RIO DE JANEIRO — University of New Mexico alumna Courtney Frerichs finished in 11th place in the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase Monday morning at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The reigning NCAA champion and NCAA record holder in the steeplechase, Frerichs clocked a time of 9 minutes, 22.87 seconds to register the highest finish by a female Lobo track Olympian in program history.
This performance caps a tremendous past year for the Nixa, Missouri, native, who won an NCAA team title in cross country this past November and an NCAA individual title in the steeplechase in June while running with New Mexico.
She now competes professionally for the Bowerman Track Club.
Frerichs held her own against the world’s best in race that nearly featured a new world record. After starting the race near the back of a quickly strung-out pack, Frerichs managed to maintain contact after gold medalist Ruth Jebet of Bahrain made a huge push one kilometer in.
Frerichs moved up to 14th place with just over five laps remaining, and closed well over the final 400 meters, finishing the last lap in just over 71 seconds to claim 11th.
Frerichs tallied her her fifth time under 9:30 since May, including the NCAA record (9:24.41) and runner-up honors at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials (personal-record 9:20.92). She posted a time of 9:27.02 in the preliminary round Saturday.
Jebet finished in 8:59.75, less than a second off of the world record of 8:58.81 set in 2008 by Gulnara Samitova-Galkina at the Beijing Olympics.
Hyvin Jepkemoi of Ethiopia earned silver in 9:07.12, while American Emma Coburn captured the United States’ first Olympic medal in the steeplechase by finishing third in 9:07.63.