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DESPITE OBSTACLES, SISSON CAPTURES USA JUNIOR 3000M TITLE
Published by
Jun 26th 2010, 8:40pm
DESPITE OBSTACLES, SISSON CAPTURES USA JUNIOR 3000M TITLE By Chris Lotsbom (c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission
High
schooler Emily Sisson has had a whirlwind of a senior year. The 18
year-old from Chesterfield, Mo., has endured a series of ups and downs
in her final year as prep athlete. But despite the challenges, the
diminutive distance runner always seems to take the bumps in stride,
stays positive, and keeps smiling brightly. And nothing could make her
smile more than her win today in the 3000m at the USA Junior Outdoor
Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
Outkicking
Oregon All-American Jordan Hasay by .19 seconds down the blue
homestretch at Drake Stadium, Sisson earned a national championship
title and a berth on team USA for the IAAF World Junior Championships
in Moncton, Canada, next month.
Sitting in third through the
800m mark in 2:33, Sisson was biding her time behind New York state
champion Aisling Cuffe, with Hasay, a University of Oregon freshman, in
between the two.
As the widely favored Hasay took the lead at
about the halfway mark, the pace quickened from 76 to 72 seconds per
lap. Sisson drew even with the six-time junior national champion with
200m to go, and never eased off the gas. Matching Hasay stride for
stride down the stretch, Sisson, eyes hidden behind a pair of
sunglasses, took the lead with only a meter or so left, mustering
enough strength to reach the line first in a personal best time of
9:18.73. With the win, Sisson earned her second junior national title.
But
before Sisson arrived on the start line in Des Moines, she had to
travel quite a journey. From Seattle to Boston, Europe to Washington,
and many places in between, Sisson still managed to shine.
To
begin 2010, Sisson earned a trip to the IAAF World Cross Country
Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, by placing second in the junior
division of the USA Cross Country Championships in February.
Focusing
on the World Championships, Sisson had a tough choice to make. She
wanted to run at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Boston as a final tune up
before the trip to Poland. But, the Missouri State High School
Activities Association did not view the Nike Meet as a sanctioned
event, because it is not a USATF-sponsored event and was being held
before the official start of the track season.
"When I made
[the USA Junior team] I realized that I needed to take a break after
[the World Cross Country Championship], and I wanted to run Nike
Indoors as a race gearing up for that event," Sisson told Race Results
Weekly.
After discussing the situation with coach Ryan Banta,
Sisson felt her best option was to run at Nike Indoors, where the
competition would be strong and the timing right, two weeks before
World Cross.
Her decision, though, would come with a harsh
penalty. Running at a non-MSHSAA sanctioned event forced Sisson to
give up her remaining eligibility for Parkway Central High School,
putting her on the sidelines for her final high school outdoor season.
So, in what would be her final track season before moving on to the
University of Wisconsin in the fall, Sisson would not be able to defend
her state titles in the 1600m and 3200m. But that wouldn't deter her
from running well at Nike Indoors and the World Cross Country
Championships, nor the rest of her outdoor season.
After
finishing second to Meghan Goethals by .07 seconds in a dramatic sprint
finish at Nike Indoor Nationals, Sisson went on to finish 18th in
Poland, the top finisher from the USA. She finished the 6000m course
in 20:08.
As Sisson told Race Results Weekly two weeks ago at
the adidas Grand Prix in New York City, "it's worked out, I'm very
happy with my decision."
But Sisson's streak of fantastic races wasn't about to end with the muddy finish line in Poland. As
she shifted her focus to the outdoor track, Sisson would have to find
open races. Her first stop was at the Kansas Relays, where she ran a
16:20.44 personal best for 5000m, dominating the competition which was
comprised of collegians from around the Midwest. Wanting to see if she
could run under 10:00 for 3200m, Sisson held a time trial in St. Louis,
where she ran 9:51.1h.
To follow that up, she was selected to
compete at the inaugural Jim Ryun Dream Mile in New York City during
the adidas Grand Prix IAAF Diamond League Meet. There, she ran a
personal best of 4:44.02 to place fourth.
"It's been going
exactly how I hoped," said Sisson of her season so far. "I was nervous
coming in. A lot of things happened my junior year, injury-wise, a lot
of things that weren't planned. Senior year everything has gone like I
hoped it would. It's been amazing, I have been able to do a lot of
cool things. I feel really blessed getting to experience everything."
Like a dream come true, everything has paid off for Sisson.
Now she can add today's win to her list of accomplishments. But, she
is not done yet.
Set to run the 5000m junior race on Saturday,
Sisson has her eyes on one last prize. Forgoing the New Balance High
School Nationals last week in order to prepare for the Junior National
Championships, Sisson will be running against some of the same
competition faced in the 3000m. Cuffe, as well as Georgetown's Emily
Jones (who was a teammate to Sisson on the USA Junior World Cross
Country team), will toe the line with her.
When the 5000m is
over with, Sisson will have time to look back over her high school
years, while looking ahead to her future at Wisconsin. In typical
Sisson fashion, she tries to look at the positive side of things.
Asked in New York what will stand out the most from her high school
days, Sisson says she has too many great memories. But all of the Foot
Locker National Championships, as well as the trip to Poland for the
World Cross Country Championships are most vivid in her mind.
"It would be really cool to make another team," she said two weeks ago.
Now, Sisson she has made another national team, and has yet another memory for the vault.
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