Carrie Messner-vickers highlights running HOF honorees
When Carrie Messner-vickers crossed the finish line in third place at the 2004 Olympic Trials 3000 meter steeplechase in front of a packed house at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore, the excitement of placing third was tempered just a bit by the fact that the event was listed as an “exhibition,” as women were not yet allowed to race the steeple in the Olympics.
Messner-vickers did make the finals of an international championship the following year, part of a historic field that raced in the first-ever women’s steeplechase at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. She and BYU grad Elizabeth Jackson were the first U.S. women to compete in the finals of a World Championships steeplechase. That was one of several career highlights for Messnervickers, 46, a cross country and track state champ for Mullen High School (where she still holds the school 5K record) before going on to an Allamerican career at the University of Colorado and then traveling internationally as a professional runner and becoming one of the pioneers of the women’s steeplechase.
She was, as a website Messnervickers was part of back in 2001 was called, one of the original “Steeple Chicks,” a small group of post-collegiate competitors and friends who showed that yes, women could indeed race over 28 barriers and seven water jumps on the track and do so in magnificent fashion, something that opened the door for CU Olympians Jenny Simpson, Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp to run through in the following decades. In recognition of her contributions, Messner-vickers, a former American record holder for the 2000 meter steeplechase, will be inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame April 9 in Denver (colfaxmarathon.com). Joining her will be Longmont’s “Marathon Marvel” Edna Kiplagat, who, remarkably, started racing internationally back in After an undefeated senior year and state title in cross country at Mullen high school, Carrie Messner-vickers went on to become a four-time All American in cross country and track at the University of Colorado. She raced in the finals of the inaugural women’s steeplechase in the 2005World Championships.
1996, when she took the silver medal at the World Junior Championships, and who is still at the top of women’s elite racing; high school and college coach Del Hessel; and Dennis Giannangeli, a past owner of the Runner’s Roost running store franchise.
“I feel super honored and excited,” Messner-vickers said in an interview last week. “Growing up in Colorado, I remember the Hall of Fame, the past teammates and people in it that I looked up to.”
One of those is Shayne Culpepper (née Wille), an Olympic 1500-meter runner who was at CU when Messner-vickers arrived in Boulder as a freshman. It was Culpepper who was one of the first to run the steeple, originally over barriers at the same 3-foot height as the men (the women’s barriers are now 30 inches high).
“Shayne is someone I really looked up to,” Messner-vickers said. “She was one of the forerunners and was always a big support. There was a group of us who pushed for the steeplechase. We banded together, pushed for it to become an event. You get to know this steeplechase family; it was such a lovely group.
“There was a special camaraderie; going over there (to the World Championships) as a team. I have great memories of it.”
One of those memories? Getting engaged to her now-husband, Matt Vickers, during the World Championships. The pair was introduced by former Colorado teammate Zeke Tiernan, whose family remains close to the Vickers in the Roaring Fork Valley, where they live. Messner-vickers is the mother of three daughters; has taught Pilates for 17 years; is the founder and head coach of the boys and girls middle school cross country program at Ross Montessori in Carbondale — “I absolutely love coaching” — and the artistic director of Sopris Soarers Aerial Academy and Mt. Cirque Entertainment.
After graduating from CU, Messner-vickers trained with former Colorado assistant Jason Drake, before blossoming under South African coach Bobby Mcgee, author of “Magical Running.” Said Messner-vickers of her career, “It has been such a lovely experience.”
Kiplagat, a two-time World Championship gold medalist and winner of the Boston and New York City marathons, Hessel, Giannangeli and Messner-vickers will be joining a list of past champion runners, race directors, coaches (and even journalists!), in the Hall of Fame.
“The exciting thing is that the long list keeps growing each year as we honor high school athletes that go on to college and pro careers,” said John Tope, chair of the hall selection committee. “The committee did a wonderful job in picking these four. Each brings something special to the hall with what they have accomplished in their careers.”