The
ClackamasPrint
Sport
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
An insider's guide
the challenging eve
Hurdles: The height differs for men
and women. The men’s hurdle is 36
inches and, for women, 30 inches. There
are five of them, including the one that
directly precedes the water pit.
gll|
Water Pit: The water pil
12 feet by 12 feet long, andi
deep end, it is 2.29 feet. See
Water Pit
(IAAF).
. Andrea Simpson
I I Sports Editor
It was added in the Northwest Athletic
Association
of Community
Colleges
(NWAACC) for women merely four years
__________
The event is 3,000 grueling meters of constant speed change,
obstacles and a pit of water at frigid temperatures. A domesticated
form of cross country, it may be one of the hardest events in the
sport of track.
It is the steeplechase.
The length of the race - customarily 3,000 meters - is just less
than two miles. The number of laps depends on the placement of
the water pit, which is sometimes located on the inside of the lane
or on the outside of lanes eight and nine.
Runners encounter 28 barriers as well as seven water jumps.
The steeplechase barriers, although they may seem much like
hurdles, are in fact much sturdier and will not fall over when hit
The runners often use the top of the barrier as a means of pushing
themselves off to gain momentum.
The steeplechase originated in Britain, where athletes would
run from one town’s steeple to the next The steeples were plainly
visible to runners, making them easy markers. Participants would
regularly have to jump over creeks and obstacles they encoun
tered.
Oxford University refined the activity into a sport in 1860,
according to the International Association of Athletic Federations
ago.
One Clackamas alumnus has made quite a
name for himself in the sport
Brian Abshire was the United States
Olympic Trials Champion in 1988 and went on
to compete at the 1988 Games in Seoul, South
Korea. He also holds the ninth fastest time for
the steeplechase in United States history with a
time of eight minutes and 20.83 seconds.
At Clackamas, only two women have
participated in the steeplechase since it was
added.
Lyndsey McKillip, an alumna who trans
ferred last year, participated in the steeplechase
and took first at the Southern Region champi
onships last year. She is now ranked 12th in
Division 2 of the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA).
Jessica Harper - who did not participate in the steeplechase
at Clackamas, as it was not offered at the time she competed - is
now ranked eighth in Division 2 of the NCAA.
Karly Osten, a freshman from Gladstone, is primarily a long-
k
Photo illustrations by Kayla Berge and Andrea Simps«
distance runner. She runs the 5,000 meter and 3,000
length of the steeplechase wasn’t anything unusual
Osten ran in toe event for the first time at the Pat
meet May 2.
“She was so nervous that when she was doing ra
ups, she was falling onia
Head Coach Keoni Mel
she actually did fairly
first time. It wasn’t the!
school history, but I waa
she tried it”
Osten said, ‘T havefl
injury before, so I didn’t]
d
I
J
fid
I
be a flare-up. But I was
how it was different
races.”
Osten hadn’t practicec]
chase in its entirety uni
I
A
meet She rehearsed the
of toe race in toe sand
jump pit.
''
The shock of hitting fl
id
I
toe first time in toe race
impression on her.
“It was cold!” she sal
d
think it would be that
splashed all the way up fl
was soaked by toe end oil
McHone says that!
requires more endurancl
track events because afl
continually adjust their 1
is hard on toe body.
‘Tt is more stimulatd
running hurdles,” Osten]
more like cross countfl
jumps and toe water.” ]
I
Photos by Robert Crawford Clackamas Print
Chris Baker, center, and Jared Correll, right, compete in the men’s steeplechase
event at the Saints and Cavaliers meet April 26.
Jared Correll crouches as he prepares
to push off-the steeplechase hurdle and
jump into the water pit.