Breaking Barriers in the Steeplechase : Burbank’s Morgan Demonstrates a Clear Talent in Fledgling Track Competition for Women

Running the 2,000-meter steeplechase started as a lark for Christine Morgan, but it has become a serious endeavor for the former Bell-Jeff High athlete.

Morgan, 23, a senior at Cal State Long Beach who lives in Burbank, placed third in 7 minutes 14.8 seconds--less than 19 seconds off the winning time--in her first attempt in the event in the New York Games at Columbia University on July 20. Morgan’s time is the best ever by a collegian and the fourth-best mark by a U.S. performer.

The steeplechase--traditionally a male-only event contested over 3,000 meters--was introduced in the United States at last year’s New York Games after the International Amateur Athletic Federation set up guidelines for a women’s 2,000-meter race at a meeting in Barcelona in 1989.

But unlike the hurdles, in which the height of the barriers is lower in women’s competition than in men’s, no alterations were made in the height of the barriers or the length of the water jump for the women’s steeplechase, primarily because of cost considerations. The race is identical to the 2,000-meter steeplechase run in junior men’s competition, consisting of 18 three-foot-high barriers and five water jumps 12 feet in length.

The event is run more frequently in Europe but has only been held three times at a national level in the United States--twice in the New York Games and in The Athletics Congress national championships last June. The race in last month’s New York Games marked the first time that it had been included in an IAAF Grand Prix meet.

In fact Morgan, the Big West Conference runner-up at 1,500 and 5,000 meters in May, was unaware that the event even existed until overhearing Cal State Long Beach distance Coach Stan Rosenthal discussing the event with fellow coaches at an all-comers meet last month.

Three weeks later, she found herself at the starting line in New York.

“When I heard of it, it seemed like a perfect event for me and a lot of fun,” said Morgan, who placed fourth and fifth in the 800 and the 1,600 meters in the Southern Section 2-A Division finals as a senior at Bell-Jeff in 1986. “I told Stan that I wanted to try it, but it started out strictly as a joke.”

Rosenthal took the proposition a little more seriously and wasted little time in giving Morgan, 5-foot-4, 105 pounds, a tryout.

“About 30 seconds later, I had her go over a low hurdle, then we moved it a up a notch and finally I had her try a barrier to see if she was capable of hurdling,” Rosenthal said. “If she was not, I would not even let her try it. There are a lot of guys that I don’t even allow to get near the steeplechase, but she proved she had the ability.”

Although Morgan had run the 300-meter low hurdles (over 30-inch barriers) in high school, she had never run a steeplechase. But Rosenthal trumpeted her potential to Pat Rico, a member of the IAAF women’s track and field board and a supporter of the women’s steeplechase. Rico was instrumental in bringing the event to the New York Games last year.

Rico subsequently helped obtain TAC development funds and support from the New York Roadrunners Club to send Morgan to the Big Apple.

“Her times in other events were comparable to what the other girls at New York had run and we did some time trials that indicated that she could run close to seven minutes,” Rosenthal said of Morgan, who has run 2:09.60 and 4:25.55 for 800 and 1,500 meters.

“She ran alone over barriers in practice and we had no idea how she would do running with people around her or in the middle of a pack.”

As it turned out, that was not a problem. However, the water jump--a 36-inch barrier in front of a pit filled with water that is nearly 2 1/2 feet deep at its deepest point--did pose some difficulties.

“When I got to the water jump, I landed so far back that I got soaked every time,” Morgan said. “I practically came to a complete stop because I kept on landing on two feet.

“I was the shortest one in the race, but I had no problem hurdling the barriers. It’s like an obstacle course and there is always something in front of you to focus on.”

By refining her technique, Rosenthal believes that Morgan is capable of running in the 6:45 range. Carla Borovicka holds the national record at 6:34.53 and the Soviet Union’s Marina Pluzhnikova is the world-record holder at 6:16.41.

Morgan is eager to give the steeplechase another try but does not know when she will get the opportunity.

“It takes a rugged person, somebody who is willing to try anything,” Morgan said. “I’m not afraid to try different things. One day I can look back and tell my grandchildren that I was one of the first. I think that’s kind of neat. I feel like somewhat of a pioneer.”

There are plans to include the steeplechase as an exhibition event in next year’s U.S. Olympic Trials in New Orleans. However, the steeplechase is still not recognized as an official event by the IAAF and faces the same plight as the women’s 5,000, triple jump and hammer, none of which will be contested in the World Championships in Tokyo later this month or the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“It is an event of the future,” said Scott Davis, a correspondent for Track & Field News. “It will be three or four years before there are enough women out there who can run at a competitive level.”

Nevertheless, Fred Lebow, president of the New York Roadrunners Club and the co-meet director of the New York Games, said he has received positive feedback and vows to retain the event in New York until it becomes an Olympic event.

For now, Morgan plans to continue to train for the steeplechase and might try a men’s 3,000-meter race, which has 10 more barriers and two more water jumps than the 2,000-meter event.

“It would be a lot harder, but I think that I can do it,” she said.

For now, Morgan will focus on her speciality, the 1,500 meters, next season in hopes of attaining the U.S. Olympic Trials provisional standard of 4:19.90.

“I still plan to work real hard and improve my 1,500 meters, but the steeplechase opens a wide door for me to run in meets that I don’t think I could get into otherwise,” she said.