Coburn takes NCAA steeplechase national title

Next stop, USTAF championships

Homegrown track and field superstar Emma Coburn hit another benchmark in her track and field career this past weekend, winning the NCAA title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Coburn got her start running as a Titan here in Crested Butte, earning a scholarship to Division I track and field powerhouse CU Boulder.
She qualified for the national championships as a freshman in 2009 and took 11th place. Last year, she won the Big 12 title and then ran a 9:51 and placed second at the national championships.
She opened her 2011 outdoor track and field steeplechase season with a bang at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on May 1. The event draws the top professional and collegiate steeplers in the nation.
Coburn crushed them all, running a personal record time of 9:40 to win the race.
Her time was also an Olympic “A” standard time, one of two benchmarks a steepler must reach in order to qualify for the Olympics.
But that’s still a year away and Coburn had her sights set on a more immediate goal, the national title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
On May 15, Coburn defended her Big 12 title running a time of 9:57.39. While it was a 16 seconds off her personal record from earlier in the season, Coburn admits it was a conscious decision to ease up off her usual pace with the national championships on the near horizon.
“I just did what I had to do to get the job done because the steeple is so hard on the body,” explains Coburn. “I started shutting it down so I wouldn’t be tired.”
But the real test for Coburn was to come on June 11 at the NCAA National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
Back in May when Coburn won the Payton Jordan, she said her goal for the season was the national title. And her coach at CU, Mark Wetmore, explained that “on paper” she was the favorite. Still, anything can happen on any given day.
“Physically I felt great and I knew I was in shape to win it,” says Coburn. “But mentally it’s a whole different ball game.”
First and foremost, Coburn had never come into an event of this magnitude as the favorite, which added an entirely new level of pressure.
“I was pretty nervous about it, I had waves of nervousness,” admits Coburn. “I was the one who had everything to lose.”
After dominating all of her steeplechase races this season running alone out in front, Coburn got her first test of the year from a steepler from Virginia.
Coburn came off the start line and into the lead as she had done all season, but the woman from the University of Virginia was right on her heels.
The two ran shoulder-to-shoulder from the 1,000-meter to the 2,000-meter mark, and Coburn’s main adversary was putting a pinch on her.
“She was trying to squeeze me against the rail,” explains Coburn. “I think she was trying to break me mentally but I stuck to my guns. Even if she was with me the entire race, I still have a good kick the final 150 meters.”
Coburn’s efficiency over the barriers started to put the hurt on her opponent. Every time they jumped, Coburn gained a few steps, forcing her challenger to catch up.
Rather than ramp up the pace to gain space, Coburn maintained her game plan, knowing that at some point her pace would do in her opponent.
“I just knew that if I stayed on my game, she would fall off the pace,” says Coburn.
Coburn built a five-second gap during the final 1,000 meters but didn’t know the title was hers until the final water jump, when she heard the stadium announcer.
“I heard him say, ‘Coburn in the lead,’ and the fact that he was pretty calm, I knew I was all right,” says Coburn. “The last 150 meters was a bit surreal. My dream for the year had come true.”
Coburn finished in a time of 9:41, six seconds ahead of second place.
With the NCAA title in her hands, Coburn now turns her attention to the U.S. Track and Field Championships (USTAF) in Eugene, Oregon, June 23-25.
The USTAF is the top national event in the nation, with the top three finishers in the steeplechase earning a spot at the world championships in South Korea in August.
“It’s almost all professionals, with only the top few collegians,” says Coburn.
Currently, Coburn has the third fastest time in the event in the nation, so once again, on paper, things are looking good. But with the top professionals coming out of the woodwork for the premier event, there are some unknowns out there.
“I’m definitely going for one of those top three spots, but for me, it’s a little more unpredictable than the Incas,” says Coburn. “This meet will be a good gauge of where I stand with the professional athletes.”
Coburn will spend the next 10 days fine-tuning for the event.
“All of the running work is in the bank,” says Coburn. “I’ll just make sure I’m staying healthy, working more on strategy and tweaking everything up to perfect form.”
In the end, if she falls short of the top three, she will have one USTAF experience under her belt. That experience could favor her next year when she returns to the USTAF. The top three from that meet will be named to the U.S. Track and Field team headed to the 2012 Summer Games in London, England.