By Ariel Sax
Colorado’s Madison Boreman won the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Pac-12 championships on Saturday by sprinting from third place in the last 50 meters to pass Colorado’s Sage Hurta and Utah’s Grayson Murphy.
Her winning time was 10 minutes, 6.83 seconds.
The last two laps were a major turnaround for Colorado and defined their strengths. Hurta, who placed second with a time of 10:07.87, and Boreman came in with specific tactics in mind.
“We weren’t going to go out there and take the lead from the start because it was just about getting to the last 200 meters for us,” said Hurta. “We’re more middle distance runners.”
For the majority of the steeplechase, Murphy, Boreman and Hurta were clustered together with Oregon’s Frida Berge and Stanford’s Danielle Katz.
Murphy held the lead in this pack for the majority of this steeplechase until the last two laps. She said was trying her best to respond to the Colorado runners’ moves. She described her endurance as her strength – she would rather run fast for a longer time than be slow and kick it in.
“I was trying to break them on the endurance side,” said Murphy. “The Colorado girls showed their strength in the last 50 meters.”
Both Hurta and Boreman pulled through on the last lap and came around Murphy all the way to the finish line. Following in fourth place was Oregon’s Berge. In last year’s 2016 Pac-12 championships, she placed second in the steeplechase. Berge remains confident and hopeful for the upcoming meets, including the NCAA regional in two weeks.
“I scored some points for the team – that’s what we needed,” said Berge. “Running for Oregon is such an honor that I forget some times. The Lord put me here for a reason.”
Also in last year’s Pac-12s, Erin Clark brought Colorado a win in the steeplechase. Boreman said that it is a big legacy to follow.
“Before the race people were like, ‘Well, you guys have to do well because Colorado women have won it,’” said Boreman.
Boreman and Hurta trained and practiced hard together for this upcoming meet. They both knew their strengths and played it off well.
