Preview Of Women’s Steeplechase At 2013 USA Outdoor Track And Field Championships
With Defending Champ Emma Coburn Out, Moscow Spots Are There For The Taking
by LetsRun.com
June 20, 2013
With last year’s champion Emma Coburn a scratch with a back injury and with her fellow Olympian and Colorado teammate Shalaya Kipp struggling this year (Kipp hasn’t broken 9:50 yet), there is a golden opportunity for a couple of women to earn a free trip to Moscow in the women’s steeplechase at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Take a look at the top times for Americans in 2013:
America’s Sub-9:50 Steeplers For 2013
1 9:28.26 Emma Coburn 2 9:29.13 Jamie Cheever 3 9:35.42 Bridget Franek4 9:38.23 Colleen Quigley5 9:39.36 Nicole Bush 6 9:43.39 Amber Henry 7 9:45.78 Stephanie Garcia 8 9:45.83 Ashley Higginson 9 9:46.73 Alexi Pappas 10 9:47.58 Sara Vaughn 11 9:48.32 Lindsey Anderson
Who is the favorite? Jamie Cheever had a HUGE breakthrough in April when she ran 9:29 (previous PR 9:51) and pushed Coburn at Stanford. However, she’s not the favorite as since then she’s battled injury and disappointing family news that left her wondering if she’d even make the final a few weeks ago. She’s a great story but it’s hard to have confidence in someone who had run 9:51 coming into the year and hasn’t steepled since April.
Bridget Franek (Center) Is The Favorite
Since we are discounting Cheever, our favorite is Bridget Franek. The 2012 Olympian has the next best time and has the best PR of anyone in the field (9:29). She’ll be going to Moscow.
Who else will be joining her? We hope Nicole Bush. Bush, who famously broke her leg at the 2009 USAs when the officials put the barrier at the wrong height, is back in good form. She only ran 9:53 at Stanford but improved to 9:39 in May in Puerto Rico.
9:35 got third last year and 9:38 was fourth but we imagine in super-hot Des Moines that 9:39 will be good enough to make the team. So the fact she ran 9:39 in the heat of Puerto Rico is a great sign. She deserves it and we hope she makes it.
Who Gets Third? Lots Of Choices.
We know the male track and field fans are upset that NCAA runner-up and model Colleen Quigley of Florida State scratched as she might be the leading candidate for third. With NCAA champ Coburn and Quigley both out, the top collegian in the race is NCAA third-placer Amber Henry of Weber St. We imagine when she was finishing more than 22 seconds behind Cheever and Coburn at Stanford that she wasn’t thinking she might be going to Moscow, but she very well could end up on the team.
If you are going by who is “deserving,” then the third-placer has to be former Princeton runner Ashley Higginson. Higginson was fourth at the Trials last year and we always like to see people bounce back from that agony. She hasn’t been running particularly well so far this year, but now that her first year of law school is over, it’s reasonable to think her form will improve.
The wild card choice for third would be to take Sara Vaughn. The 4:08 1,500 runner has done well in her first year of trying the steeple (10:07 in April, 9:47 in May) at age 27. 2008 Olympian Lindsey Anderson has run 9:30 in the past; Jordan Hasay‘s training partner Alexi Pappas barely broke 10:00 in her last steeple; Stephanie Garcia made the team in 2011 and has improved in all three of her steeples so far this year (10:04, 9:50, 9:45).
A few quick takes, heat sheets and a list of entrants appear below.
Quick Take #1: Mommy Power/Move Over Alan Webb And Brent Vaughn.
Neither the American record holder in the mile or 2011 US Cross-Country champion have qualified for this year’s meet but both of their wives, Julia Webb and Sara Vaughn (both of whom are mothers), are in the women’s steeple.
QT #2: We guess we’d probably pick Vaughn for third if you made us make a pick.
Event 20 Women 3,000 Meter Steeplechase Heat Sheets
===============================================================================
14 Advance: Top 4 Each Heat plus Next 6 Best Times
World: 8:58.81 8/17/2008 Gulnara Samitova, RUS
American: 9:12.50 8/17/2009 Jenny Barringer, Colorado
Name Year Team
===============================================================================
Heat 1 Prelims
1 Collier Lawrence Oiselle
2 Sara Vaughn Unattached
3 Alicia Nelson Adams State
4 Ashley Higginson Saucony
5 Sarah Pease adidas TmGreen
6 Kimber Mattox Bowerman AC
7 Mary Ballinger ZAP Fitness
8 Bridget Franek Nike / Oregon TC
9 Sara Hall Asics
10 Grace Heymsfield Arkansas
11 Amber Henry Weber State
12 Ann Detmer Unattached
13 Katie Fry Cal Davis
14 Alexi Pappas Unattached
Heat 2 Prelims
1 Carrie Dimoff Bowerman AC
2 Mary Goldkamp adidas TmGreen
3 Jamie Cheever Brooks / TmUSAMn
4 Alexa Aragon Notre Dame
5 Leslie Boozer Unattached
6 Joanna Murphy New Balance
7 Rachel Sorna Cornhusker Flyer
8 Aisha Praught Nike
9 Stephanie Garcia New Balance
10 Nicole Bush Unattached
11 Shalaya Kipp Colorado
12 Julia Webb Bowerman AC
Entrants For 2013 US Women’s Steeplechase
| 3,000m Steeplechase – Women | ||||
| Name | Affiliation | Mark | Status | Declaration |
| Jamie Cheever | Brooks / Team USA Minnesota | 9:29.13 | qualified | declared |
| Bridget Franek | Nike / Oregon TC Elite | 9:29.53 | qualified | declared |
| Ashley Higginson | Saucony | 9:34.49 | qualified | declared |
| Shalaya Kipp | University of Colorado | 9:35.73 | qualified | declared |
| Nicole Bush | 9:39.36 | qualified | declared | |
| Amber Henry | Weber State University | 9:43.39 | qualified | declared |
| Sara Hall | Asics | 9:44.53 | qualified | declared |
| Carrie Dimoff | Bowerman Athletic Club | 9:45.01 | qualified | declared |
| Stephanie Garcia | New Balance | 9:45.78 | qualified | declared |
| Alexi Pappas | 9:46.73 | qualified | declared | |
| Sara Vaughn | 9:47.58 | qualified | declared | |
| Aisha Praught | Nike | 9:50.06 | qualified | declared |
| Rachel Sorna | Cornell University | 9:50.39 | qualified | declared |
| Mary Ballinger | ZAP Fitness Reebok | 9:51.33 | qualified | declared |
| Sarah Pease | Adidas/TeamRogue | 9:52.43 | qualified | declared |
| Julia Webb | Bowerman Athletic Club | 9:55.36 | qualified | declared |
| Alexa Aragon | University of Notre Dame | 9:56.21 | qualified | declared |
| Kimber Mattox | Bowerman Athletic Club | 9:57.12 | qualified | declared |
| Grace Heymsfield | University of Arkansas, Fayetteville | 9:57.18 | qualified | declared |
| Nicol Traynor | 9:57.62 | qualified | declared | |
| Mary Goldkamp | Adidas/TeamRogue | 9:57.66 | qualified | declared |
| Katie Fry | University of California, Davis | 9:58.97 | qualified | declared |
| Collier Lawrence | Oiselle | 10:00.35 | accepted | declared |
| Joanna Murphy | New Balance Boston | 10:01.00 | accepted | declared |
| Leslie Boozer | 10:02.02 | accepted | declared | |
| Ann Detmer | 10:03.48 | accepted | declared | |
| Alicia Nelson | Adams State College | 10:03.70 | accepted | declared |
| Juliane Masciana | Adidas/TeamRogue | 10:05.21 | provisional | not accepted |
| Jordan Hamric | West Virginia University | 10:06.47 | provisional | not accepted |
| Genna Hartung | Cornell University | 10:06.74 | provisional | not accepted |
| Natalie Bower | The Pennsylvania State University | 10:07.86 | provisional | not accepted |
| Caroline Austin | Washington State University | 10:08.49 | provisional | not accepted |
| Liberty Miller | University of Washington | 10:08.77 | provisional | not accepted |
| Megan Patrignelli | University of Oregon | 10:09.83 | provisional | not accepted |
| Emma Coburn | New Balance | 9:23.54 | qualified | scratched |
| Colleen Quigley | Florida State University | 9:38.23 | qualified | scratched |
| Marisa Vander Malle | 10:01.12 | provisional | scratched | |
| Bethany Nickless | Nike Team Run LA | 10:06.23 | provisional | scratched |
| Marie Lawrence | 10:07.78 | provisional | scratched | |
| KaraLyn DeWalt | Bay Area Track Club (BATC) | 10:03.72 | provisional | |
| Megan Rolland | 10:12.94 | provisional | ||
| Laura Cummings | 10:10.94 | not qualified | ||
| Jacqueline Huben | 10:50.87 | not qualified | ||