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The time is finally here for the New Balance Women’s Steeplechase at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet. Tomorrow, some of the best women’s steeplers around will be competing for prize money of $1000 (1^st place), $500 (2^nd place) and $250 (3^rd place). New Balance was so generous as to provide travel funding and lodging for the elite entrants as well as put up the $1750 in prize money. Big thanks to Daniel Green at NB for making this happen; New Balance has always been a company of strong community ties, and this is yet another example.

I’m very excited about the field for this event. It is a solid group of women, all with different stories. Roisin McGettigan, the Irish national record holder who trains with the Run Providence group under Ray Tracey, has run 9:28 and has competed internationally since her college days. I first met “Ro” in Italy at the Rieti Grand Prix in 2004. I was a total rookie, at my very first international competition, and Ro was my assigned roommate. I was reading Angels & Demons and she was reading The DaVinci Code, both by Dan Brown of course. We were instant friends. She gave me advice on agents and the European racing scene, and we danced the night away after winning some prize money on the track.

Ro had her breakout year in 2007, where she ran 9:28.29 to dip under 9:30 for the first time in Huesden, Belgium. She went on to place second at the World Athletics Final, taking home a nice $20,000 pay check for her efforts. She almost PR'd to make the Olympic finals in Beijing but was unable to produce the same effort in the final. Last year, Ro struggled and did not make it out of the semi-final heats at the World Championships. Tomorrow will be her first steeplechase of 2010, and she is looking to regain her form and hit a strong time so she can get into a couple Diamond League meets this summer. Look for McGettigan to run right on the shoulder of the early race leader.

Shayla Houlihan has quickly made a name for herself this season. After finishing her masters in health and education at the University of Utah, she continued to train there under coach Kyle Kepler while also being a volunteer coach for her former teammates. She started setting big PR’s in the indoor season and has run 10:03 twice this season, both times easily winning the race at the Stanford Invitational and Drake Relays. Houlihan has big goals this season. As she put it in this interview, “I don’t enter a race I don’t think I can win.” Her goal is to run 9:48 tomorrow and thus arrive at the USA Championships in Des Moines one of the favorites. Keep in mind that Houlihan’s PR coming into this season was 10:29. But it’s no surprise to hear her talk about running fast because she is definitely on a roll. Look for her to take the race out quickly.

Andrea Parker made big changes this year in order to chase her dreams. In this interview she talks about her decision first to return to track and field competition (after getting her masters and working in the real world for a year or so) and then to move across the country from Michigan to Arizona to join former American Record holder Lisa Galaviz in training under coach Wynn Gmitroski in Phoenix, with altitude training stints in Flagstaff. It has worked well for Parker, as she has only raced one steeplechase thus far in 2010 but has already PR’d, running 10:02 for a very close second place behind Lindsay Allen at the Payton Jordan Invitational. Parker is eager to break that all-important 10-minute mark. Both Parker and Houlihan do not have sponsors and therefore will be very hungry for that $1000. Look for Parker to race tactically and let the fast time come to her.

Lydia Willemse of Canada holds the school record at Florida State University. Her solid PR of 10:05 came in 2009 at the Stanford Invitational and puts her in the running for some prize money in tomorrow’s race. She is the 2000m national record holder and has the second-fastest 3000m steeplechase all-time in Canada.

Lesley Higgins of the New York Athletic Club competed at the 2008 Olympic Trials, where she qualified for the final in the steeplechase. Her PR of 9:58 makes her only the 2^nd woman in the field to have broken the 10-minute barrier. As she discusses in this interview, she has struggled with iron deficiency this season but has recently gotten it under control and is looking to perform well in order to qualify for the USA Championships that will take place June 24-27 in Des Moines. Higgins trains under renowned coach Frank “Gags” Gagliano with a group she affectionately calls “The Has-Beens.” Higgins is the Social Media Director for WomenTalkSports.com and has worn many hats in her non-athletic career including database administrator, criminal investigator, and campaign compliance director for Governor Eliot Spitzer and Governor David Patterson of New York. She also has written articles for Running Times magazine.

The Dark Horses: DIII Represents

My dark horse picks for tomorrow night’s event are Stephanie Perleberg and Jacqui Wentz. Both women competed last weekend for the DIII National Championship title, with Wintz prevailing with a big PR of 10:16.16 for the win. Wentz, a senior at MIT from Santa Rosa, CA, also finished 5th in the 1500m at the DIII Championships. Perleberg, the 2009 DIII Steeplechase Champion, finished 3^rd and was disappointed with her 10:32.64. She wanted to redeem herself the next day in the 5000m, where she was also one of the favorites, but again had an off day. Perleberg is therefore more motivated than ever to prove herself and will look to qualify for the USA Outdoor Championships this weekend as well as show that she can compete with the pros.  Perleberg finished her collegiate eligibility for the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse last weekend and is excited to continue to pursue her athletic career as an emerging elite. She is the Communications and Resources Director for WomenTalkSports.com and writes for YouthRunner Magazine and the Milwaukee Examiner.

Follow the Race:

Jeff Caron of New Balance Boston will be covering the entire meet for Flotrack. I will be announcing the women’s steeplechase race from the press box as well as interviewing the women before and after the race. All coverage will be provided and/or linked to on this page. You can also follow me on Twitter at @anngaff for color commentary.

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