BOULDER — Saturday was a symbolic transition of sorts for Jenny Barringer, racing for the last time as a collegiate athlete before her hometown Boulder crowd — one that has watched her flourish from a top performer for Colorado as a freshman, to a world contender and American-record holder as a senior.
Barringer broke the Buffaloes' home course record Saturday at the 24th Rocky Mountain Shootout cross country meet, charging to the lead moments after the start and finishing the 5.8-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 25 seconds.
Her performance smashed the previous mark of 19:38 set in 2000 by Kara Grgas-Wheeler (now Goucher), one of today's pre-eminent American women's distance runners, who began building her early career at CU under head coach Mark Wetmore.
"I know how hard this course is, and how hard she ran, how good of a shape she was was in when she was here running hard," Barringer said of Goucher. "To be able to run even close to what she ran is a good mark of my fitness right now, and I'm really excited about it."
Barringer's race was nothing short of dominating. She bolted to the front and led the entire way, then kicked vigorously down the final stretch to claim her record.
This despite having not competed in a cross country race in 22 months, after a decision last year to rest and redshirt the 2008 season. She and Wetmore decided several days ago that she would attempt to break the record.
Barringer is also coming off the World Championships in Berlin, where on Aug. 17 she cut nearly 10 seconds off her American record in the 3,000 meter steeplechase to run 9:12.50. Last track season, she also set six collegiate and seven school records.
The transition from worlds and steeplechase racing to college classes and cross country is not easy, Barringer acknowledged. But that didn't seem to matter on the course.
