, sporting her Colorado vest.

Back at the front, Bush broke the tape first, while Higginson –who is coached by Frank Gagliano– took second. Their times were 9:44.53 and 9:46.25, respectively.

Wire to Wire for Nicole Bush

Post Race Reaction
The win was extra special for Bush, who has been dealt many setbacks over the last five years. In 2008, Bush finished a heartbreaking fourth at the Olympic Trials, missing an Olympic birth by just over seven seconds.

Then a year later at the USA National Championships in Eugene, Ore., meet officials mistakenly left steeplechase barriers at the wrong height. Clipping the water barrier and falling to the track, Bush was able to get up and finish sixth in her heat with an avulsion fracture of the cuboid bone in her right foot, according to the Eugene Register-Guard.

“I don’t even need to think about that anymore,” said Bush, signalling that her new national title makes up for all the heartache.

Runner-up Higginson was emotional with her second place finish. Having already achieved the IAAF World Championships “B” standard, the 24-year-old will travel to Moscow as part of her first senior national team.

“I am so excited,” said Higginson, who just completed her first year of law school at Rutgers University. “It’s pretty awesome.”

Crediting her achievement to coach Gagliano, Higginson broke down.

“I run for him every time,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “Our team’s energy is unbelievable.

“It’s so awesome I just have goosebumps,” she continued.

Because Bush had achieved the IAAF World Championships “A” standard, and Higginson the “B,” Kipp is the only one of the group who needs to record a mark under 9:43.00, which would give her the second “A” and complete the team. Only two A’s and one B are allowed to travel to Moscow.  If Kipp does not run an “A” time before July 20, then Cheever will take over the final qualifying spot, as she has already run under 9:43.00.

“It’s a hard situation ’cause I have to hope Shalaya doesn’t make the standard, which is mean-spirited,” said Cheever. “But I really hope I get to go to Worlds.”

LRC Quick Takes And Interviews:

QT#1: Running justice for Nicole Bush: The running gods rewarded Nicole Bush. Bush handled the fiasco four years ago with grace, never appearing bitter at a glaring mistake that may have cost her a Worlds spot. The last two years at USAs, Bush was only 10th. She easily could have walked away from the sport without representing the US at Worlds. Instead, she came back this year and now is US champion.

QT#2: Shalaya Kipp got a little bit emotional when talking about how at the finish she thought of former Colorado teammate and now New Balance pro, Emma Coburn who didn’t compete here because of injury. Coburn and Kipp were both Olympians last year, and this year with Coburn out and Kipp not running great it looked like neither would make it to Moscow. Instead, Kipp turned it around at the right time after struggling this year and not running well in the prelim. Kipp was only the 13th of 14 qualifiers for the final. After the prelims, she told coach Mark Wetmore that the heat really got to her, so they changed things completely for the final and did their best to have her keep her core body temperature down in her warm-up. It obviously worked.

QT#3: Bridget Franek said the heat didn’t get to her, but you don’t fall apart like she did over one lap unless it’s the heat. (Her last lap was 1:41.)

QT #4: Jamie Cheever may have been the happiest fourth place finisher this week. She was smiling in the interview room. She clearly wanted to be top 3 here, but she was able to appreciate the fact for the first time she was a serious contender at a national championship.

QT #5: Good to see last year’s 4th place finisher Ashley Higginson make Worlds this year. 4th place at the Olympic Trials is a difficult spot to finish in.

Results:

*Day 3 Photo Gallery