Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Day 4
Barringer Captures USA Steeplechase Title
June 28, 2009 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. ? Add another trophy to the case for University of Colorado ace Jenny Barringer who won her second USA Track & Field 3,000-meter steeplechase title on Sunday afternoon.
The Oviedo, Fla. native won the U.S. title in 2007 and placed third at the U.S. Olympic Trials last year. She is the American record holder (9:22.26) in the event. Barringer set the record in the finals at the Olympics last August and placed ninth overall.
Barringer easily won the race in 9 minutes, 29.38 seconds. She took to the front of the pack from the gun and had Anna Willard and Lindsay Anderson right behind. Barringer never lost her lead and ran a race that looked effortless. Around the fourth lap she started to put a little more distance between her and the rest of the field, but Willard, Anderson and Penn State's Bridget Franek were less than 10 meters away. By the time she entered the sixth lap, Barringer had pulled away to a 25 meter lead which she would never relinquish.
“It was really windy out there so I wanted to take command of the race from the beginning and I wanted to race at my ability level and just see who came along,” Barringer said. “I'm really happy with how it went and I couldn't ask for a better day.”
The wind played a slight factor in the race but Barringer didn't let it slow her down.
“I think it (the wind) did affect the race a little bit on the back stretch,” Barringer said. “It was really windy but you can't fight it, you just have to work with it. So I think it slowed me down a little bit but everyone goes through the same thing and I handled it really well.”
CU head coach Mark Wetmore was very pleased with Barringer's performance.
“It was a hot and windy day, not a day for real fast times,” he said. “In Jenny's case we had hoped to challenge her personal best, which is the American record, but it was just not the kind of conditions that would allow that. She had to run a careful and prudent race. She pulled away carefully from the field. She made the team and is off to Berlin and maybe will run a couple of races in Europe before that, but that schedule is yet to be set.
“It was really an excellent season for her and everything from here on in is kind of a reward.”
Barringer's mark is the ninth best in the world. Spain's Marta Dominguez has the top time at 9:16.50. Barringer also owns the fourth (9:25.54) and fifth (9:26.20) best marks in the world this year. Her mark of 9:25.54 doubles as the NCAA record. The time is also the seventh best in Barringer's career as well as CU history.
The win gives Barringer the opportunity to compete at the IAAF World Championships August 15-23 in Berlin. Willard took second overall and was 5.39 seconds (9:35.01) behind Barringer while Franek placed third (9:36.74) to round of the U.S. steeplechase contingent for the world championships. This will be the second IAAF championship for Barringer. She competed in Osaka, Japan in 2007.
This has truly been a season to remember for the CU running star. She set six NCAA records and won a pair of NCAA and Big 12 titles. Barringer was named the USTFCCCA Female Track Athlete of the Year (indoor and out), won the Honda Sports Award for track and field and was named a finalist for the Honda-Broderick Cup which is given to the top female collegiate athlete. She excelled in the classroom as well and was named an Academic All-American for the second straight year.
Former CU standout Stephen Pifer took fourth in the men's 1,500-meter run. Pifer took the lead heading into the bell lap, but fell back with 200 meters remaining. He finished in 3:44.21.
Brianne Beemer recorded a career-best 4,704 points in the heptathlon at the USA Junior Championships. Beemer led the Buffs with a ninth-place finish in the long jump (16-10.50), eighth in the javelin (99-10) and was first overall in the 800-meter run (2:14.81), which was a PR.
Katie Dreher placed 11th in the meet with 4,282 points and Alyssa Frank was 18th (3,996). Dreher's best finish was a fifth in the 800 (2:23.25), while Frank's top placing was 13th in the javelin (87-08).
CU volunteer assistant coach Emily Pearson was 11th in the women's heptathlon. She recorded 5,486 points in the meet. She was 18th in the long jump (17-04.00), first in the javelin (143-03) and was 11th in the 800 (2:23.53). Pearson graduated last year from Colorado State.
USA TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
Hayward Field (Eugene, Ore.)
Track Events
Women's 3,000-meter steeplechase (finals): 1. Jenny Barringer, 9:29.38
Men's 1,500-meter run (finals): 4. Stephen Pifer (OTCE), 3:44.21
Women's Heptathlon
Points: 11. Emily Pearson, 5,486
Long Jump: 18. Pearson, 17-04.00
Javelin: 1. Pearson, 143-03
800-meter run: 11. Pearson, 2:23.53
USATF JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Hayward Field (Eugene, Ore.)
Women's Heptathlon
Points: 6. Brianne Beemer, 4704; 11. Katie Dreher, 4282; 18. Alyssa Frank, 3996
Long Jump: 9. Beemer, 16-10.50; 13. Dreher, 16-02.25; 14. Frank, 15-11.50
Javelin: 8. Beemer, 99-10; 11. Dreher, 93-11; 13. Frank, 87-08
800-meter run: 1. Beemer, 2:14.81; 5. Dreher, 2:23.25; 14. Frank, 2:32.69
- colorado track & field -
