From Deseret News archives:
Steeplechase is an opportunity for Utah pair
The steeplechase one of track and field's most intriguing and misnamed events doesn't involve chasing steeples, like the 18th-century, European-rooted horse-racing challenge it's named after, where riders initially galloped and later runners dashed from one visible village church steeple to another. "It's like the horse steeplechase races, only with people," said McAdams.
And instead of horses bounding over stone walls, pole fences and sundry ditches and streams, the people human runners like McAdams and Anderson make their way over barriers 30 inches high (women's event) or 3 feet high (men's) and through 12-foot-long, water-filled pits.
And McAdams and Anderson have performed in fine fashion, which explains why they will be competing for medals later this week at the Beijing Olympics.
The two Olympians are the latest of Utah's string of steeplechase successes, beginning with former world's best and longtime American record holder Henry Marsh and Weber State standout Farley Gerber and including the BYU trio that won the first three NCAA women's steeplechase championships contested Elizabeth Jackson (2001), Michaela Mannova (2002) and Kassi Andersen (2003).
BYU distance coach Pat Shane, who has guided seven Cougar women steeplechase runners to All-American honors since 2001, labels the race "a distance event with obstacles that break it up."
He underscores the 28 barriers "they're not hurdles, they're barriers they won't move," he said and the photo-favorite seven water traps as requiring the participants' constant focus.
"There's an opportunity for disaster at every turn," he said.
First look
McAdams and Anderson got their first up-close-and-personal look at the steeplechase in similar fashion an all-in tryout provided early in their college careers by their respective coaches.
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